Mainland and Crete in November

Driving from Chania to Knossos will take about 2 hours by car, if you go by local bus it's between 2,5 and 3 hours to Heraklion then you take bus nr 10 (city bus) to Knossos, it runs frequently. So if you leave early from Chania it's easily to do in one day, but you could also stay around Heraklion and visit Faistos in the south as well on another day.

YOu have not said which part of your trip will be first... I'm guessing Crete. And Jackie has helped you there. If you wish to rent a car, REMEMBER -- if you need an automatic on Crete it's best to reserve ahead, as they are scarce. I've used Autoway (local car agency) there twice with good experience; competitive prices and you can get delivery in one town and drop-off in another. As for mainland thing ---

DELPHI -- DAY TRIP by TOUR BUS -- you may be disappointed -- it takes at least 3 hours by tour bus & they only get there at 11 or so, then typically they drag you away to have a taverna lunch (at your expense) that you don't want, then 3+ hours back.

DELPHI -- By KTEL (Intercity public) BUS -- If you go independently from Athens, u can catch earliest KTEL bus (7?) so beat the tour-bus crowd, and go back later too. However, it's tough in 1 day. you could take bus up afternoon before, stay 1 night, get to Delphi by 8 am, go back late afternoon.

DELPHI/NAFPLIO etc -- CAR. Have not done Delphi this way; people say not to try to drive out of Athens (eeek!), however it's easy to go straight from airport, as a road leads directly to main coastal superhighway. Thus, if you are landing in Athens and going immediately to Delphi, this works. Afterwards, you could drive from Delphi, across the Isthmus to the Peloponnese to stay in Nafplio 2 nights. You'd get to see the loveliest small city in Greece (a World Heritage site), and in one day you could easily see Mycenae and Epidaurus. Drive back & drop car at airport & take Metro to Central Athens to continue your trip.

NAFPLIO OPTION #2 -- This is what I have done when going to the Islands first. Arrive in Piraeus via fast ferry. Taxi to Bus Terminal B (about 10E). Busses to Naflpio leave almost hourly on the half-hour, take about 2.5 hours (NOTE: in warm weather, there are traffic jams Fri aft & Sunday Aft from weekending Athenians, but should not be a problem in November). Once in Nafplio, you can rent a car for a day or more. I recommend my dear Hotel Leto, open year-round, up by the Castle walls.

i have just come from Delphi and am now in Nafplio - agree with #2 about delphi - don't do it with a tour bus - it is such a beautiful site that you really want to be there with a little bit of peace to appreciate it.

we took the intercity public bus - which was easy and comfortable.
we then took the bus to nafpaktos - which is without a doubt the prettiest town in greece we have seen - highly recommend
then public transport across the bridge to Patra and on to olympia - which we had almost to ourselves between 8 and 8.30 then still pretty good after that
we are staying here in nafplio for 2 nights - epidaurus tomorrow and mycenae the day after - it means things are much more relaxed (and the accommadation is cheaper than athens) the place we are staying is beautful and nikolas the owner speaks english, french and german as well - www.pension-rigas.gr<BR><BR>hope you have a good time! Greece is amazing so far.

Thanks for the responses, everyone, this is so helpful. I realize I could perhaps have given more background. I am travelling with my sixteen year old daughter. We are interested in history and culture, and scenery. We have not been to Greece before.

We are flying from the US, our flight gets in after 5 p.m. our first day - so had planned to stay in Athens a couple nights rather than head straight to Crete. (and it wouldn't work to try to get to Delphi then either)

My daughter really wants to go to Delphi, and from what I've learned it sounds like am amazing place. And Nafplio also sounds like a good destination for this time of year.

Travelerjan (thank you) has suggested driving across the isthmus from Delphi to Nafplio, which is a great idea. (tho I have to admit I'm nervous about driving) So would it make sense to do the Athens-Delphi-Nafplio trip before or after Crete?

Here's what the itinerary could look like - looks to me like perhaps something has to go. Thoughts?

Day 1 leave US
Day 2 arrive/ night in Athens
Day 3 Athens
Day 4 Athens
Day 5 travel to Delphi by bus, spend night in Delphi (or Arachova)
Day 6 time in Delphi, rent car, drive to Nafplion
Day 7 Nafplion
Day 8 return to Athens, leave car, fly to Chania (if the connections work) stay in Chania
Day 9 Chania
Day 10 Chania
Day 11 Chania or Heraklion
Day 12 Heraklion (Knossos)
Day 13 fly to Athens from Heraklion
Day 14 flight leaves Athens early a.m.

YOur itinerary IS pretty ambitious, especially for someone who is nervous about driving -- and anyway, I doubt whether you can rent a car in Delphi and drop it at the airport. And looking at the map, for a Greece newbie, and not crazy about driving -- trying to combine Delphi & Nafplion may be tooo much. Here's an alternate option.

Do Delphi by bus, leave Nafplio till last, and wait until you get to Crete to start your driving. Crete will have zilch traffic in November and should be a piece of cake as long as you mainly do the North Coast on National Highway #1, which is 2-lane each way... and go off to either side for adventures like lttle villages or caves or castles. That leaves time at the end of the trip for a quick bus to Nafplio... then u can be flexible as to when you return to athens, because busses go almost hourly.

Therefore, how does this sound?

Day 4: take afternoon bus to Delphi, BUS TERMINAL B) spend night there (without a car,best there rather than Arachova)
Day 5: Go to Delphi site 8 am, beat the crowds, take your time, stay another night in Delphi
Day 6: Resign yourself; this will be a travel day. Take the 9 am bus from Delphi back to Athens (arrive 12 noon); switch immediately to an airport-bound bus E93 (they go every 35 mins). I think at mid-day it will probably take something over an hour.
Bus timetable link -- www(dot) athensguide(dot)com/practicalinfo/busschedulesB(dot)htm ... I'm doing it this way because I can't figure out Thorn Tree's stupid rules about HTML links

There's an afternoon (4 pm) flight on Aegean Air to Chania. Maybe they even have some of those bargain tickets left (19E tax + security fee = about 45 euros). If they won't let you buy on line, telephone them at 9 am their time and book by phone. AEGEAN LINK ... www(dot)aegeanair.com/aegeanen/schedule/
If you can't get the bargain tickets, the regular price is HIGH (90Euros) ... Olympic's regular price is lower, and they have flights at 1330 and 1835 (3:30 & 6:35).

Day 7, 8,9, 10, -- fun in Crete! ... No, you don't have to stay in Heraklion to see Knossos ... If the Heraklion museum were open, I'd say do it, but it's closed for renovation they just have a one-room exhibit down the street... Instead you can drive on the bypass south of Heraklion to see Knossos, and then either go to the airport directly or stay overnight at any handy nearby place.

Day 11 -- Fly back to Athens (1 hr) & rent a car & go immediately to Nafplio. There are lots of Olympic flights -- one at 10:30, arrives 11:35. Aegean at 8:30 & 10:30 ... You either can rent a car at the airport, OR -- just go to Airport Door 5 and get the Express Bus E93 that goes to the intercity Bus Terminal A. ( erronesouly said terminal B in first posting). Get ticket at "Argolid" window-- Nafplio busses go hourly on the half-hour, it takes 2.5 hours, no stress, lovely view from window once you reach the isthmus -- see the canal, etc. Arrive late afternoon, I recommend my lovely Hotel Leto overlooking the town. Enjoy dinner in the marble-paved Central piazza.

Day 12 -- Nafplio ... plenty to see & do in this beautiful World Heritage town! (first capital of the Free Greece, 1828). Simply drenched in history.

Day 13 -- Take the bus at 9 or 10, back to Athens mid-day, time to see that last museum or buy souvenirs in Plaka.

Day 14 -- Early to Airport --- if you must be out there by 5 am, best to take the express bus at Syntagma Square (every 20 minutes 24/7). 3.2 Euros each vs. about 60 Euros for a phone-ahead night-time taxi.

I have ample accommodations and itinerary suggestions, but it's getting late. PM me, and we can arrange to talk if you wish.

Bus Terminal B scheduleBus terminal B Schedule

travelerjan, as far as I know the Heraklion museum reopened again, renovation was untill August, but to make sure you can call ahead on 2810-224630

To add to what Jackie said: we actually visited the Heraklion museum today, directly after checking out Knossos. The museum is open, but in a limited form. The vast majority of the museum is still under renovation, so they have moved the most popular pieces into one room, and that is all you get access to. This does ensure that you will see most of the museum's highlights (the frescoes, the more famous figurines and vassals, etc.) but we were surprised that the ticket is still full price!

Still, a combined ticket for Knossos and the Museum is 10 Euros, and that's a bargain in my mind ;-)

Thanks for the update on the museum. We'll be there soon!!