mythsnlegends

Hello there!

My friend and I will be travelling to Greece and Italy for the first time in September. Here is our itinerary:
Sept 10 - Sept 14th: Athens, Greece (Would love to find out what we can do in Athens or surrounding it)
Sept 15 - Sept 20th: Santorini (Suggestions welcomed!)
Sept 21- Sept 26th: Rome, Italy (Ciampino Airport)

We would like to know what we can do in mainland Greece for 5 days before we head to Santorini for a friend's wedding apart from the usual touristy visits in Athens. A little bad planning haha as we'd prefer to spend more time in Italy. Anyhow, any suggestions to explore greece is welcomed!

Please do recommend where we should go in Santorini as well (apart from the awesome views of the ocean!)

Lastly, we only have 6 days (SNIFF SNIFF) in Italy. Therefore, we would like to make the best out of it. Looking for beautiful scenic places to visit which are less touristy. We plan to rent a car and do a little road trippin starting from Rome. This is our road trip route:
Rome to Umbria (spend 2 nights in Rome and Umbria)
Umbria to Florence (1 night in Florence. We plan to roam Tuscany on bike and drink til we drop, haha)
Florence back to Rome on the 26th and Rome back to Athens. Will be spending a night in Athens again before we fly back to Malaysia.

Btw, how much is it to rent a car? Also is it safe and warm enough if we were to 'camp out' along our road trip? Are we actually allowed to do so? Would love to sleep beneath the stars and not get into trouble

Hope to gain some feedback!

Thanks in advance!
May

nytraveler

Sorry - but living out of your car is NOT camping. For camping you need to have either some sort of camper or all of the tent/equipment and rent a space in a campground or other site offering services.

And biking while drunk in an area you are not familiar with is possibly one of the stupidest things I have ever heard of. Also note that in Italy the drunk driving rules are very strict and are enforced. Don;t even think about it.

To avoid wating time you should go from the airpot to wherever you will be staying in Umbria, then Florence, then back to Rome for whatever time you have there versus staying in Rome twice. Also be aware that many cities in Rome have a pedestrian only area in the center - no cars allowed and if you drive in them the fines can be very high (and there are many cameras tracking drivers in the illegal areas).

Suggest you need to do some reading in guide books - check out the Let's Go Student guides to get info on budget travel for young people. I do not think they will reco either renting a car (too $$$$) or trying to sleep by the side of the road or on a farmer's private land.

tuscanlifeedit

mythsandlegends: most of us here are a bit older and are dedicated planners.

For what to do in Athens, you need to do a little reading. If not in travel guides, then on the internet. This website (Fodors) has destination guides. Check the one for Athens.

For Santorini, I don't think you'll have time to do much more than go to the wedding you're going to. I find travel in Greece to be rather slow going, and it needs to be planned.

Don't rent a car in Rome if you can help it. I believe you said you are flying in to Ciampino. I would pick up the car there, and head right in to Umbria. From Umbria, train to Florence. Find a bike rental company and arrange your bike trip from there.

After that, you can train to Rome and see a bit before you leave Italy.

These are just my ideas. You really need to do some research, I think.

Finally, with all those days in Athens, and no real interest in sticking to the historic sites exclusively, why not plan to NOT spend all 5 nights there? Go somewhere else that's easy enough to get to from Athens. If you like to hike or camp, a little research might turn something up.

A quick bunch of results from Google:
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...+athens+greece

tuscanlifeedit

I'm sorry, I read your Santorini dates wrong.

Heimdall

One thing I like about September in Greece is <i>you don't have to plan.</i>

There are lots of things to do in Athens apart from visiting historic sights. There are clubs that stay open very late, beaches on the "Athens Riviera", and specialist tours like this one: http://www.athens-walks.com/#!athens-food-tour.

You could take a day trip or overnight to Nafplio or Delphi, visit the Saronic Gulf Islands, or get an early start on your way to Santorini, stopping off for a couple of nights on Paros or Naxos. Another island to consider if you like clubbing is Ios. All three of these islands are only about 2 hrs by ferry from Santorini.

On Santorini there are lots of things to do, but that warrants a separate thread. A few examples, though: wine tours, volcano tours, black sand beaches, Akrotiri.

sandralist

I am 100 percent certain that nytraveler has never camped in Italy. Not once in her life. Excuse me but: What a liar -- and what a scold! Granny nah-nah.

You can ask farmers if it is okay to sleep on their property, but the conversation usually goes better if you speak Italian and offer to share some wine! You can also ask locals where they would suggest. I am asked sometimes (I live in Italy). However, I'm not sure I would recommend it, given mosquitoes, ticks and -- I am serious about this -- wild boars. What would make more sense, if the weather is nice, is to get a cheap farm stay in Umbria where you would have your own terrace/outdoor space.

But I also think if you are going to a wedding and need to bring clothes for that, then you also don't want to be lugging around a sleeping bag, right? It won't be warm enough at night in central Italy for you to sleep outdoors in just your shirtsleeves.

So here's an idea: Not far from Rome there is an agriturismo with a treehouse. (Boars cannot climb trees)

http://www.lapiantata.it/en/tree-houses/tree-house.html

stevectravel

My suggestions would depend a lot on when the actual wedding date is… if it was closer to the 20th I would suggest starting in Rome and exploring Italy then fly to Athens for one night taking in the touristy things to do in Athens before heading to Santorini the next morning. You could then spend three nights on Santorini with the wedding date in between. That would give you another six days to explore other islands before flying out of Athens back home. If your wedding date was closer to the 15th I would start in Athens and only spend one or two nights there before exploring other islands on my way to Santorini. Again I would only stay three nights on Santorini with the wedding day in the middle. Maybe four nights. Then I would fly from Santorini to Rome to have many more days to explore that area. I would then fly from Rome back home.

zac495

Here is my contribution page on tripadvisor
http://www.tripadvisor.com/members-c...ratzoe/g482942

Anteliz Suites is where we stayed.

Loved Santorini Sailing
Restaurants: Vanilla and Argo

Just enjoy!!!