We went to Athens from Zante but it was an over night stay and this was the closest island.

Les

Poros on the main land or any of the southern Aegean islands will be nearer

yasus
wizard

OK thanks Les, looks like we will have to give up on the Athens idea. Next dilemma then is where to go? As the £-euro exchnge rate is so bad we need somewhere with a relatively low cost of living. Only other requrements are a nice beach, a few small bars/tavernas and hopefully some interesting day trips.

Have a look at Tolon. We did the Athens day trip on our last day.

we went to aegina and the last day we were offered a choice. spend the day as usual and then a traditional greek night before catching the ferry and then to a holding hotel in athens before going to the airport. the other option was the day in athens with a guided coach tour,including going to the parthenon,(which was awesome),then to a holding hotel to have a sleep and freshen up before going to the airport. obviously we chose the day in athens and i am so glad we did.
if i remember correctly the TO was LIBRA. this could possibly be a choice for you.

best regards percy123.

there are ( or were when we last visited the mainland many years ago) resorts near Athens, in particular Glyfada but possibly Aegina would be the best option.

whatever you choose have a great time

Thanks for the replies, doing some research on the places mentioned. Will let you know what we decide.

You can always choose to visit islands that are less known. You can find there reasonable prices. But during October the prices and room rates are very low in most places in Greece. To avoid spending a lot, never have food or drink in the touristic areas. I could suggest many places places for you to go. Try to visit big islands, like Rhodes and Corfu. I think youll have more options there as for where to go and how much youll spend. You can take a look for some other islands too, like Milos, Skiathos and Skopelos, that they're considered as "couple" destinations. Avoid islands like Santorini and Mykonos if you want to manage your budget

We stayed on the beautiful island of Skiathos and took the day excursion to Athens, we travelled out on the flying dolfin and took a coach to Athens (with a stop for breakfast) we saw all the sights,had dinner and then returned on the seacat ,
Athens was fab we were there 2weeks before the olympics and wouldn't have missed it for the world
Also if you stay on Skiathos take the pleasure boat trip from the main harbour over to Skopolos for the day (Mama Mia)

Athens is a nice place but not more that 2 days.
I would start by Athens and then go to one of the amazing islands. There are some islands just next to Athens (but not the best) and then other really amazing just 4-5 hours away, like Santorini and Mykonos.
I think that you and your other half would enjoy Santorini a lot. It is the most romantic area of Greece.