mxlplik2NJ

Hi - my son is going to study in Thessaloniki in September. Want to visit during November "Jersey Week". We have never been to Greece and want to do the "must-see" sites. Thinking flying into Athens for 2.5 days and meeting my son on the first weekend; then he goes back to Thessaloniki while we do Santorini for 2.5 days; then Thessaloniki (where he is studying, which requires flying through Athens) for 2 days. I noticed the flights out of Thessaloniki back to NY take like 15 hours with one layover (and only one or two airlines fly out of Thessaloniki in November). Is it because November is not a busy time and there are less flights available?

That is a lot of flying I know [NYC to Athens; Athens to JTR; JTR to SKG via Athens; SKG to NYC with a long layover somewhere]....can anyone suggest a better itinerary? For example, is Santorini a MUST? Or can we take like a day trip (cruise) to a nearby island from Athens, so we don't have to take yet another flight? We will likely never go back to Greece so don't want any regrets of not going to Santorini - like is going to Paros a decent alternative that has a similar look and feel as Santorini?

Thanks in advance.

Sassafrass

Personally, there are plenty of places I find as appealing as Santorini, so I could miss it, but that is easy for me to say, since I have been there. However, it is stunning, so you will likely be happy you see it and there will be no crowds in November. Things may be closed though. Check on that.

There are direct flights between Santorini and Thessaloniki, so connecting that way would be better. I just do not know the schedule for November, and there are likely fewer flights in off season.

We usually push on to the furtherest destination right at the beginning, so if it were me, I would try to go straight away to Santorini, spend a couple of days relaxing, fly directly to Thessaloniki, spend time with son, then fly to Athens for two or three days, and home from there.
I realize you have to coordinate the time your son will have available and flight days and times, but If you can do fewer flights, it would be so much less hectic.

zebec

Yo MXL,
In November there will be significant discounts. The reduced fees that we once experienced off-season were such that I actually asked the hotel receptionist there whether I'd misheard her rate quotes! Turned out that I'd heard her right the first time. A very pleasant surprise.
You would also experience far fewer crowds, a real plus when trying to enjoy a visit to Oia, say for sunset.
For all its mass commercial tourism, the island remains one of Travel's 'musts'.
One could check out my recent post here, which features some professional drone footage shot over Santorini.
Good luck!
I am done. the volcanic isle

Heimdall

Aegean Airlines does have direct flights between Thessaloniki and Santorini in November, but they aren’t cheap. Flights from Athens are about half the price.

For the record, it was my ninth trip to Greece before I got round to visiting Santorini. It is a beautiful island, and won’t be crowded in November. I guess if you want to visit an island in November Santorini would be a good choice.

mxlplik2NJ

Thanks much Sassafrass - great idea about flying out of Athens at the end (that shortens up the flight time --- found an 11 hour non-stop Emirates flight from Athens to Newark) - not sure why flying into JTR from NYC gets me in a bit late Saturday - so may have to leave a day earlier (Thursday to arrive Friday pm) so I can have just about 2 full days with my son who will fly from SKG to JTR to meet us for the weekend and he flies back to SKG Sunday night.

mxlplik2NJ

Zebec - saw that Nature Relaxation Video of Santorini - wow - very nice - definitely will go. Thanks! Looking forward to those discounts - like what are we talking about $200/night for a top notch hotel in November?

mxlplik2NJ

Thanks Heimdall. A direct flight definitely makes it easier for my son to come to JTR to meet up with us and back to SKG and for us to go there later in the week. Somehow I seem to have sees Athens a necessary stop in between JTR-SKG when I was searching.

balthy

Volotea fly direct from SKG to JTR in November, they only fly on certain days of the week so the schedule might not fit but it seemed very cheap, about EUR81 return not including luggage. Volotea are a low cost Italian carrier.

Heimdall

If your son can get a return ticket for €81 return from Thessaloniki on Volotea that would be a bargain. Not that it makes any difference, but I thought Volotea was a Spanish carrier.

HappyTrvlr

Volotea is a Spanish carrier that connects mid sized European cities. We flew with them non stop from Bari to Palermo saving us from flying through Rome.

balthy

Yes they are Spanish, my mistake.

neckervd

Yes, Volotea is a Catalan (Spanish) carrier. But they offer more flights from Venice (domestic and international) than anybody else.
Be prepared to find rain, wind and may be hute waves in the Aegean Sea. if you travel in November.

mxlplik2NJ

Thanks - unfortunately, they don't fly from SKG to JTR on Friday night. He has to use OlympicAir to fly through Athens - making it a 2.5 hour trip vs 50/60 minutes. We can fly out direct from JTR to SKG on Sunday....