Visiting Athens and Santorini in one week at the end of November?

In one week, it's really only worth it if you take a flight between Athens and Santorini—otherwise, it's best to stay at least 3 nights there.

With fast ferries, it takes at least 5 hours to reach Santorini, or even 12 hours with classic ferries.

Check the schedules on www.gtp.gr.

Flights on www.aegean.com

hi there, I was just like you when I left for the Greek islands. I wanted to see Athens at the same time, I only had a week, and then the friend I was traveling with told me no, we’re landing in Santorini and leaving from Santorini. We stayed on the island of Paros (at the Paros Bay Hotel, a little paradise) and from there we took excursions to visit the other islands. So we visited Santorini on the first and last day, but the other islands are really interesting and paradise-like. So in my opinion, either you stay in Athens or you only do the islands. I don’t regret having only done the islands, and next time I’ll do Athens.... Have a great trip, but listen to what you really want first. What do you feel like doing? Both are doable, but there’s no flight from Athens to Santorini—it’s by boat. But it would be a shame not to see the other islands.

I stand by what I said, and lol to top it off

1. There is an airport in Santorini

2. There are flights between Athens and Santorini in both directions 😎

lol, you sure know what you want. Stick with it. And have a great trip, and thanks for the info about Athens and Santorini—I didn’t know there were flights!)

Thanks so much for your info. I really appreciate it. I’ll take note. I’ll be landing in Athens since I’m coming straight from Quebec. I’ll try to do both. Looking forward to it.

Just a heads-up, though—at this time of year, the weather might not be great. Sometimes flights to the islands get canceled due to wind, and in Santorini, a lot of places will be closed. You’ll be among the few tourists, and it’s pretty humid in winter.

It's possible, we did it in 2006. We visited Athens and the surrounding area, then spent 3 days in Santorini by boat.

Hi there,

I’m planning a trip to the Cyclades and staying in one place for a whole week doesn’t interest me. I found your post really helpful. If I understood correctly, you stayed in PAROS and then took day trips to the other islands. I have a few questions:

Which islands did you visit in one week? What budget should I plan roughly for 3 people? Was your hotel okay? What are the prices for excursions approximately? If you have any other tips or good deals, I’d love to hear them. THANKS SO MUCH.

What time of year are you going?

Around May or June

so the prices should still be reasonable 😉

Same plan for the same dates, but just a day trip to Santorini—like flying out at 7-8 AM, renting a car, and returning to Athens by 5:30 PM. Given the season, is it worth it? Or is it better to stay in Athens (and the surrounding area?) all week? Thanks

Hi there,

No, it’s definitely not worth doing that. Imagine if the flight is delayed, for example—it’ll cut into your time on the ground even more. It’s better to visit another island near Athens, like Aegina, which is just 1 hour by boat from Athens.

It's better to go to another island near Athens, like Aegina for example, just 1 hour by boat from Athens.

Thanks so much for the quick reply and the great tip! Is it as "romantic" as Santorini (for my wife’s birthday 🙂)? Isn’t it too dead at this time of year?

Egine will be much less dead than Santorini! However, it's not one of the Cyclades islands, so it's not all white and blue. But in one day, you won't have time to go to the Cyclades anyway, especially since the weather can be gloomy and windy, and boats sometimes don't leave the port.

On the mainland, there are also plenty of nice and romantic spots for an anniversary! For example, the sunset at Cape Sounion. The city of Nafplio in the Peloponnese, about 1h30 drive from Athens.

Hi Elenitsa,

Par contre ce n'est pas une ile des Cyclades donc ce n'est pas blanc et bleu

Too bad, because yeah, that’s what she wants ... some early-December Instagram vibes!

les bateaux ne sortent parfois pas du port.

What about planes?

Par exemple le coucher de soleil au Cap Sounion. La ville de Nauplie dans le Péloponnèse à environ 1h30 de route d'Athènes.

I’m really interested in this because I want to make her happy for December 3rd (her birthday) . What do you recommend that’s memorable? Obviously, it’ll depend on the weather, but in broad strokes? 🙂

If she really wants to go to Santorini, then go, but spend several days there. Doing a round trip in a day isn’t worth it. You should stay at least 2 nights. You’ll definitely have a quieter time with fewer tourists.

I like Nafplio—on the way there, you can stop at the Corinth Canal. That can be done in a day if you leave early in the morning. And the next evening, you can visit Cape Sounion and its sunset.

Awesome, thanks so much for these tips. We’ll go to Santorini another time since it’s not worth spreading ourselves too thin. Nafplio and Aegina seem perfect for escaping the city. Is it better to have a car, or can everything be done (easily ;)) by public transport?

For Nafplio, rent a car—it’ll let you stop at the Corinth Canal along the way.

For Aegina, you might want to rent a car or scooter once you’re there, but definitely go by boat without a car.

For Nafplio, take a car—it’ll let you stop at the Corinth Canal on the way.

For Aegina, you might want to rent a car or scooter once you’re there, but go by boat without a car.

No worries about Aegina, and thanks so much for the tip!

Now, Nafplio’s got me stressed: - We want to stay at the same hotel in Athens all week (to avoid packing and unpacking multiple times 😕), so if we rent a car, it’d just be for one day. Since it’s our first time in Greece, we’ll spend 3.5 days exploring the capital first, then follow your advice for Aegina.

- On Get Your Guide, Viator, etc., there are day trips (10+ hours) offered. From the reviews, the main complaint is the (too short) time spent in Nafplio—about 1.5 hours (including lunch ). And no photos are taken from the fortress or any high vantage point (Not interesting? Not enough time? Mystery...). But two of the tours stop at the canal, which is *so* tempting!

So, should we rent a car (for just one day) to really enjoy Nafplio and Corinth, or do the express tourist thing in Nafplio but also hit Mycenae, Epidaurus, and Corinth (maybe out of order ) at a breakneck pace? (Not sure we’ll be back in Greece next year, unfortunately.)

PS: If this is off-topic from the thread title, sorry—feel free to reply in a PM.

Hello,

Nafplio is a 1.5 to 2-hour drive from Athens, depending on traffic leaving the city. So it’s doable in a day, but it’ll be a bit of a rush. Even if you rent a car and leave at the crack of dawn, it’ll still feel quick. It’s not impossible, but I think it’s a bit of a shame. As for the Corinth Canal, it’s worth seeing, but you won’t need hours there—30 minutes max is more than enough.

In my opinion: either take your time and spend 2 or even 3 nights in Nafplio so you can visit Corinth along the way, then Nafplio, Epidaurus, and Mycenae, or don’t go at all and stick to Athens and the surrounding area. You could also spend a day on Aegina or even visit the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion.

With a week, having two bases isn’t too much, but a full week in Athens might feel a tad long, even with a day trip to Aegina.

You could start with Nafplio, actually—right when you arrive in Greece, pick up your rental car and head straight to Corinth, then save Athens for the end of the week.

And I’d advise against paid group tours, whether in a big group or not. They’re always too rushed and too expensive for what they offer.

Elenitsa

Hi there,

Nafplio is a 1.5 to 2-hour drive from Athens, depending on traffic leaving the city. So it's doable in a day, but it’ll be a bit rushed. Even if you rent a car and leave at dawn, it’ll still feel quick. It’s not impossible, but I think it’s a bit of a shame. As for the Corinth Canal, it’s worth seeing, but you won’t need hours there—30 minutes max is more than enough.

In my opinion: either take your time and spend 2 or even 3 nights in Nafplio so you can visit Corinth on the way, then Nafplio, Epidaurus, and Mycenae, or don’t go at all and stick to Athens and the surrounding area. You could also spend a day on Aegina or even visit the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion.

For a week, having two bases isn’t too much. But a full week in Athens might feel a tad long, even with a day trip to Aegina.

You could start with Nafplio right when you arrive in Greece—pick up the rental car and head straight to Corinth, then save Athens for the end of the week.

And I’d advise against paid group tours, whether they’re big groups or not. They’re always too rushed and overpriced for what they offer.

Elenitsa

Thanks again for these tips. I’ll follow your recommendations and skip the Get Your Guide tours. To keep it simple, we arrive Saturday afternoon and will take it easy over the weekend. Then we’ll rent a car for two days, from Monday to Wednesday, with Monday in Nafplio and a ferry to Aegina on Wednesday. By the way, I didn’t get the GPS option—is it hard to get around without it? Then the last two days will be for visiting Athens with a tourist pass. But I’m confused about which ones are official or not... Some have disappeared this year. Which ones should we choose for a "not too intense" mode? 😅 My wife’s birthday will be in Athens after all... Any recommendations for one of the last two days? (e.g., where to go out on a Wednesday night for a nice dinner?) With so much information out there, it’s easy to try to do everything and miss the point: enjoying the moment 🤯😊

Hi there,

For GPS, just use your mobile phone like you would in France.

Avoid tourist passes—they’re not really worth it in the end, and you won’t save much with them.

For the birthday, it depends where you’ll be. What kind of restaurant are you looking for? There are high-end options, like at the Hotel Grande Bretagne, or Michelin-starred restaurants. It all depends on what you’re after!

Hi there,

For GPS, just use your cell phone like you would in France.

Avoid tourist passes—they’re not worth much in the end, and you don’t save any money with them.

For the birthday, it depends where you’ll be. What kind of restaurant are you looking for? There are high-end options, like the Grande Bretagne hotel or Michelin-starred restaurants. It all depends on what you’re after.

A huge THANK YOU for your invaluable help! 🙂 Last night in Athens... it went by too fast🙁 ...for the birthday dinner, we went to Pandrossou Garden in Plaka (totally deserted because of the rain—just one other French tourist couple). It was probably a tourist trap, but we were too lazy to look for something else, and the setting was so charming! We didn’t go to Aegina Island because the Europcar employee told us it was dead at this time of year, so we just did Corinth, Epidaurus, and Nafplio... such a crush, and without your tips, we would’ve missed out! We want to come back to Greece, but probably in the summer.😎