[FlamesAllTheWay]

Athens is considered a dump. but I didn't mind it. Go see the Parthenon. Probably has a few clubs and stuff you can go to as well, I didn't stay for very long. I'm pretty sure the Oracle at Delphi is on the mainland as well so go see that too before you set sail. They have a pretty cool arena (not like the Colosseum, but still worth checking out).

As for the islands, Santorini is an absolute must. The island itself is the tip of a big underwater volcano and the sunsets there are some of the best in the world. You will likely be riding donkeys up (and I mean waaaay up) to the town from where the ferry docks. The path is like a bit wider than a sidewalk and basically jack-knifes up the side of a steep hill/cliff. It's made of stones, some of which are falling off which gives the entire route up a nice slant sideways towards the edge. Definitely one of the more sketchy journeys I've made. Pray you get a surefooted mule. Lots of students go there too.

Patmos was pretty cool, I think that's where a cave is where John the Baptist... or one of the other decipals.. anyways someone who wrote something for the bible lived for a bit. If you're into that kind of stuff. Nice beach if I recall correctly.

Mykonos seemed to have some good clubs and a good nightlife.

Crete has the palace of Knossos on it which was where that crazy minotaur was chasing Theseus around in a maze if you are up on your Greek mythology. It was actually pretty well preserved and excavated when I was there.

I don't know the ferry situation but I also remember going to Ephasus which is on the western edge of Turkey. Maybe ferries going there are rare or something cause it's Turkey, I'm not sure. Anyways it's another ancient town with a big amphitheater. Apparently someone thought it'd be a good idea to have Sting perform live there and his bass amps tore the place apart.

I hope that helps. I went a loooong time ago before I was even of legal drinking age so this is all from distant memory. I think to a couple more islands too.. Rhodes was maybe one of them but I can't recall. Things might have changed a bit, but those are some of the things that stuck out for me. I would imagine the mainland is pretty charred after those big wildfires last summer.

EDIT: ooooh boy, ya, pray for good weather when you're on the ferries too. Just brutal when we were going to Santorini, pretty much everyone on board got sick except for some local guy who was just pounding back the beers. Probably found the whole situation pretty funny. Looking out the big windows it was all ocean... then sky... ocean... then sky again. When we got to Santorini it was in the middle of a small storm and the ferry ramp got knocked off the dock and a car almost fell into the bay.