Greece/Italy itinerary, please vote :)
 

We will be on our honeymoon, both in our late 20’s, both from Canada. W
e have visited France/England/Belgium before, but never Italy nor Greece.

We are not into museums/archeology, we mostly like to walk around, take pictures, eat the food, spend time at the beach (will it be beach weather?).

We will arrive on September 22 and we have 14 nights.

Please vote on the itinerary you would do;

A

Florence 3 nights
Venice 3 nights
Santorini 3 nights
Mykonos or Paxos or Naxos 2 nights
Athens 3 nights

B

Florence or Venice 3 nights
Crete 3 nights
Santorini 3 nights
Mykonos or Paxos or Naxos 2 nights
Athens 3 nights

C

Florence of Venice 4 nights
Crete 4 nights
Santorini 3 nights (is it possible to do day trip to Mykonos?)
Athens 3 nights


Of as a vote you can propose a D….


I know that we should only do Greece and skip Italy, but we really want to have a chance to at least “touch” Italy if ever for some reason we never get to go again…

Why are you starting another thread when this has already been hashed out on your other thread? People seeing this one won't realize that you've already received MANY recommendations to choose one country or the other, or if not, they've given advice about your possibilities.

Good point, however in the other posting I received everyone's opinion which was very appreciated which led me to create a few different possibilities...now, I'm looking at opinions as to which one is better and not necessarily on whether doing citys in 2 different countries is a good idea or not....

Alpine, I vote for option D: choose either Greece or Italy. Considering the things you enjoy doing, I would pick Greece. Walking, Hiking, good food, photography, and plenty of beach options (I will admit I have not been to Italy). It seems significant that you have asked the same question two different ways. What does your significant other want? 2 weeks and one country or 2 weeks and 2 countries? No matter what you do, I am sure you will have a wonderful honeymoon and enjoy every place you visit.

I must agree with doing only one or the other - why short-change Greece? Its Fantastic! Still if I HAD to pick one of your choices...I'd go with A. I can't imagine going all the way to Italy for only 3 nights.

There is so much to see in both countries - why rush around and fuss with extra flights (which is also more $$).

Have fun,

Naxos

I would stick with Greece alone unless you can find a flight that needs to stop in Italy. You have only two weeks and you want to do too much. If you include all these destinations, you'll be spending a great deal of time packing and moving between destinations. Allow yourself some time in no more than three spots to fully appreciate where you are.

You are not into museums nor archeology, prefer time at the beach and will be on your honeymoon....why would you even consider visiting Florence or Venice? To go to a place just to say you were there is kind of DA...go to Greece; enough dilly-dally....

My fiance would prefer concentrating on Greece, but she would like to at least touch 1 city in Italy. It's not going to cost us more since we are using points for the flights and we can do a "layover" The attraction to Italy was more the food and maybe visiting a Winery. I know it's a lot of Travel, but let's say I decide on Florence instead of Crete....won't this be the same thing? I would think that there is not much more time difference between a flight from Athens to Crete and a flight from Athens to Florence???

If we fly from Canada to Florence...spend 3 nights in Florence only (get a feel for Italy for a possible future trip), then continue to Greece for 11 nights....doing only 2 islands...am I shortchanging Greece if I don't do Crete?

I think we will do something like this:


Florence 3 nights
Venice 2-3 nights
Santorini 3 nights
Mykonos or Paxos or Naxos 2-3 nights
Athens 3 nights


The more I think about it, there is likely less travel going to Florence then Crete???

We fly into Florence...3 wonderfull nights...take a quick train in the am to Venice, 3 more wonderfull nights....quick flight to Athens, then ferry to Santorini which will take us the day :(, but then 3 nights in Santorini...ferry to a close island...another 2 nights...ferry to Athens...3 more nights...

doesn't seem worse then:

fly into Athens...fly in to Crete...4 nights...long ferry to Santorini 4 nights...ferry to close island 3 nights....ferry to Athens...3 nights....

Is the Florence/Venice option really going to be more travel??

This way, I can return to Italy some day for 2 weeks and do some of the other cities...or if for some reason I never get to return to italy, well I will have had my pizza in Italy at least once :)

Please, at least 1 person, tell me I'm not crazy

Did you mean Paros or Paxos? Paxos is hard to get to from the Cycladic islands. If you wanted to go to just one place in Italy why not Rome because it seems it would be the most convienent transit city not to mention it's so beautiful. Also there is lots of day trip options.
I would also leave Crete off your intinerary beacuse of it's size and concentrate on Santorini and Naxos or Paros or Mykonos. I also would think two nights in Athens would be enough.

I did not really research the second island yet...I was thinking Santorini/Mykonos, but then got bombarded with comments that Mykonos was not a good idea for a honeymoon destination...basicaly, for the second island I was thinking a beach destination...any advice?

Your comment for Rome is very good and will be considered!

thanks again

alpine, it really looks as if you are planning a trip that will cost you at least $5000-6000 w.o. RT airfare, and you haven't glanced at a guidebook yet. I know 20-somethings are really into electroniv vs. the printed word but actually browsing a book could help you sort the wheat from the chaff ...

Consider going to Barnes & NOble or other large bookstore, and sitting down with a few major guidebooks & browsing. Buy (or borrow from Library) the one that appeals to you most. For an overview of best-linked Greek isles, oriented to under-30s, try Cooks' GREEK ISLAND HOPPING. Also Let's go Greece, Let's go Europe, same focus. Then u will know where Paxos is and why it's not Paros.

If u INSIST on Italy, fly into Rome for 2 days, then on to Athens.

As for beaches, Naxos has 12+ miles in a row of golden sand beaches all easily accessed by scooter or bus, it has a large enough population that in late September Naxos Town is still going strong, unlike some summer-only smaller islands. And it has a daily ferry that only takes 2.5 hours from Santorini, with outside decks so you can get the lovely cliff-view as you leave.

As a non-print orientation, here is a Fodorite's wonderful slide-show in Narrative form (arrival to departure) of Naxos' attraction:
http://travel.webshots.com/slideshow/552001505EYxVYT
To speed it up to max, click photo & drop-down menu speeds it to 3-secs.

Great advice, I did buy a book, but didn't get a chance to read it yet (weekend plan).

I know it will be costly, but it's our honeymoon...

I am using points for the flights and I will be using hilton points for Hilton Athens and the Hiltons in Italy...I will however pay for hotels on the islands...and based on my LIMITED research so far, I was thinking the Mykonos Grand (if I go to Mykonos) and either the Hotel Volcanos Villas or the Ikies in Oia..I know the last one is expensive, so I will wait to see all of the other costs...

As for Paros/Paxos, this was more of a spelling mistake...the importance was not really picking the island now...but more of the concept of doing Santorini + 1 Island close to Santorini + Athens + 1 city in Italy...which may be Florence or Rome...

or skipping Italy and doing Crete....in my mind a city in Italy vs. Crete is a similar hastle in terms of travel...but I might be wrong...

Volcano's Villas no longer exists as such. It's called Atlantida Villas now, or at least part of it is. I haven't gotten the 'full story' yet.

Good to know!! Thanks!

Choice A with Mykonos! I have been to them all and Florence, Venice Santorini, Mykonos all beautiful. Athens...big city with great ruins..
I would rather spend 2 nights Athens and an extra night in Florence or Venice...
I have never been to Paxos or Naxos, but the sites in Mykonos are classic "calendar Greece"

Thanks! I am getting excited already but almost a year away... :(

We decided to skip Crete and do Florence/Venice/Santorini/Athens + 1 more island which will likely be Mykonos...not sure how many days at each destination...

The important thing for us was to book our flight now since it's on points...

should I...fly into Venice...3 nights take a train to Florence 3 nights, fly to Athens OR

fly into Florence, train to Venice, then fly to Athens from Venice......

or it doesnt really matter? For my points it does not as I will fly into Italy and fly out of Athens...but I will be paying teh flight from Italy to Greece...

Venice is one of the most romantic cities in the world. Good for you to get it in. Whether you fly into Florence or Venice and out the other, really doesn't matter. It will be lovely, and then on to Greece to just wander. Enjoy.

Are you going to stay at the Hilton in Florence? Do you realize it's not even actually in Florence? If the budget allows, I would want to stay IN Florence.

Speaking of Hiltons, the Athens Hilton is one of the stops on the bus route for the Airport Express Bus #95 if you want to take advantage of that convenience. #95 leaves the airport every half-hour, 24/7/365. The fare is 3.2 euro each.

Great advice.

I was planning on the Hilton Florence, but did not do any research yet on Florence/Venice...but will definatly not book it if it's not in a good location like you said. Thanks for the Athens advice...is the Hilton Athens nice/good location? What about the one in Venice? Any other recommendation for Florence as far as hotel?

travelerjan your pictures look great! I think it's now between Mykonos and Naxos. I hear Paradise Beach or something like that was a really nice Beach on Mykonos....

Which island is closer/easier to access from Santorini....Naxos or Mykonos (how much time in ferry)??

let's say I chose Naxos, is a day trip to Paradise Beach (I might be off on the name) possible?

I assume accomadations are cheaper in Naxos...?

The Athens Hilton is just a few blocks from Syntagma Square in Central Athens.

Naxos is closer to Santorini than Mykonos and easier to reach from Santorini. The regular ferries take about 2.5 hours. Naxos is cheaper than Mykonos and isn't overrun with cruise ship passengers, the harbor's too shallow for the big ships.

Hilton Garden Inn Florence Novoli

Is this one in a better location?

A glance at a map in the book you have not had time to open would show you which island is closer to Santorini ... it might even be faster than getting on the internet :)

haha, especially since there is a big map on the first page.... :)

Closer doesn't always mean easier to access...

The hotel Mykonos Grand on Mykonos looked niced and reasonably priced and I had friends who went there who loved it...which is why we originally had Santorini/Mykonos as our 2 islands....however Naxos will be strongly considered...

2.5 hrs to get to Naxos....but how long for Mykonos? I assume this is high speed boat?

alpine, here is a tutorial (thanks to BrotherLeeLove who taught all of us) that will help answer ALL your ferry questions present & Future.

Use this link to a ferry site:
http://www.openseas.gr/OPENSEAS/index_en.vm

Put "santorini/thira" and "Mykonos" in the port & destination slots. For the date, click the little calendar to enlarge and THEN click the LEFT arrow on top. This moves the dates back to Sept 2008.

To view a typical schedule for the 2009 date you want, do not choose the DATE. Instead, choose the DAY & WEEK you would plan to travel, i.e., 3rd Friday. I chose that and found 2 fast-ferries. The trip duration would be about 3 hours. NOTE: fast-ferry fares are about 2x that of "regular" ferries to the same destination.

Ok...so far, this is how it's looking:

Sept 22 - Arrive in Florence at 7h00 am. We will spend 2 nights. Hotel not decided.

Sept 24 - early am - take train to Venice. We will spend 3 nights at the Hilton Moliny Stucky

Sept 27 - we will take a flight from Venice to Athens. Limited research to date done, but there is a flight that leaves at 6h50 am arrives in Athens a 2PM, cost around $150EU each, however the flight to Santorini only leaves at 7h10 arrives at 7h55, so day lost to travel...there is a flight from athens to Santorini that leaves at 13h30, so we need to find a flight from Venice to Athens that would also us to get on that flight and at least get part of the day in Santorini....is there only 1 airport in Athens, i.e. will my flight from Venice to Athens be in the same airport as Athens to Santorini??? In Santorini we will either stay at Hotel Volcanos Villas (I know name changed) or Ikies - Traditional Houses

Does it matter if we go from Athens to Mykonos and after we go to Santorini...if we do that, then we can get the offseason rate at the Ikies since it will be in October....

Sept 30 - take a ferry to Mykonos (assuming we go to Santorini first) and spend 3 nights in Mykonos. We were thinking the Mykonos Grand as a hotel...

October 3, take a flight to Athens, spend 3 nights in Athens at the Hilton Athens...



Does the above sound ok? Lots of moving around, but most of the times shouldn't be too too bad, except the Venice to Santorini or Mykonos day...

Please comment on hotel choices...or provide alternatives...

thanks to everyone who helped!

I agree with others Greece sounds much more to your taste than Italy. Florence especially seems a bad choice if you are not interested in art and architecture. Venice would be better for walking around/taking pictures, generally soaking in the atmosphere

Thanks for the comment. I might reconsider and take out Florence to replace it by Rome??

My attraction to Florence was doing a Winery tour...

I think of Florence as an amazing treasure trove of art/architecture. That is why I love the city. The good food and wine are nice extras for me but not the main reason for visiting. You have different priorities and I am sure you can find vineyard tours (and food tours) in Tuscany.

I would not advise going to Rome for only a day or two. It is a wonderful city but overwhelming if you don't have more time than that.

We will skip Rome for this trip and hopefully return some day to do Rome and the other regions of Italy we did not get to enjoy.

We will either do 3 nights Florence 2 nights Venice or vice versa...

If you really want a small taste of Italy, for this trip I would seriously consider visiting <b>one</b> city only. I agree with Vttraveler that given the circumstances, Venice might be the better choice.

Think of it like this- you will be making this trip after your wedding. You won't be flying non-stop. There will be a change of planes to get to either Venice or Florence. You'll be tired and jetlagged.

You might just want to have a few days to <b>relax</b> after the wedding and all that travelling :)

I love Florence, but it is very crowded, with lots of people packed into those narrow streets. With only one or two nights, I'd be afraid you might end up hating it. And rushing off to do a wine tour- you wouldn't really get a feel for the city. Then up super early to get the train, then another super early morning only a couple days later to fly to Athens...I don't mean to be negative, but that sounds exhausting!

Why not spend the first 4 nights of your trip in Venice relaxing and enjoying the city (I've never been to Venice, but everyone says it's perfect for honeymoons) before you head over to Greece?

Then, on a future anniversary trip you can go to Rome or Florence and spend some time in the Tuscan countryside.

If your attaction to Florence was to do a winery tour, there is actually much better wine produced closer to Venice, toward Verona (the region is called the Veneto) or north toward Friuli. The Veneto is best for reds, and Friuli for whites.

For example:

http://www.italyandwine.net/veneto/winetours.htm

http://www.tours-italy.com/venice-da...our_friuli.htm

Thanks for the great comments! You have a very good point and we might skip Florence and do only Venice. Is there another city closer to Venice which we could go for 1 night? We would do 4 nights Venice and 1-2 night at the other location?

Do google searches for info and images of Treviso, but also consider one of the winery tours listed above, some of which I believe offer accommodations. Verona is also a possibility.

Another thing you might consider, since this is your honeymoon, is to spend one of your nights at Locanda Cipriani on the island of Torcello in the Venetian Lagoon. It's incredibly atmospheric, the food and wine are legendary, you can zip over to the island of Burano if you get bored, but you're not trying to cram in a lot of travel on public transportation to and from Venice. You can just slip out of Venice for a night on a boat, and come back relaxed to catch your Athens flight. (The Locanda might even offer you transporation to the airport).

This is a premiere destination everyone dreams of staying in for a night:

http://www.locandacipriani.com/

I agree with Apres_Londee, skip Florence and spend 4 nights in Venice. It is very romantic and you feel as if you are in a different world - no streets just the canals. You can't go wrong with Venice in my humble opinion.

Then on to Greece.

BTW, we just returned in June from 16 nights and stayed in 7 different cities/towns, in Italy and Germany. We were concerned that we were moving too much, but we loved it!! And we are older than you, 49 years old both of us.

It's exciting to be able to see so much. As long as you are not planning to relax alot.

Thanks!

ok I think we will only do 4 nights in Venice, which means we have 10 nights in Greece now...should we add a third island?

santorini 3 nights
Mykonos 2 nights
Naxos 2 nights
Athens 3 nights

or Santorini 4 nights
Mykonos 3 nights
Athens 3 nights

or ???

No, do not add another island!

Santorini, Naxos and Athens.