I would suggest you look at the " Youth " backpackers hostel at Plakias , Crete .
( websearch Plakias Youth Hostel and the page should come straight up )
Basically you fly in to Xania or Heraklieon , get the hourly express north-coast-main-island-highway coaches to Rethymnon , then the several-each-day local bus south to the Libyan sea and Plakias .
The hostel is behind the small resort town and is beautiful , in a pretty garden next to Olive groves and a stream , and the clientele are usually a bunch of very civilised people of all ages from all around the world , not scuzzy grubby adolescent drunken chavs .
There is lots to do at night , and the place has a very inclusive hassle-free tradition , so there is nice sociable safe company from the day you arrive .
The dorms are actually small 8 bunk rooms (some girls-only ) in seperate buildings and the shower and loo block is spotlessly clean . The place sleeps 60 when full right up .
It costs just 60 euro a week per person .
There are lots of local extended day-walks from the Hostel , plus a cheap taxi ride will take you to the village above the gorge into the higher hilly country .
The local scenery is stunning .
There are loads of pics on Google-Earth and Video films on you-tube , take a look .
Or if you wanted better accommodation the resort has lots of rent-rooms to choose from . You can still socialise using the hostel as a " club " , buy a drink or two from the bar for your " members fee " .
From there you can make the long tourist trip excursion to walk the Samaria Gorge trail which is a must for any hikers , plus a long track goes west from Plakias along the coast for as far as you want to hike it , little resort hamlets every few miles to get water at , and supplies , and rent a room overnight , and swim from little sandy coves along the way . ( check it out on Google-earth ) .
With that as your main destination , you could also have a day or two in Rethymnon ( again there is a hostel in the scenic old town - google it ) or plenty of rooms to rent .
Heraklieon old city is worth a day or two to explore , plus take the local bus ( the stop is next door to where the coast road express coaches terminate ) down to Knossos ( take half a day to look at the excavated Minoan site , and walk south along the road to see a bit of the country for a couple of hours .)
DO NOT use the Herakleion Youth Hostel on Byron street , its a stinky hole , there are hotels for every pocket right above the bus station in Heraklieon .
From Herakleion you can get a ferry going north to Santorini ( about 4 hours run ) Hotel touts with minibuses meet ferries at the quay and take you up to town . Santorini IS expensive , bite the bullet and pay maybe as much as 60 to 80 euro per night for room only .
Ferries also run as far as Athens each evening , calling at islands en-route . Many boats call at Naxos which has no big airport ( so no jetloads of unpleasant chavs ) , that has a super old town right next to the harbour , plenty of small hotels in the old town , again hotel touts often meet the boats .
Very nice island and easy to explore using the local buses from town .
Again , look at it on Google earth and on You-Tube .
The best advice I can give is to travel LIGHT , you dont NEED a bloody great rucksack you could fit a boat in , and a lot of people are staggering about with a daysack on their chest and a couple of waistbelt bumbags as well . Crazy !
4 x underwear plus what you have on ( you rinse them in a bit of soap and water and they are dry in a couple of hours ) 3 or 4 tops ( couple long sleeved to keep the sun off ) 1 x shorts , 2 x light loose cargo pant trek trousers , a swimming cossie , a floppy sunhat , and a pair of trekking sandals are ample . Plus a big beach towel and a hand towel .
You will need Mosquito repellent ( AND USE IT ) plus bite cream ( because the little bastards always get you , the bites start itching again every 12 hours , scratch them and they scar )
And wrap-around sunglasses .
Plus your girlie stuff , but leave the hairdryer and the heated rollers and the high heels and the bling and the poshfrocks at home , you wont need them .
You should be able to get all that in a daysack .
When I day-walk in greece I normally carry waterbottle and days ration in a carrier bag , or strap-bag over the sholder ,much less sweaty than even a small backpack , and your swimming cossie and towel fit in there too .
EVERYTHING in the way of toiletries and other standard stuff can be bought in local shops in Greece , dont bother packing more than the minimal washkit and warpaint .
Have a stunning holiday !
Include the following:
Athens- Acropolis and new Museum- National Archaeological Museum- Sounion- Plaka-Monastiraki-Psirri.all in about 4-5 days.
Epidaurus-Nafplion-Mycenae-Olympia and possibly Delphi in about 2-3 days there are organized tours for that
Island hopping in Saronic islands, Egina-Poros-Spetses- Hydra in about a day on each
Mykonos and Santorini for about 2 days on each
Those are some of the main attractions that tourists prefer to visit. Google each one to see if they meet your requirements and plan accordingly.
Safety is always primary for all tourists and dangers are not more than in any other place Exercise common sense.
Accommodation can be found at very reasonable plices and if you share rooms it will be even cheaper.
Alright, well, being half-native from there (I spend my summers there), I might be able to help.
First, you should go to Athens. Even if you don't want to do much sight seeing, Athens is worth it for a few days. After Athens, you should go to Santorini, they have a great village where you can be immersed, slightly touristy, but beautiful. Then, you should go to Ios. The port is amazing, large village, and there are quite a few clubs you can go to.
Maybe this site can help also finding nice affordable hotels thehotelcompare.com they great deals on hotels anywhere. Every time I travel I used this one and always find very good deals on hotel and I save some money too.
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