I would think Athens the most visited place in Greece? Only cretans visit Crete?

PalenQ
According to the Hellenic Statistical Authority, 2011
arrivals at the Athens Airport were 17,7% , while at the 2 Cretan Airports 17,4%.( of total arrivals in Greece)
This brings Crete to the top, since Athens in most cases is used as a transit destination on the way to the islands , other Mainland destinations etc.

Thanks again for all the suggestions

We’ve decided to stick with Greece (now with a bit more time in each place) instead of Florence in the hope that we’ll go back one day and do a more in-depth tour of Italy (as has always been a dream of my sisters).

Our latest itinerary is...

Stopover somewhere- 1 night
Berlin- 3 nights
Prague- 3 nights
Vienna- 3 nights
Venice- 3 nights
Levanto- 4 nights
Rome- 6 nights
Santorini- 3 nights
Ios- 3 nights
Athens- 3 nights
Cappadocia- 3 nights
Istanbul- 4 nights
London- 11 nights
Stopover somewhere- 1 night

....Which gives us 2 SPARE NIGHTS to add on to 1 or 2 places! Where should we put them? Maybe Istanbul and Cappadocia considering the travel time? Or have 2 nights on each stopover there and back rather than just the one?

Also would you suggest we do London at the start or end of our trip? We were originally going to do London first so that if we were jet-lagged it would be in a place that we had more time in, not the leg from berlin to Vienna. But then we thought it might be nice to finish our trip in London where we can relax after travelling around for 7 weeks?

That looks like a very solid trip!! I would maybe add a day to each stopover so you get to see the cities you stop at - otherwise you will just be in transit the whole time.

As for whether to do London first...have you been to Europe before? If not London is a good place to get your feet wet and get used to things here. Same language and family to help!

Check out www.walks.com for great walking tours and day trips...cheap too!

Also www.daysoutguide.co.uk for 2for1 in London. Then do a search here for oyster cards to learn about how to qualify for these deals.

Have fun!

It sounds wonderful!

I don't think it matters whether you do London first or last as there are advantages both ways.

For what it's worth I always find the return journey back to Australia more tiring so would be tempted to have one night stopover on the way over and two on the way back. Excitement keeps me going on the way over. It depends a bit on the flight times. You may have to stop in London, Frankfurt or Paris if you're heading for Berlin so that will make the journey time longer.

If it were me, I'd add the other day to Istanbul.

Enjoy!

11 nights in London - why not scoot around a bit and hit Edinburgh - to me one of Europe's loveliest cities and about 4-5 hours on a train - stop off in York for a night - another of the UK's most fantastic cities and return to London via say the Lake District - take your family with you!

You're going to have a fantastic experience!

> Which gives us 2 SPARE NIGHTS to add on to 1 or 2 places! Where should we put them?

Depends on your interests!

I've been to all of the places you mention except Greece (but I visited the Cinque Terre, not Levanto). I wanted a bit longer almost everywhere! The biggest differences are Berlin (I thought 5 full days too little), Vienna (again, 5 full days were barely enough for me), and Istanbul (another place where 5 full days were barely enough). But these are all cities with a lot of museums in which I chose to spend time.

I probably travel at a harder/faster pace than most Fodorites; even so, I think you're shaving things a bit close to the bone. I spent only 2 full days in the Cinque Terre, and I spent less time in London (but didn't have family there); otherwise, none of your target number of NIGHTS are less than the number of DAYS I actually allocated to these destinations.

If your count of nights means that some days, or parts of days, are travel time, then you have far less time in most destinations than it seems. The standard advice is that you lose about 1/2 day for each move. I know that sounds absurdly high, but it isn't, particularly for transits of the distances you are considering - you need time to pack, check out, get to the train station or bus station or airport, get/confirm your ticket, check in, wait, get to wherever, get to your new hotel, check in..... If you aren't leaving 1st thing, you'll probably need to arrange to store your luggage and factor in some extra time to backtrack for your luggage before moving on. And remember that the places you may want to visit might close for lunch or close early or open late or even be closed for the day, so the time you do have in various places isn't necessarily time you can actually use to visit the things you most hope to see. (Which reminds me: Many major tourist destinations close one day a week - have you checked how that might affect your plans?)

One last thought: I would encourage you to make sure you have some down time along the way. I'm always surprised by how much sleep I need when I travel, but it makes sense - I'm seeing and doing so much, my body and brain need the time to process and recover. Almost all of my trips have been in the 3 - 4 week range, and I've been happily exhausted after each; I can't imagine how I would feel after 2 months unless I had been very careful to work in some "down" days.

Hope that helps!

Levanto for 4 nights - I guess that is just to stay put on beach and rest up - otherwise you could use it as a base for the Cinque Terre and Portofino - famous Portofino as well (train to Santa Margharite (sp?) a really nice fishing town itself and then either hike or take a bus or boat to Portofino, one of the most popular tourist meccas in Europe.