I am in the wonderful position of losing my job in the next few months...so I'm going to take some time to travel before I find another job

I'm planning to travel with my cousin, who is older (late 70s), but able to get around well. We threw out names of places we wanted to go...he has always dreamed of Venice, which is one of my favorite places. So, we're definitely going there. I want to see Rome, and Florence was also on the list. That's a pretty easy combination. Now the hard part... Athens and Vienna are also on his list.

We'll have a month (or so). Neither of us likes to race from place to place. We are tentatively planning to go in March of 2006. We need to determine a starting and ending point very soon, so I can book FF tickets. The middle we can figure out later!

I could really use some suggestions as to the order of things. I'm thinking of starting in Vienna, train to Venice, then Florence, then Rome. Then fly to Athens. Home (to US) from there. Does that make sense, or is it better to do Italy first or last? Are Athens and Vienna too far flung to include? I know I'll go back to Europe, but realistically, this is likely the last trip for him, so I want to hit his highlights.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Anne

topping for some help here!

Thanks
Anne

Your plans are very sensible. We did a Vienna-Venice-Florence-Locarno-Geneva trip once -- in 3 weeks. I remember really enjoying the train ride from Vienna. Love that Tyrolian scenery.

Are you going to stay in Athens or venture out to the countryside or the islands? In the latter case, you might start to run short of time. At least I would.

AnneO- I am sending your post back to the top because I am thinking about taking a Greece/Italy/Austria trip in 2006. I am only in the preliminary stages of planning so I can't help yet. I hope you get some more replies.

Start south and work to the north that time of year. I would go just after Easter and start in Rome--Athens does not work in this plan. In a month I would try to hit a max of 8 destinations and I would end in Paris. I would try to include some smaller cities in the itinerary--I am assuming rail travel. The big 3 of Italy are givens, but I would also include Siena and Verona in Italy and Menton and Avignon in France. Hope that gives you a start at a structure. Good luck !

Thanks for the help... padams...if you'd like to stay in touch as we plan, my email is [email protected].

Athens is a must, as it and Venice are the top of Pat's wish list. Rome is on mine, but I can do it another trip if needed. I'm not sure what to do in Greece, as it is not a destination I have considered. I'll be picking up some books this weekend so I can get a sense of what there is to see and do there. If my track record holds, after a bit of research I'll want to spend all month there!

France isn't in our game plan... we've both been to Paris. I do think the south to north makes more sense given the time of year. I'll keep figuring out options, then probably toss them all in favor of where we can get free seats into and out of

keep the ideas coming!

Thanks
Anne