Hello All.. I would like to take my daughter to Greece and Spain for her HS grad gift in July before she heads off to college. We plan to stay approx. 2-3 weeks. Our interests include; beaches, shopping, local culture, great food, and exciting buzz/nightlife. Any help with narrowing down cities would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Nicole in NJ

Start by getting copies of the newest editions of the Greece and Spain travel guidebooks from Fodor's or another source so you can make informed decisions regarding your choice of destinations. There's just too much to suggest without you doing some of the "narrowing down" beforehand. If you've already short-listed your choices let us know what they are.

I would highly recommend choosing one country or the other for a richer experience.

Everything your daughter is seeking can be found in both Greece and Spain. It's only a matter of choosing one over the other. 2 to 3 weeks is barely enough time to get her feet wet, but she should like either choice.

As others have suggested, I would pick one country rather than two. If your daughter is studying Spanish, she might especially enjoy visiting Spain so that she can practice her language skills. And if she's not, pick Greece! For a first-time visit and because she's young, I'd suggest: Santorini, Mykonos, and Athens, at the end of the trip. Anyway, you really can't go wrong with either choice.

If you end up in Greece, I'd recommend an overnight trip to Meteora!

Joannyc has the right idea — too many people seem to think Greece is only Athens and the islands. If you want the trip to have some educational value you should spend some time on the mainland, visiting Delphi and some of the wonderful ancient sites in the Peloponnese. If you don't want to drive there are several Athens-based travel companies that put together group and private guided tours covering the most important sites. Here is an example of a four-day tour: http://www.chatours.gr/tours.php?exc=12&exccat=1. Go to the home page for more options, and also check http://www.keytours.gr and http://www.gotours.com.gr.

You could spend the first week on the islands and tour the mainland on the second. While Mykonos and Santorini are popular choices, they will be crowded in July. A less expensive and more family oriented island is Naxos.

There are many sights in Athens, so give yourself sufficient time to see them. To get a glimpse of things many tourists miss, try http://www.athens-walks.com and https://www.facebook.com/AthensWalks. Their food tour gets lots of good feedback, and the owner, Kostas, was a former Evzone (palace guard).

My husband and I loved Naxos, but our kids ( college age) preferred Mykonos. It's known for its "exciting buzz/nightlife", and draws lots of college age kids, especially in the summer months.

Many of the reasonably priced accommodations fill up quickly for summer, so if you're interested, I'd get on it ASAP.

Mykonos certainly has the buzz/nightlife, with beach bars, and clubs in town busy from midnight until dawn. July is high season, so everything will be going full steam ahead!
http://www.paradise-greece.com/club/
http://www.skandinavianbar.com
(a couple of choices, but websites not yet updated for 2014)

Go to YouTube and type in "Mykonos" if you want to know what it's like there during July.

No doubt Mykonos is party central in the summer, but our kids loved it. My husband and I couldn't wait to get out of there. Some other islands we ALL enjoyed in case you're rethinking this: Rhodes ( Rhodes Town) and Crete ( Chania).

Well, that will certainly give Nbk's high school grad daughter a headstart on the college party scene! ;-)

Absolutely, Heimdall! It's good to be young. Not that we aren't, of course! The OP will have to decide how much "exciting buzz/nightlife" she wants for her high school grad! Describes Mykonos perfectly in the summer months, which is why I head straight for Naxos and Paros!

<i>Greece and Spain?- Daughter's HS grad gift
Posted by: Nbk on Dec 21, 13 at 2:17pm
Hello All.. I would like to take my daughter to Greece and Spain for her HS grad gift in July before she heads off to college.</i>

I hope you realize that July in those countries is the beginning of high tourist season. Accommodations will be hard to come by and expensive. And it can be very hot.

I suggest a mid-Europe trip, say Paris, Amsterdam, and maybe London.

>>I hope you realize that July in those countries is the beginning of high tourist season. Accommodations will be hard to come by and expensive. And it can be very hot. <<

There's nothing wrong with the high season.. which in Greece is mostly from 20/7 -20/8.
I also don't understand why someone should not visit because it's very hot.... Apart from the fact that it is not too hot on the Cyclades due to the Meltemi winds ( Northern winds), there are millions of tourists visiting both countries due to the better weather, compared to their own countries.

If i am not wrong half of the USA has a similar if not hotter weather compared to Greece ( and Spain).

You're right that some parts of the US are as hot as southern Spain in July, but probably not half the US.

With 2-3 weeks, I easily think you can do 2 countries, I think that is pretty reasonable. Especially for a first trip, I think these in-depth one country for weeks tours may be better after you've traveled a while and have a particular interest to really explore an area in-depth. I was in Greece only a week, and that included both Athens (with day trip to Delphi) and an island cruise. I have always loved Greek food and been interested in mythology, so really liked Athens, definitely include it. Delphi wasn't much given everything is about gone to crumble. My island cruise wasn't that great as it was budget, so we only visited several but I did really like Rhodes. But there are lots to choose from there,