Rhodes, Santorini and Mykonos

We will be on the Reflection in June (my wife, 11 yo daughter, and I). We are doing a private tour in Rome the day before the cruise and small group tours in Naples (Pompeii), Athens, and Ephesus. That leaves Rhodes, Santorini, Mykonos and Messina as our other ports. I am hesitant to book too many more long tours. My daughter is an excellent traveler, but she does have her limits. Of our four remaining ports which would be best for a day at the beach? Which can be explored on our own at a relaxed pace, and are there any "must see" sights? If you were planning a relaxed itinerary for those four ports, what would you suggest?

Thanks

Each of those ports are covered extensively down the board. Santorini can be easily done on your own- walking around, or better, going to Oia. Commonly discussed here. While there are some beaches at Santorini, none are particularly close to the Fira area.

Messina is covered on the Italy board extensively. Most significant sites are outside of town, and would require some sort of tour (private or ship's) for real sightseeing.

We have been to these ports- we did everything on our own.

Mykonos for sure is your best location for a beach day.

We will be on the Reflection in June (my wife, 11 yo daughter, and I). We are doing a private tour in Rome the day before the cruise and small group tours in Naples (Pompeii), Athens, and Ephesus. That leaves Rhodes, Santorini, Mykonos and Messina as our other ports. I am hesitant to book too many more long tours. My daughter is an excellent traveler, but she does have her limits. Of our four remaining ports which would be best for a day at the beach? Which can be explored on our own at a relaxed pace, and are there any "must see" sights? If you were planning a relaxed itinerary for those four ports, what would you suggest?

 

Thanks

I might suggest:

Mykonos - Beach Day and general sightseeing on your own

Messina - See if the ship has a "Taormina on your own" excursion that provides transportation to/from Taormina. This gets you the basic transport, but lets you shop/eat/explore on your own in the nice village.

Santorini - Easily done on your own if you just explore the town of Fira at the top of the caldera. With a little more work, you can take a bus/taxi/rental car to Oia, which is a very desirable location to visit for a couple hours. Or arrange a tour that takes you to both places. A common ship tour will go to Oia and a winery and then return you to Fira where you can explore on your own before returning to the ship.

I agree with the Santorini and Mykonos suggestions - both can be done DIY and Mykonos is surely best for beaches. We rented a car in Santorini and an ATV in Mykonos.

In Rhodes, we rented a car and drove around the island. We saw many ruins throughout our other cruise stops in Greece and Turkey, so we were a bit "ruined" out by the time we arrived in Rhodes. We found some lovely restaurants and wineries away from the tourist areas. Our ship was in until 11:00 pm, so we also enjoyed the evening ashore as well.

Rhodes can also be a good beach day. We've caught the bus from Rhodes town to Faliraki beach - a nice sandy beach with good facilities, which is a short distance away - and still had plenty of time to wander round the old town in the afternoon.