Travel to Greece in the month of July

My husband and I are from Nigeria. Were visiting Greece for the first time in July but would like suggestions as in what to include in the itinerary so that we don't leave the must visit places . We'll be traveling to Greece for 2 weeks.

Were interested in exploring the beautiful white architecture, cave homes, calderas, and sunsets. Relaxing on beaches, and love taking beautiful photography. Experiencing Greek lifestyle, locals, food and culture. Were also in shape and are open to Jetpack, skydiving & hiking if scenery is worth it. Is biking or renting a moped an option?

Visiting Santorini is a must plus places like Mykonos, Crete sounds interesting.

Were are really looking to party, but I really like the scenery Mykonos offers with all the white architecture and the greek/modern style. Pictures online look amazing.

Crete sounds interesting and people are saying there is so much more to see.

Please advice with an itinerary which can cover Athens, Mykonos, Santorini & few of must see Cretan islands. Since covering all Cretan islands plus the mentioned places is not realistic in 14 day visit.

Suggest where to start from & end & regarding domestic flights if required.

We would like more of beaches. Thanks 😉

You mention only the most-popular, most-promoted, and most touristic destinations. You are starting very late to get all the arrangements you want. Your reply also reveals that you are very unfamiliar with Greece and have not done more research than looking at some internet photos (there is no such thing as 'a few of must-see Cretan islans' -- Crete is ONE island, the size of many nations). "People are saying" is not a basis for planning trips. With so much to learn, I do not think you get adequate help on a travel forum -- we can give Tips, but cannot substitute for a guidebook or agency.

Therefore I suggest you e-mail NOW the GREEK-based travel agencies that have very good reputations for trip-planning with overseas clients, working completely on-line. 3 of these well-regarded agencies are Dolphin-Hellas, Fantasy Travel, and Aegean Thesaurus. I suggest you e-mail all 3 TODAY, giving the following information:

• The dates you want to travel (they can book the airlines for you)
• The destinations you want to see (I think you need to limit it to 4, for 2 weeks)
• The budget range IN EUROS for the lodging you want
• Your priorities (sports, beach, nightlife etc)
• Your over-all budget including airfare to/from Nigeria (and be prepared, it will be expensive! Not because the agency charges you--- their services are paid for by the travel & lodging people -- but because you are going at THE most costly crowded time of year, and insist on the "must-see" (thus costly/crowded) destinations.
... when you get your answers, then you can act. And BTW, I gave you the same advice on another forum ... you cannot keep asking the same requests, and expect to get different answers. I wish you good luck!

Thanks for your valuable reply. But this is the first forum where I asked for.

Athens /Mykonos /Santorini/Athens
09 Nights / 10 Days
Itinerary :
Day 1 : Athens

Arrival Athens airport – meet and assist and transfer to the hotel
Overnight in Athens

Day 2 : Athens / City tour
breakfast at the hotel
Pick up for city tour of Athens includes visit to the Acropolis
And the new Acropolis Museum
Overnight in Athens

Day 3 : Athens /Mykonos
breakfast at the hotel
Pick up for transfer to the port to catch the ferry to Mykonos – arrival and transfer
to the hotel - Overnight in Mykonos

Day 4 : Mykonos /Optional Delos tour
breakfast at the hotel
Optional Delos tour
Overnight in Mykonos

Day 5 : Mykonos
breakfast at the hotel
Overnight in Mykonos

Day 6 : Mykonos / Santorini

Breakfast at the hotel
Pick up for transfer to the port to catch the ferry to Santorini – arrival and transfer
To the hotel – Overnight in Santorini

Day 7 : Santorini /Optional Volcano tour
breakfast at the hotel
Optional Volcano tour
Overnight in Santorini

Day 8 : Santorini
breakfast at the hotel
Overnight in Santorini

Day 9: Santorini / Athens
breakfast at the hotel
pick up for transfer to the port to catch the ferry to Athens – arrival and transfer to
the hotel – overnight in Athens

Day 10 : Athens
Breakfast at the hotel
Pick up for departure transfer

Can you suggest on this itinerary which my travel agent has given so as to make it more interesting & include places as mentioned above keeping in mind the interests being beaches, night life, adventure sports!

Extending it to 12 to 14 days will be fine.

If your travel agent is not willing to make changes to suit your interests better, then you should try another travel agent -- like one of the 3 excellent ones I suggested. We are volunteer helpers here, we are not replacing the work of a travel agent. If you are not getting what you want from your current agent, perhaps you need to think about how you are interacting with him/her. Are you actually having a conversation (voice, not text! )with him/her about your needs? Or are you simply sending a terse e-mail giving minimal facts & expecting him/her to read your mind???

Today too many younger people, living in a digital world, prefer impersonal transactions, like a "cashpoint" or ATM machine. Insert request -- punch buttons -- receive answers. Try the human approach with your agent ... you may be surprised! Or try the other agencies ... they are in the travel business. We forum contributors are not.

I think I came across OP's"agency" early in our planning. They run a lot of "itineraries" with 2-3 islands plus Athens. Looks like they basically move people around in groups of 20, making hotel and ferry reservations. Their customers (many not from north america or northwest europe) seem satisfied with the logistics assistance assistance, hotels and value they receive but this company does not offer a guided tour except for an Athens city tour. They did not respond to my request for some tweaking of their standard 3 island package so I don't think you can work with them to get help with sightseeing or determining how much time per island. So I think the advice to inquire with one or more of the "real" travel agencies would help. One piece of advice is that you don't need to go to a lot of islands to get a good "Greek Island" experience. You can find amazing beaches, quaint villages, interesting ancient and Byzantine ruins, good restaurants, etc on any number of different islands (even though each is different)

Lex, there are many identical itineraries offered by mediocre agencies, all around the world ... I feel sorry sometimes for the unskilled travel agencies these days ... all their former sources of revenue (plane bookings etc) are gone. So they can only manage to survive by booking high-commission trips like cruises or deluxe hotels. For the mid-level trip they cannot afford to spend ANY time, so they offer these "cookie-cutter" itineraries -- involving places they have never been, and sights they have never seen.

Of course, equal responsibility goes to the prospective travelers. If they cannot be bothered to do some homework in advance, they do not know how to judge an agency. Like everything worthwhile it requires a little effort. But lex, it's futile to advise people like this to make their own discoveries... that would take planning time. They want only the guaranteed "wow" ... the famous "must-sees" so they can impress those "people who say."

Right, travelerjan, this agency offers a set of canned itineraries, no customization. But their services may be of use to those in countries like Nigeria which are often blocked (due to massive endemic fraud) from using other online booking sites. So it's at least a way of easily getting hotel and ferry bookings down, and being assured of a workable itinerary and decent lodging. But if OP needs or wants more help deciding what to do on those 2.5 days per island, or which islands to visit, he/she will need a "real" agent.

You just organise it yourself. Travel agencies outside Greece tend to just offer the same generic island hopping to apparently must see islands.

However considering your interests, then islands such as the string of Mykonos, Paros, Naxos, Ios are suitable. easily accessed by ferry from Piraeus/Athens.

As an alternative are Rhodes and Kos in the Dodecanese islands, long ferry from Piraeus or fly from Athens, ferry between the two.

Crete is so large that it is often taken separately, the main nightlife beach centre is the downmarket Malia. The island has a lot more than that to offer if you wish.

People on here try and point people, hopefully, in the right direction from their experience. It is not a travel agency service.

Good point about the fraud, lex ... the OP and others like him have to suffer for the wrongdoing of others in that country.

Thanks every1 for the replies.

Ouzo ur reply seems helpful.I wil do my homework on the places you named. Thanks once again.

Just wanted to ask ppl who have experienced Greece earlier. As I was searching places on Google to fit it into my itinerary I got too much confused as in which place to visit & which to skip so asked for help.

I wil not be going to Greece again in my lifetime so wanted to make out most from it in 10 days going to must see places & not to just to impress those "people who say". Anyways got much help even beyond expectations. Thanks.

You've just given the biggest reason for your confusion S.n.f. YOu said "Searching places on Google" was your main source of research. That is like trying to get a drink from a Fireman's hose -- you get knocked over and drowned in a flood of data -- but you are still thirsty! This is why we repeatedly urge people -- if it is possible -- to find a GUIDE BOOK to help sort out the "musts" from the "maybe's" ... Guides act as a FILTER to help you focus. Since you are in Nigeria, guide books may be hard to find ... but we cannot know this. I hope u can find one -- ask your Facebook friends for help!

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I suggest you pick two islands and stick to those.
Mykonos and Santorini are "must-see" and they're both beautiful, but I suggest you pick one of these two and then go to a smaller one, so you can really see the difference.
For example, one ferry goes from Athens (from Piraeus, to be exact -- its port town) to Paros, Naxos, Ios and Santorini. Why not stop in one of these first, and then continue on to Santorini?
Mykonos and Santorini I should warn you are very expensive compared to all other places in Greece.

Crete is very big (it is one island, not many, but it has two very small islands nearby) so if you want to see it I suggest you go there only.
DO NOT go to Malia as someone in this thread recommends: It is merely full with drunken 18-year old British Tourists.
Go to Chania instead - which is quieter, beautiful and has very good lodging and dining options, and good beaches nearby.

I recommend Santorini and Crete. Yes, Crete is very large and no, you will not come close to seeing the entire island, but that's okay. You will never get to see everything. Just because you can't see the whole island doesn't mean you shouldn't go. Base yourself out of Chania. It's such a beautiful city, especially the venetian harbour. Plus there's very nice beaches, incredible scenery, paragliding, hiking (samaria Gorge), you can rent a scooter, 4 wheeler or car and explore all the areas nearby (drive to Balos beach or Elefonisi beach).

If I ever go back to Greece, I'll be going back to Crete. I spent 4 days there and obviously only saw a tiny piece of the island, but I loved it

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