Suggestion for 2 weeks in Greece in Sep/Oct please :)

Hello Thorn Tree travellers!

My wife and I (32 and 33 yrs old) are heading to Greece for 2 weeks end of Sep, early October and we are looking for some of your expertise.

I have been to Greece 3 times (once as a child, twice around 20 years old) and my wife has yet to visit. I have visited the Peloponese & Crete as a child (which I pretty well forget) and have visited many of the more touristy Cyclades (Naxos, Paros, Ios, Santorini, Mykonos).

My wife and I are well travelled and enjoy off the beaten path (ie. we plan to skip Santorini, mostly because I have been 3 times and we do want to escape the heavily touristed areas), beaches and we also want to see some ruins. We want to experience the real culture.

We plan to do 1 or 2 days in Athens, but other than that, we have no clue what to do.

I have floated the idea of driving through the Peloponese for a week of ruins to the Ionian islands for about another week (Lefkada and Kekalonia), although I heard these islands are dealing with package tourism from my research (not sure if true).

I have also considered spending a junk of time in Crete and/or perhaps checking out some of the other Cyclades islands as well.

Basically, I have no clue where we should go and how we should split our time.

Do any of you have any suggestions?

Thanks!

Sounds like the perfect time for the Small Cyclades (Koufonissi)- perhaps combined with Amorgos.
If you plan to have your own wheels, the internal (not coastal) routes in Peloponnese over the mountains are really interesting.

I would also propose Small Cyclades, Naxos and Amorgos. They are close, relaxed, really interesting, decently connected and do not have mass tourism. If you have time, I would also propose Astypalaia and Nisyros. I think that there is an indirect connection from Amorgos to Nisyuros with a stopover in Astypalaia. That can be interesting. I would propose that you check the timetables in advance in a website. I am usually using www.ferryhopper.com as it provides indirect connections.

Since you are coming on Sep/Oct you shouldn't mind the tourist packages very much. Mainland Greece is great if you have wheels and I think you should spend more time in Athens, walk the city and not just the ruins. If you want to get off the beaten path,1 or 2 days in Athens won't make it. Crete and Naxos are great options for Sep/Oct, again Crete with wheels!!

Thanks for all the suggestions!

The small Cyclades look nice but perhaps too quiet. We don't mind quiet, but we would like to see some villages/culture as well and from my research the small Cyclades look like there's not much happening on them at all.

Naxos we will pass on mainly because I've already been there.

Ideally a mix between mainland Greece and islands, but I'm not sure that's feasible given our timeline. Crete could also be good... And Amorgos looks like it could have a good vibe.

So confused!

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