NikkiN92

Hello,

I am a student who is studying abroad and would like to spend two weeks traveling. I was hoping to leave December 9th (Maybe December 8th if better) and return December 19th.

The plan is to fly from London to either Istanbul, Greece, or Italy. I would like to spend a day in Istanbul to see the wonderful markets, see an island or two in Greece, do some mainland sightseeing in Greece and also Italy. Maybe Croatia? But that could be a long shot.

I am a student so funds are limited but I would like to take advantage of this opportunity while I can.

I appreciate all the help and knowledge!

LR220

If funds and time is limited just skip Greece and Istanbul and spend all your time in Italy. Italy for 10 days there is plenty to do even in the winter.

Sassafrass

Flying to Turkey for one day in Istanbul does not make sense logistically or financially.

You say two weeks, but actually have only 10 days and that includes travel days.

Getting to and from islands takes a lot of time and money, plus December is not the best time for that.

Winter days will be shorter and perhaps cold.

Pick one country and see things that are close together so you save both money and even more important, do not waste a lot of time traveling that could be spent sight seeing, or pick at most two cities with cheap and easy flight connections. Fly multi-city, into one city and out of another.

otherchelebi

You may be able to get a good deal on flying into Istanbul, flying to Rome and returning to London from Rome.

Check the low cost Pegasus airlines if THY )full service is expensive)
Try their own web sites rather than any broker web-sites. Check for specials.

Istanbul will be the cheapest and possibly more fun than the Athens and even Rome depending on who you hitch up with.

In addition to all the antiquity, Istanbul has three areas larger than Piccadilly and Leicester Square which stay lively till early hours of the morning and possibly with warmer and drier weather than London.

Athens and Rome may be slightly warmer than Istanbul but Rome may be wettest.

The Greek islands will be totally dead and difficult to reach.

sandralist

There is no reason to think that Rome will be wetter than Athens or Istanbul in your time frame.

I will make myself unpopular for posting this, but I consider the political situation in Turkey, including Istanbul, sufficiently unstable that I would not make a decision this week about including it in a trip, and might decide in November I didn't want to go, depending on how things go from here. Istanbul is a wonderful city and I hope you can visit at some point, including in December. But I wouldn't buy a ticket today. Follow the news.

WWK

I have to say that as much as I loved Istanbul (!!) and respect our wonderful Turkish poster, I would not want my own daughter who's 26 going there right now. Sorry, but I think the situation is quite volatile, and Sandralist is right in suggesting that you follow the news carefully.

isabel

I agree with Sandra. Istanbul is wonderful but just not worth the risk right now - not with so much else in Europe to see. Plus going for one day makes no sense. If the political situation were more stable this year, and you got a super cheap flight, then going for 3-4 days might make sense. But given the way things are I'd skip it this trip.

I also agree that there is so much to see in Italy that 10 days won't even scratch the surface, but if you really want to experience another country as well, and if you can find cheap flights between Athens/Rome/London, then I'd do 2-3 days Athens and the rest in Italy. There are a couple islands within day trip distance of Athens that you could consider, but going to any of the further out ones is probably not worth it for such a short trip in December. Italy is so densely packed with things to see/do that you really need to pick a couple regions to concentrate on.

kja

This trip sounds painfully rushed to me, but it really depends on what you want to see and experience. I recommend that you get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, note their opening/closing times, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from the train/bus station or whatever, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together. You might end up deciding to cut a destination or two....

If budget is an issue, remember that staying in one or two places (and actually seeing some of what they offer) is often more cost-effective than paying for all the transportation costs to dash from place to place.

LR220

Just FYI, the advice that you will probably get from most people is something along the lines of 5 days in Rome, 5 days in Florence, etc. And I'd advise to just go with whatever you have in mind if you think you're able to do it without worrying about it being "rushed". 2 days in Florence, I found to be enough and would only recommend staying longer if it's to do day trips to Pisa, Siena, etc. 3 days in Rome, I found was enough as well, even though I wasn't expecting that, though I would return anyway because of the restoration of the Trevi Fountain and scaffolding on the Spanish Steps, etc.

Also, if you decide on Italy plan fast so you can get discounted train tickets.