My husband & I are in our mid-20s and will be traveling to Europe (London, Paris, Swiss Alps, Venice, Florence, Rome) for the month of August 2007. We planned to end our trip with 5-6 nights in Santorini. However, the more we research, we realize that the flights and trouble to get from Rome to Santorini and then fly back to Athens to fly home may not be worth the cost or time. Does anyone have any suggestions for alternatives to the Greek islands that would be easier to get to from Italy or France? We want an island/beach that is beautiful, relaxing, & romantic, and we do not care if there is not a lot of night life. I have heard there are nice islands in Croatia, and it is at least geographically closer to Italy, but I do not know anything else about it yet. We are in the initial phase of searching for an alternative to our Santorini plans and any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks!

You could do 5-6 nights on the very large island of Sardinia in Italy. It had the most amazing beaches of every type that I have seen in Italy. Sardinia is a 1 hour flight from Rome. Although any beach area in August will be PACKED. For a smaller Italian island you could do Capri.

You might not know that Aegean Airlines flies between Rome and Santorini via Athens, and if you plan carefully and catch their airfare sale you can actually get to Santorini very cheaply with only a short stopover for a plane change in Athens. Check with their website around the end of January for pricing. http://www.aegean-air.gr/aegeanen/home/

Since you are ending in Rome, you need to connect to a closer place for beaches. I suggest Sicily or Sardinia, botht of which are still Italy and have frequent flights from Rome. August is always a zoo on beaches in Europe--good luck !

Yes, there are lovely islands in Croatia, and you can actually take an overnight ferry from Trieste or Bari, so depending on how your trip is planned out, you could take a ferry from Bari, go to Croatia, and then easily end up in Venice. Hvar and Korcula are the two best known islands, but there are thousands, and many have nice beaches comparable to those in Greece.

Three years ago I was faced with the same challenge. A friend and I were traveling in Italy and I wanted him to see Santorini or Mykonos. But the time and expense of getting from Italy to one of those islands made me change my mind.

Instead, we went to Corfu. Rome-train to Ancona (or Bari)-overnight ferry to Corfu.

I fell in love with Corfu. I am going back in June for the third summer in a row. Corfu is not at all like the other touristy Greek islands. But very nice sandy beaches that aren't too crowded (though August may be a different story), and not too expensive.

This summer we are traveling first to Dubrovnik and then on to Corfu.

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