GreeceItineraries · Greece
2 Weeks in Greece Itinerary: Athens, Naxos and Santorini in Three Bases
A 2 weeks in Greece itinerary in three bases: Athens, Naxos and Santorini, with 2026 ferry times, ticket prices and day trips to Delphi and Paros.
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In this guide
The best 2 weeks in Greece itinerary uses three beds, not six: four nights in Athens, five on Naxos and four on Santorini, with Delphi and Paros as day trips that return to the same room. Every ferry runs south, you unpack three times in total, and you fly home from Santorini. If you only have a week, take 7 days in Greece instead.
How should you split 14 days in Greece?
Stay at least four nights wherever you sleep. Greek logistics eat time: a ferry day is really a half day once you add the port, the check-out and the check-in. Three bases cost you two of those days. Six bases, which is what most “14 days” plans quietly ask for, cost you five.
| Base | Nights | Days | How you arrive | Day trip from here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | 4 | 1 to 4 | Fly into ATH, metro to the centre | Delphi |
| Naxos | 5 | 5 to 9 | Fast boat from Piraeus, about 3.25 to 4.5 hours | Paros |
| Santorini | 4 | 10 to 14 | Fast boat from Naxos, about 1 hour | none, the slow day is the point |
The catch is what this route leaves out. There is no Mykonos, no Crete and no Milos. Naxos is the trade: it is the largest of the Cyclades, has long sandy beaches and mountain villages, and costs less per night than its famous neighbours. If a bigger name matters more than a slower pace, the Mykonos travel guide and the Crete travel guide explain what you would swap in, and the Greek island hopping guide covers the ferry maths.
What do you do in each base?
Each block below follows the same arc: settle in, see the headline sights, eat in the neighbourhoods, take one bigger outing, then move on.
Days 1 to 4: Athens
Day 1 is for landing. The metro runs from the airport to Syntagma in about 40 minutes. Drop your bags in Koukaki or Plaka, walk the lanes below the Acropolis and eat early. Jet lag makes arrival day the wrong day for a timed ticket.
Day 2 is the Acropolis. Adult entry costs €30 (about $32/£26) in 2026 (2026 Athens site prices), with a timed slot booked on the official tickets.hh.gr portal. Take the 8am slot: the heat and the tour groups build through the morning, and the slot system exists partly because the rock closes in extreme heat. Follow it with the Acropolis Museum (€20), which holds the original Caryatids and much of the Parthenon frieze. The Athens travel guide covers where to stay and how to get around.
Day 3 is Delphi. The sanctuary sits about 181 km from Athens, roughly three hours each way by bus from the Liossion terminal (how to reach Delphi), so leave early and treat it as the whole day. It is worth it for the setting alone: a sanctuary on a mountainside, with the round Tholos of Athena Pronaia below the main site. Skip it if you would rather have a second unhurried day in the city.
The Tholos in the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, the first ruin most visitors see as they approach Delphi.
Day 4 is neighbourhoods and food. Walk the Ancient Agora in the morning (€20), where the Temple of Hephaestus is among the best-preserved Greek temples anywhere. The combined seven-site ticket ended on 1 April 2025, so each site is now sold separately: pick the Agora and skip the Temple of Olympian Zeus (€20), which you can see well from the road. Spend the afternoon in Psyri and Exarcheia, then end in Koukaki, where the tavernas are cheaper than in Plaka. What to order is in our Greek food guide.
Days 5 to 9: Naxos
Day 5 is the travel day. Fast boats from Piraeus take 3 hours 15 minutes to 4 hours 25 minutes and fares start around €42 to €52 (about $45 to $56/£36 to £44) in 2026, per Ferryhopper’s Athens to Naxos page. Fast boats are high-speed catamarans that carry foot passengers and are the quickest way to any island. Conventional ferries are the big Blue Star car ferries: slower at 5 to 7 hours, cheaper in some seasons and daily year round. Book a morning departure, arrive in Naxos Town and walk to the Portara, the marble doorway on the headland, for sunset.
The Naxos Town waterfront at dusk, tavernas along the quay and the kastro above.
Day 6 is Naxos Town. Climb through the old town to the Venetian kastro, eat on the waterfront in the evening and go back to the Portara if the light was poor the night before. Not much needs doing here, which is the reason to be here.
Day 7 is Paros. The fast boat crosses in about 25 minutes, with up to 10 crossings a day in summer and fares from €5.50 (about $6/£4.70), per the Paros to Naxos timetable. Spend the day in Parikia and the harbour of Naoussa, swim at Kolymbithres, and check the last boat back before you order lunch. You sleep on Naxos again tonight, so nothing needs repacking.
Day 8 goes inland. Halki and Apeiranthos are mountain villages with old olive presses, marble lanes and tavernas serving Naxian potatoes and arseniko cheese. Hire a car for this one day if you can; buses do reach the villages, but on their own schedule.
Day 9 is deliberately empty. One beach (Agios Prokopios or Plaka, both long sand with shallow water), one long lunch, one sunset. No boat, no alarm, no checklist. Every 14-day itinerary needs a day like this, and Naxos is the cheapest place on this route to spend it.
Days 10 to 14: Santorini
Day 10 is the fast boat south. Naxos to Santorini takes about an hour on the quickest catamarans, with fares from €31 (about $33/£26) and up to 8 crossings a day in summer (Naxos to Santorini timetable). Base yourself in Imerovigli rather than Oia: the same caldera view, quieter lanes and lower prices. Oia is for one sunset, not for sleeping.
Day 11 is the rim walk. Walk from Fira to Oia early, about 10 km and three to four hours with photo stops, then swim at Kamari or Perissa in the afternoon while the villages are full of cruise passengers. The Santorini travel guide has the detail on where to stay.
Day 12 belongs to Akrotiri. The Minoan town buried by an eruption around 1600 BC is roofed over like a time capsule. Entry is €20 (about $22/£17), or €10 for reduced tickets, and shorter opening hours apply on Mondays and Thursdays, so book a slot and check the day. Red Beach is next door; go in the morning before the tour boats arrive.
Red Beach near Akrotiri, best visited in the morning before the tour boats arrive.
Day 13 is unplanned. A late breakfast, a swim, or a caldera boat trip if the wind is calm. The second slow day is the safety margin: it absorbs a cancelled boat or a rough night.
Day 14 is departure. Santorini airport (JTR) has about 50-minute flights to Athens with Aegean, Ryanair, Sky Express and Olympic Air, roughly 126 a week in August 2026 (route schedule). Fly home via Athens rather than sailing back. The catch with island endings is weather and strikes: a cancelled flight costs you a connection, so book the onward flight home for the afternoon or evening, never the first departure.
Find experiences for your Greece trip
If you book through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.How much do ferries and tickets cost?
Ferries and sights are the fixed costs. Rooms, food and how much you drink are the variable ones, and our Greece trip cost guide breaks those down by tier.
| Item | 2026 price (per person) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Acropolis | €30 | Timed slot, book at tickets.hh.gr |
| Acropolis Museum | €20 | Separate ticket |
| Ancient Agora | €20 | Combo ticket abolished in April 2025 |
| Athens to Naxos ferry | from about €42 to €52 | Fast boat 3 h 15 to 4 h 25 |
| Paros day trip (return) | from about €11 | €5.50 each way, fast boat 25 min |
| Naxos to Santorini ferry | from about €31 | About 1 hour by catamaran |
| Akrotiri | €20 | €10 reduced |
The sights above come to about €90, and the three ferry legs to €84 to €94 at the lowest fares. Santorini rooms are the swing factor. For example, a village-facing room a street back from the rim can cost half the caldera-view room next door. The ferry figures are the lowest listed fares on Ferryhopper, so allow more in August.
When should you go, and what if you have less time?
Mid-May to mid-June and September to early October are the sweet spot: warm sea, full ferry timetables and Santorini at something close to normal. See the best time to visit Greece for the month-by-month picture. In July and August the meltemi is a strong dry north wind that can delay fast boats for a day. For example, a cancelled Naxos to Santorini sailing pushes you onto the next departure, which is one more reason to keep the slow days in the plan.
November to March is the wrong season for this exact route. Many Cycladic hotels close and fast boats drop to a skeleton timetable. A winter trip works better as Athens, Delphi and a stay on Crete.
With ten days, run Athens for three nights, Naxos for three and Santorini for three, and drop the Paros and Delphi outings. Under that, use the 7 days in Greece version.
Our Greece editor wrote this route and fact-checked the prices against the operators’ 2026 pages listed under sources. Read about us to see how we work, and contact the editors if a fare or opening time has changed.
The 14-day route in three bases
- Days 1–4 — Athens arrive, settle in, the Acropolis and its museum, a Delphi day trip, the Agora and a long dinner in Koukaki
- Days 5–9 — Naxos the morning ferry south, Naxos Town and the Portara, a Paros day trip, mountain villages, a deliberately empty beach day
- Days 10–14 — Santorini the fast boat to the caldera, the rim walk, Akrotiri and Red Beach, an unplanned day, departure
-
Day 1: Arrive in Athens
Take the metro to the centre, drop your bags in Koukaki or Plaka and walk the lanes below the Acropolis. Eat early and skip timed tickets today.
- Syntagma
- Plaka
- Koukaki
Overnight: Athens
-
Day 2: Athens: the Acropolis and its museum
The Acropolis at the 8am slot before the tour groups, then the Acropolis Museum for the original Caryatids.
- Acropolis
- Acropolis Museum
Overnight: Athens
-
Day 3: Day trip to Delphi
Bus from the Liossion terminal to the sanctuary of Apollo and the museum, back in Athens for dinner.
- Delphi sanctuary
- Delphi museum
Overnight: Athens
-
Day 4: Athens: the Agora, neighbourhoods and food
The Ancient Agora and the Temple of Hephaestus in the morning, then lunch in Psyri, bookshops in Exarcheia and a last dinner in Koukaki.
- Ancient Agora
- Psyri
- Exarcheia
- Koukaki
Overnight: Athens
-
Day 5: Ferry south to Naxos
A morning boat from Piraeus, then the Portara at sunset once you have dropped your bags.
- Piraeus
- Portara
Overnight: Naxos
-
Day 6: Naxos Town and the kastro
The Venetian kastro, the waterfront and a taverna dinner in the old town.
- Naxos Town
- Kastro
Overnight: Naxos
-
Day 7: Day trip to Paros
A 25-minute fast boat to Parikia and Naoussa, a swim at Kolymbithres, then back to the same bed on Naxos.
- Parikia
- Naoussa
- Kolymbithres
Overnight: Naxos
-
Day 8: Halki and Apeiranthos
Inland to the mountain villages, olive presses and Naxian potatoes, ideally by hire car.
- Halki
- Apeiranthos
Overnight: Naxos
-
Day 9: A slow day on Naxos
No ferry and no plan. One beach, one long lunch, one sunset.
- Agios Prokopios
- Plaka Beach
Overnight: Naxos
-
Day 10: Fast boat to Santorini
About an hour across, then check in on the caldera rim and watch the light change.
- Imerovigli
Overnight: Santorini
-
Day 11: The caldera rim walk
Fira to Oia along the rim early in the morning, then a swim at Kamari or Perissa while the villages fill up.
- Fira
- Imerovigli
- Oia
Overnight: Santorini
-
Day 12: Akrotiri and Red Beach
The Bronze Age town in the morning, Red Beach next door, then a wine tasting above the caldera.
- Akrotiri
- Red Beach
Overnight: Santorini
-
Day 13: A slow day on Santorini
Nothing booked. A late breakfast, a swim, or a caldera boat trip if the weather is calm.
- Imerovigli
Overnight: Santorini
-
Day 14: Final morning and flight home
Coffee on the rim, then the short flight to Athens for your connection.
- Santorini airport
Overnight: Santorini
At a glance
Acropolis of Athens
Ancient citadel above Athens with the Parthenon, reached on a timed-entry ticket, best visited at the 8am opening slot.
- Address
- Athens, GR
Acropolis of Athens
Open in Google Maps ↗Know before you go
Greece at a glance
Best time to visit
May to June, September to October
- January: cool, some showers
- February: cool, some showers
- March: mild, some showers
- April: mild, mostly dry
- May: warm, some showers
- June: hot, some showers
- July: hot, mostly dry
- August: hot, mostly dry
- September: warm, some showers
- October: warm, mostly dry
- November: mild, some showers
- December: mild, some showers
Mostly dry Some showers
- Capital
- Athens
- Currency
- Euro (EUR)
- Language
- Greek
- Time zone
- EET, UTC+2
- Plugs
- Type C / F, 230 V
- Driving
- On the right
Emergency112
Frequently asked questions
Is 2 weeks enough for Greece?
Yes for a first trip built around Athens and two islands. Fourteen days with three beds gives you at least four nights in each place, which is what stops a Greek trip feeling like a relay race. It is not enough to add Mykonos, Crete and a third island as well without losing whole days to ports.
How many islands can you visit in 2 weeks?
Two is comfortable, three is the limit. This route sleeps on two (Naxos and Santorini) and adds Paros as a day trip from Naxos, because the fast boat takes only about 25 minutes. Every extra island costs a half day of packing, ferry and check-in.
What is the best order for Athens, Naxos and Santorini?
Athens first, then Naxos, then Santorini, with every ferry heading south. Athens to Naxos is about 3 hours 15 minutes to 4 hours 25 minutes by fast boat and 5 to 7 hours by conventional ferry, and Naxos to Santorini is about an hour. Ending on Santorini means a 50-minute flight back to Athens rather than a long ferry north.
Do you need to book Greek ferries in advance?
In July and August, yes for the fast boats: book a few weeks ahead, because high-speed seats on the busiest sailings go first. Conventional Blue Star ferries run daily and are easier outside peak weekends. In May, June, September and October a few days ahead is usually enough.
Is a car needed on Naxos and Santorini?
Only for one day on Naxos, to reach Halki and Apeiranthos on your own timetable. Buses cover the villages but sparsely. On Santorini, buses and taxis link Fira, Oia, Akrotiri and the beaches, and the caldera rim path is walked, not driven.
Useful links (6)
- Athens (Piraeus) to Naxos ferries, Ferryhopper— ferryhopper.com
- Paros to Naxos ferries 2026, Ferryhopper— ferryhopper.com
- Naxos to Santorini ferries 2026, Ferryhopper— ferryhopper.com
- Archaeological sites in Athens, 2026 prices and hours, ArtVisitGuide— artvisitguide.com
- Athens to Santorini flights, FlightConnections— flightconnections.com
- How to get to Delphi, Greeka— greeka.com
Photo credits
Thank you to Zde, Bernard Gagnon, Atle1963a and Sidvics for sharing these beautiful photographs and helping bring this guide to life.
Editorial byline
Emma Collins Croatia, Greece and Turkey editor
Emma covers Croatia, Greece and Turkey for Epic Trip Ideas: city breaks, island hops, ferry routes, where to eat and what a trip really costs. Emma Collins is a pen name the Epic Trip Ideas editors use for Croatia, Greece and Turkey; every guide is checked against official sources before it goes live.
