Greek Islands

Quite a bit of advice already about this on your other thread!

Naxos and Milos both have wonderful sand beaches .... Naxos has about 4 golden sand beaches all in a row, all served by a bus going down the line. Milos has 22! beaches, I only sampled 4 but they were fine (except port-town beach is not good) ... however, Milos has very inadequate bus system, so you'd have to rent a car OR, can either of you run an ATV or scooter? Milos Roads are OK as long as you don't try to steer one up to the High Town (Plaka). Remember u will need an International Driving Permit to rent car OR scooter/ATV (you get one at your local AAA, takes 15 mins).

So Ashley, you're doing the same thing that 99.99% of American and other non-European visitors to Greece do: you picked the three places you've heard of (Athens, Santorini, and Mykonos) and asked people knowledgeable with the country to reaffirm your itinerary, without doing some research to see if there's anything else in the country that catches your eye.

Two weeks is somewhat limiting. I understand that the Cycladic Islands are, to Americans, quintessential Greece, but it would be like a Greek person considering just Texas or New England as quintessential America. So, I would personally suggest maybe some regional variety. Is there a specific reason for Mykonos? Yes, it's known for its nightlife, but if that's not your primary interest, I would recommend skipping it in favor of the countless more scenic places Greece has to offer. You can pair Santorini with Rhodes or western Crete, or Skopelos, or Corfu... take advnatage of air travel and see a part of Greece outside the Cyclades. Or, you can stay in the Cyclades, and maybe do Naxos and/or Syros. Or go off the beaten path, and try Kithira or Karpathos. I would also recommend avoiding backtracking to Athens by ferry, and consider flying back home from your last non-Athens destination. So, something like this: Athens, Santorini, western Crete (then fly home from Rethymno or Heraklion airports, which would require a layover or two, obviously). But you probably already bought your outbound flight out of Athens...you can look into flying into Athens from your last non-Athens destination.

Cheers, and have fun whatever you decide to do.

TBH Mykonos is great for a party but not real Greece, unless you are gay no real reason to go there. The beaches arent't that special.

That's highly inaccurate. While Mykonos is certainly gay-friendly, the vast majority of visitors are straight, and most hotels and nightlife businesses are mainstream, not gay. So it's absolutely false that you'll be out of place unless you're gay. Now if you can't stand the sight of LGBT people, that's a different story. It'll basically be a European South Beach.

The reason I personally discourage Mykonos for non-Europeans crossing an ocean who probably won't ever come back to Greece again, is because you're not getting anything in Mykonos that other parts of Greece don't offer. You're getting the same white cubic architecture typical of Cycladic islands region that you already saw in Santorini, but without Santorini's dramatic landscape. Most of Greece has a stunning landscape and coastline; you're not getting that in Mykonos. Santorini also has great nightlife, as do many areas throughout Greece. So, try to get some regional variety. Don't just assume that the few places you've heard of are the places you must visit. With a projected 30 million international visitors coming to Greece in 2017 (mostly Europeans) it's not just the three places Americans have heard of that are worth visiting.

If you actually read my question you would have seen that I mentioned Milos, Naxos, Crete and Paros asking about them. Do not assume that I did no research of my own. I did extensive research and probably visited every website and read what each island was good for. There is no need for you to be rude and condescending. I came on here to get people opinions and recommendations for any island. But Thank you for your snarky reply.

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