bronnie73

Hi.

I am travelling from barcelona to one of the 3 above places.
I am with my boyfriend, we are both 21.
We are hoping to go to italy - naples/ milan/ rome/ venice

trains between these places seemed to add up to around 150 USD which is easy its just the outer city transport i am confused with.

I am struggling to find the best way to incorporate greece and croatia. Specifically Split and Dubrovnik and Santorini, Naxos and Mykonos (fly into athens early morn and basically go straight to one of these islands)

So far i have seen flights between the greek islands which seem fine. and have also managed transport withitn Crotia.

HOwever was wondering whether there were any recommendations on which order to do this whole trip in as i cannot seem to find sufficient transport routes between croaita and greece!!!!!

i am leaving barcelona approx 4th july (give or take a couple of days)

and have the option to either go to London or Paris to go back home form at the end of my trip (around 25th JUly)

So have approx 3 weeks. i only plan on spending 3/4 days in croatia and around 6 days in greece (2 mykonos/ 2 santorini / 1 naxos?) with the rest of my time in Italy, specifically naples as i have a friend there.

does anyone have any recommendations as to what my best options are considering all costs and time effieciency from travelling around these places? it doesnt matter to me in which order i go, just that it is the most time and cost effective.

Thanks
ALex

traveller1959

You are intending to cover a lot of ground in Europe. You will spend a significant portion of your precious travelling time in airport, trains and ferries. And am not sure if you destinations are worth the hassle.

From Barcelona, you fly to Italy. Within Italy, you can easily move by train. From Italy to Croatia, you fly again and again from Croatia to Greece.

In Greece, I am not sure whether it is a wise idea to travel to islands. In the last months, this forum is full of Americans who say "I want to travel to the Greek islands!". Somebody must have told to go to the islands. However, Greek mainland and Peloponnes are much more interesting than the islands - without the hassle of taking ferries.

Anyway, you have 21 days, you want to see almost all Italy, half of Croatia, a significant portion of Greece and Paris or London. I am afraid you end up with an impressive collection of airplane, train and ferry tickets and hardly any impression of the destinations you have visited.

GarrettD

As someone who's been to all of the places you've mentioned, I'll throw out some advice on your itinerary...just some general advice! Because you seem to be tearing off a lot to chew, especially considering your Greek island stops.

The one time I went from Dubrovnik to Greece, the easiest thing to do was take a ferry to Bari, Italy, where I spent an afternoon before connecting to a ferry to Patras, Greece. As far as I know, there's really not an easier way to reach Greece from Croatia besides going back to Bari. Trains from Croatia to Greece are apparently not a thing (but check to be sure), and there aren't any direct boats straight from Croatia to Greece. In addition, I think you'll want to be sure to end your Croatian leg of the trip in Dubrovnik, or at least some place with a ferry connection to Bari.

Once you get to Patras from Bari, the easiest way to those islands would be hop on the bus from Patras to Athens, which takes a couple hours. But first, check and make sure you can't fly directly to the islands from Patras (I don't know if you can, hopefully another poster can help you out here or you can research it). May I suggest, if you only have about 6 days in Greece, to only choose two islands? Trying to hit 3 in that time will leave you rushed, spending half your time on ferries, and you won't get a feel for any of the islands. For spectacular sites = Santorini; for a less touristy, more authentic Greek feel with nice hikes and beaches = Naxos. For parties and chilling by the beach = Mykonos. Naxos does not have a direct connection with either Mykonos or Santorini but I can't remember which. Make sure you understand the Greek ferry boat routes before you pick your islands, and again, sometimes with a big itinerary like yours, less equals more.

Have fun!

GarrettD

As the last poster mentioned, for another way from Croatia to Greece, just check flights. But oftentimes the Bari connection is easier if you don't mind spending some time on the ferry. Bari's cute for an afternoon; you can go see the relics of St. Nicholas of Myra aka Santa Claus, while you wait.

traveller1959

BTW, Aegean Airlines flies from Belgrad to Athens. There are flights from Zagreb and Split to Belgrad.

neckervd

It's never time or cost efficient to go to Croatia for 3 days only. But there are reguar flights from Dubrovnik to Athens.

traveller1959

Yes, I found a direct flight Dubrovnik - Athens with Aegean Airlines, but it does not fly daily. I overlooked it because I entered a certain dummy date in the flight engine.