marieelliott1084

Hi all. I am planning a trip next May/June to Italy, Athens, Greek Islands and finishing in Croatia.
I have never been before and extremely excited but would love any advice or tips offered.
I am travelling from Australia.
This is my rough itinerary:
Rome, Sorrento, Florence, Parma, Venice, Athens, 2 x Greek Islands (they all look amazing so no idea where to even start!) then to Split to join a 7 day cruise, back to Rome and home. Most locations I will stay around 3 nights.
I have researched so much but getting from A to B is not always that obvious and I don't want to spend whole days travelling if I can avoid it, simply because I didn't know about alternatives.
I would love any feedback. Thank you!!

KayF

Hi from another Australian. So I guess you are flying in and out of Rome? If you haven't already booked flights, it might be worth plotting all this on a map then think about whether flying into one city and out of a different one would save time. I'd do the same as you and plan on 3 nights in most places, that gives you 2 full days. Some places I'd want more if possible. I've stayed in Sorrento twice and 2 days would not be enough for me but I know most people have time constraints. Better to have 2 days than nothing!

Hopefully you can travel mostly by train. This is a fantastic website for information https://www.seat61.com/

How to choose your Greek islands? It's tough because as you say, they all look wonderful. It depends a bit on where you can easily reach by ferry (or plane if necessary) and also what you like to do. For history, you could choose Rhodes but for truly stunning views, Santorini or Folegandros? The ferries seem to work in groupings of islands, so it's relatively simple to go from one island to the next if they are in that group, but for other islands you'd need to go back to Piraeus/Athens. Have a look at these, they are older sites and possibly out of date but I found them useful for planning.

https://www.greecetravel.com/
https://www.go-ferry.com/

Some of the Greek islands have flights from European cities during the summer months so if you don't particularly want to visit Athens, you could check that out. I'm not saying to skip Athens but it's another option.

marieelliott1084

Thanks so much for all this info.
Greatly appreciated ‘

dreamon

You have an ambitious plan but everywhere you've chosen will be great. As you say, you'll want to minimise long journeys.

Assuming that you want to keep all your selected destinations, there are a few things to consider. Travel from the islands to Split may not be straightforward so I would aim to be in Athens last (of your Greek stops). If you can get a flight from Rome or Venice to a Greek island I would choose that and perhaps pair it with another island which is easily accessible from there by ferry (e.g. Naxos and Paros). Then ferry back to Athens, from where you could catch a flight to Split. I wouldn't book through them but skyscanner and rome2rio will give you hints as to possible routes. For Greek ferries, try openseas.gr as it allows you to see what ferries ran in May/June last year. Matt Barrett's website on Greece is a great resource for choosing where to go (but may make you feel like you want to spend the whole holiday in Greece).

For Italy, I suggest travelling from Venice to Rome or vice versa. Which you choose to start in may depend on flights from Italy to Greece (and cost of flights from Australia). If visiting Parma is of general interest rather than great interest, I'd consider visiting as a day trip from Florence (just because it will reduce the number of hotel changes, not because Parma isn't worth longer). I prefer Bologna to Florence but both are enjoyable. If you decide to start in Rome and you arrive early in the day, consider pressing on to Sorrento. Most people find that going to bed at a relatively normal local time helps with jetlag (as does going for a walk) and you may as well use that time to travel onwards (but keep in mind that's a three train journey and might be too much if unfamiliar with how things work). The seat61 site Kay mentions is excellent and the local train companies in Italy are trenitalia and italotreno (don't buy from third parties).

I would avoid returning to Italy if you can - it's unneeded travel. Alternative ports to head home from might be Zagreb, Sarajevo or Athens if you switch things around. For flights, look for multi-city tickets (not two one way tickets). You will find them pretty much the same price as arriving/departing from the same port. If you must return to Italy, consider the ferry from Split or Zadar to the Italian coast (then train from there).

Have a brilliant time!

Traveler_Nick

Rome to Naples by train. Then depending on budget interests get to Sorrento.

Back from Naples to Florence by train.

On to Parma by train. Likely connecting in Bologna

On to Venice by train. Again connecting in Bologna.

Fly to Athens from Venice. Getting to the islands will depend on which island. Pay attention to which island has a flight to Croatia. If you don't you'll likely need to fly back to Athens.

Sorrento and Parma are the only two that wouldn't be done totally on high speed trains. You might want to consider removing either/both depending on interests but both are very doable.

How long do you actually have?

marieelliott1084

I have 6 weeks in total
So there are some possible flights from the Greek Islands to Croatia?
I haven’t found any that don’t go via Athens and either Munich and Amsterdam…. Not really where I wanted to go??

Traveler_Nick

If I've added everything correctly you've got ten stops in five weeks. Including the return to Rome. One week for the cruise. That's way too much travel IMHO.

There may be a seasonal flight from one of the island. The problem is those flights may not get announced for awhile. If you don't find one it just makes it that much harder. You'll likely lose a full day.

marieelliott1084

Thanks Nick.
I might rethink my itinerary!!
Maybe less is more in this case…

Traveler_Nick

You can also try and rearrange things. Go from Venice to Croatia. Fly from Greece to Rome. Vueling and maybe Ryanair will likely have flights from the islands to Rome.

marieelliott1084

Thanks!

KayF

I'm not sure how much you've travelled overseas but I find it's quite tiring. The moving on bit can take a lot more time than you think. You lose at least half a day, often most of a day. I think trying to have a 'day off' now and then where you don't do very much, catch up on laundry, sleep in, whatever makes you happy. Rome and Sorrento are two places where there is a lot to see so you could spend more time there and cross something off your list. From Sorrento there are quite a few places along the coast to visit on day trips, by bus or ferry.

Heimdall

May or June is a great time for the Greek Islands. Weather is good but it’s still not high season, so less crowded than July or August. I think a good two island combination would be Santorini for the views, and Naxos for a more traditional island. Both are on the main Central Cyclades ferry route from Piraeus, and both have airports. Naxos has a small airport with flights from/to Athens, while Santorini has an international airport with flights to Italy in summer, as well as to Athens all year round. AFIK, but open to correction, there are no flights to Croatia from any island airport — for that you will have to go back to Athens.

Croatia is better connected with Italy than with Greece, so bear that in mind for your planning.

dreamon

Marie, six weeks is a lovely chunk of time to spend. In my casual observation, fights between Greece and Croatia have always been very limited (although that seems to be slowly changing). On the basis of travel less, experience more, if you are thinking of rethinking your plans, you could consider dropping either Croatia or Greece, focusing your trip on Italy and one other country. All three countries have enough to keep you happy and busy for endless time - and any two of these would provide a real contrast.

As a generalisation, any Greek island which has an airport is going to have lots more tourists. That doesn't mean that they are not enjoyable to visit but are likely to be less traditionally Greek.

If you decide to opt for just Italy and Croatia, you could potentially take a ferry from Venice to Rovinj (doesn't run every day but otherwise train/bus available) and wander south to join your cruise in Split. There are buses and trains from Split to Zagreb for your return home. I always try to minimise flights once I reach Europe, preferring trains, buses and ferries.

One other thing which you will doubtless be told many times is to travel as lightly as you possibly can when it comes to luggage. Heavy luggage will just be a burden, especially on a trip with multiple stops. You will get away with fewer clothes than you think possible and shopping is (to me) fun to do on holidays if you need anything.

Swiss_Sights

Unfortunately, I only know Corfu, but it's a super beautiful and quite green island. The west of the island is rocky with many beautiful bays and the east has sandy beaches. From there, it wouldn't be that far to Croatia.

Have a great trip!
Martin

Travel_Nerd

Not "far" by distance, but definitely "far" using public transport. But OP would have to likely take a combo of ferry to Albania and buses through Montenegro and Albania to get there. Or ferry to Italy from Corfu and then ferry or fly to Croatia from Italy. Or drive through Albania and Montenegro. None of this would be ideal, imho.

OP, I cannot offer much advice as I am currently in the midst of planning a shorter but similar itinerary to include Greece and perhaps a bit of Italy. It is right now a hodgebodge of pro cons list and does not include Croatia. But I did spent extensive time in Croatia last year.

With that having been said, Venice to Istrian Peninsula are connected very nicely. You could continue your trip, if it works for your plans, between Istria and Northern Dalmatia via ferry. I should let you know it took me just short of a three weeks to travel from Piran, Slovenia (near Rovinj) in Istria (I started in Venice, using the tourist ferry) down through Northern and Southern Dalmatia and ending the coast portion in Kotor, Montenegro. It can be done - but is a lot and it was a LOT of moving. Combining Greece with your plans is the wrinkle, as others have mentioned, is getting to Greece from Croatia or Italy. You will have to decide what makes sense transit-wise and your overall itinerary.

Happy planning!