Look for a flight — even if you can do this, it will be an exhausting and nerve-wracking day.
This is one of numerous travel agency sites that show ferry schedules and sell ferry tickets:
http://www.greekferr…

I love Venice, but your trip is pretty rushed, so I can see skipping it. I’d skip Naples (or do it as a day trip from Rome) instead. I’d be inclined to cut Split — I liked the place, but it’s a hell of a long way to Croatia to tack it on the end of your trip.

Ok so do you think flight from Athens to Rome is our best option? That will then give us an extra day and will be able to 3 days in Rome & La spezia ? any other suggested stop in italy?

With the Split we are doing a Split to Debrovnick cruise which is 7 nights. Flying from Berlin to split – cruise to debrovnick – flight from debrovnick to to Berlin. which then leaves us with 3 days in berlin before making our way to frankfurt then home.

Only if you can’t find a flight directly from Ios to just about anywhere in Italy. I’d seriously look at a different island with flight service before trekking back to Athens. I ended up in Athens twice on one trip, and I don’t recommend it….

Apple,

Ios does not have an airport. But several neighboring islands, such as Santoríni, Páros, and Náxos, do have airports, so you’ll need to ferry to one of these islands.

Visiting only Ios, Athens, and Patra, you’re not doing the country much justice. I’m assuming you want to party in Ios, but neighboring Santoríni is well worth your time, you can certainly visit both.

If you end up taking surface transportation (ferry + train/bus) from Athens all the way to Italy, then I advise: instead of taking a ferry from Patra to Italy, you should take an overnight bus (or fly) from Athens to Corfu, spend a few days in Corfu, and then take a ferry to Italy from there. Like Santoríni, Corfu is also well worth your time, and you’ll want to break up the long commute from Athens to Rome anyways.

So, my suggested itinerary for Greece is:

Fly into Athens
Ferry to Ios, spend a day or two
Ferry to Santoríni, spend 2 days
Ferry or fly to Athens
Bus or fly to Corfu, spend a few days there
Ferry to Italy

The is a far better Greece itinerary than the one you planned.

Athens: not too long ago I would have recommended to minimize your time there. You definitely want to check out the old quarter (especially the Pláka district) and the city’s Clasical-era monuments (by far the most impressive, largest, and extensive archaeological site in the country from the Classical era)…these are things I would have always recommended. But the rest of the city has changed tenfold just within the past decade. Like most American cities, and unlike most European cities, Athens suffered from bad urban planning in the post-WWII era. Authorities in Greece thought that the automobile would be the way of the future, so public transit was neglected, and many historical buildings with pleasant architecture (from mid-19th century neoclassical buildings to 1930s art deco structures) were torn down and replaced with concrete 1960s/70s apartment blocks. By the 1980s you had a traffic-clogged polluted city that was crying out for help.

In the late 1980s, things started to change, first with the complete overhaul and gentrification of the Pláka district. Once a haven for thugs and druggies, the Pláka district’s distinct neoclassical homes have all been restored, and the area is now filled with restaurants, cafes, shops, and is highly popular with tourists. You won’t find a single reminder of what the area was like back in the 70s/80s. The nearby neighborhood of Thissio was later gentrified in the 1990s, and the neighborhoods of Psirri and Gazi are currently undergoing gentrification and have become big nightlife districts. And just this year Monastiraki square just got a major facelift. The city also has a nice new transit system, which opened for the 2004 Olympics. 15 years ago there was only one metro line. Now there’s 7 urban rail lines (3 Metro, 2 light rail, and 2 regional transit lines) making it sooooo much easier to get around the city, although the city center is small and walkable, especially since they’ve pedestrianized many of the streets. You’ll also want to check out the brand new Acropolis Museum which opened this year, situated right next to the Acropolis hill, on the recently pedestrianized Odos Aeropagitou street. The museum houses artifacts that originated from the Acropolis hill, and replaced a much older cramped museum that was located on the hill itself.

While there’s much more to the country than Athens, don’t feel rushed to leave the city. It’s not Venice, but it is a dynamic city that has improved sooo much in recent years, I love discovering what’s new everytime I visit. More and more once-dilapidated historical buildings are being restored…I’m always discovering new neoclassical, art deco, or art nouveau buildings that I had never noticed before, and the city’s culture, vibe, and nightlife are are worth checking out. So, while Athens might not be Venice or Paris, it’s more like Shanghai, a city that’s slowly transforming to its former glory.

Thanks for the feedback.

Our inital plans were to get the ferry from Patra – Santorni – (Ferry to) Ios. – 3 nights on both Ios and Santorni. But now thinking it will be best to go to Ios then to Santorini – fly from Santorni to Rome ?
Flight from Santorni to Rome on the 10th July are around the $300 AUD (skyscanner) 3 hours 45 min with a 1 hour stop over in with a stop over in Athens. Do you know of any direct flights from Santorni?
Even with the stop over this seems like a much better option – considering it would be a 4 hour ferry trip from santorini to athens bus to airport then another connecting flight?

There’s no scheduled direct service from Santoríni to Italy (plenty of charters though). Rhodes and Crete (Heraklion) do have direct flights to Milan and Rome. All your options from Santoríni are two-leg flights, which isn’t a big deal. Especially given the fact that both flights will be short, and your layover at ATH is only an hour.