Greece-Italy Trip for first time
 

Me and my husband are Egyptians (in our mid 30's) and we are planning for our third trip to Europe by the beginning of September 2013. We are basically interested in visiting Italy for the first time. My husband likes to visit more than one country at a time. That's why we thought we would add Greece (first time as well). We like sightseeing, monuments, open areas, beaches, love Italian & Greek food, day trips, like villages and small towns, beautiful countryside and picturesque villages. We don’t like museums and noisy places. Yet we still don’t like very dull places. It’s more like a relaxing trip. We don't like checking-in and out so frequently as it's a bit exhausting and requires a lot of packing & unpacking.

Here's my suggested itinerary. Please feel free to criticize it and please advise your opinion regarding my questions below.

1- Flight Cairo-Athens on 30-Aug.

2- 5 nights in Athens. 1 day trip to Hydra. Any other islands you recommend close to Athens where we can make a day trip not necessarily for beaches, but maybe beautiful sceneries or a different taste ? Or maybe make day trips to other places outside Athens? Is 5 nights too much for Athens or just convenient?

3- Flight Athens-Venice on 3-Sept.

4- 3 nights in Venice. Is it too much or just sufficient?

5- Train from Venice to Pisa, rent a car to visit Pisa Tower. Is it worth it?

6- Drive to Tuscany Area, as we are intending to spend 4 or 5 nights in Tuscany towns. Is 5 days too much? As far as I could find out, Florence is a part of the Tuscany area. Is Florence worth a visit? Do we need to spend a night there? We don’t like museums and art galleries. Do you recommend a specific Tuscany town to stay in? it would be great to stay in a central Tuscany town and drive every day to a different town to see it.

7- Drive to Rome and leave the car.

8- 5 nights in Rome. Is it sufficient? Do you recommend any day trips from Rome?

9- Flight back to Cairo from Rome.

thanks a lot my friends.
Wella

I think you have allocated your time very well!

We loved Athens and you will find many things to fill your days.

Whether things are worth it is really up to you. All the things you mention are worth it, if you are interested. IMF you do a search here above you will find tonnes of threads on whether to stay in Florence or the countryside. You shouldn't drive into Florence as there are many restricted zones (true of many places in Italy) so do some research here as many threads have info on this.

I would also recommend looking at some guide books to see what is available in each location you are visiting.

Enjoy!

I think you have the right number of nights in each location. In Pisa, rent the car after you visit the tower. You don't want to drive through the city and will have a hard time finding parking. You can walk to the tower from the train station.

It is hard to recommend where you should stay in Tuscany, because most of it is very quiet and focused on art and history. Most of the towns are very similar. Perhaps Siena would be the right place, although because you have a car, make sure you know where you will park it before booking a hotel.

Consider dropping off the car in Chiusi (in Tuscany) and taking the train to Rome, or if you decide to see Florence (which is busy, noisy and filled with art), drop off the car in Siena, take the train to Florence, put your luggage in the train station while you tour Florence and then pick it up at the end and take the train to Rome.

Since you don't like noisy places, you need to be careful where you pick to stay in Rome. The via Margutta might be nice for you. So might Trastevere.

However, I hope you don't mind my saying that I think you would have a more interesting trip if instead of going to Tuscany you went to the Dolomiti mountains and Lago di Garda. If you would like to see some Roman ruins, than stay in Venice an extra day and go by train to visit to Verona (which can be noisy).

In early September, the weather in the mountains and around the lakes is normally still quite beautiful.

Rome is busy and noisy, and most people spend many days there so that they have time to visit museums.

I realize that the Dolomiti mountains and the lakes are not stereotypically "Italy," but given what you enjoy, I think it is possible you would find them more memorable and thrilling than Tuscany.

By the way, Athens is super noisy and hectic. It is like Cairo in many ways. Maybe you should go straight to some place like Napflion and spend 3 nights there, and then return to Athens for a day of sightseeing and then a flight to Italy.

We stayed here in Athens and found it to be very quiet at night and not hectic at all
http://www.hoteltony.gr/

I think big cities are always going to be loud and hectic in the busy areas, but you can get away from that if you do a bit of research. I certainly wouldn't limit myself to a day in Athens because of it...

In saying that we loved Nafplio as well and there are lots of things to see in that area as well!

Sorry for my typo, The correct spelling is Nafplio or Nafplion

I am very fond of Athens, and there are many quiet hotels, but I think it is pretty hard to spend 5 days there, without any interest in museums, and have access to small towns and open areas and the other things the travelers say that they want.

I think it is great that the travelers are being picky and rather "Goldilocks" about what they way they want. If they want to see the monuments of Athens, they are going to have to put up with a lot of noise and traffic and pollution and busy-ness. If they would rather be in the countryside, that's hard to do from a base in Athens.

Thanks a lot for your replies. They are very useful.

hello pizzocchieri. you are very helpful. your recommendation regarding Dolomiti mountains and Lago di Garda made my head spin around. those 2 places are very beautiful.

I’ve made some amendments to my trip.

1- Greece: 2 nights in Hydra and 3 nights in Athens. Do you have hotel recommendations for Hydra and Athens? a Central hotel in Athens would be great. app EUR 100/night as a budget.

2- Italy: 2 or 3 nights in Venice. Do you have hotel recommendations? app EUR 100/night as a budget.

3- I'm considering Dolomiti mountains and Lago di Garda instead of Tuscany (dropping off Florence as well from my tour). Do you have hotel recommendations for Dolomiti mountains and Lago di Garda? app EUR 100/night as a budget.

4- Train from Venice to Pisa. Leave our luggage in the train station, visit Pisa. Does Pisa Train station have luggage lockers?

5- Train from Pisa to Rome and spend 5 nights there. Do you have hotel recommendation for Rome in a central area? App EUR 100/night as a budget.

waiting for your replies.
Thanks
wella

Pisa Centrale train station has left luggage facility at the end of Platform 1.(deposito bagagli)
http://www.fsitaliane.it/cms/v/index...f90aRCRD&let=p

hi pizzocchieri,

Dolomiti mountains and Lago di Garda are both huge areas with so many towns. Do you recommend a specific town for each? May be help me select hotels as well?

Thanks a lot
wella

If this is your first trip to Italy the Dolomiti are definitely not a place i'd visit... There are so many other places that i would visit instead, places that are more typical italian...

Since you will be in the North of Italy you can add Verona to your itinerary, and keep Tuscany.. Florence and Sienna along with Pisa are great cities to visit.

In Greece i would keep Athens but replace Hydra with Nafplio, jamikins gave you an excellent advice.
Nafplio is only 2 hours away from Athens and a very romantic city, from where you can make some day trips to the Epidavros ancient theatre or take an organized boat tour to the islands of Hydra and Spetses.

Like every big city ( i don't see any similarity with Cairo unlike pizzochieri) Athens has a busy centre, you can escape that though by staying in certain quiet parts of the city.

Something that is important to know, is that during August Athens will be super quiet in general, it is the month when Athenians are spending their holidays by the sea...
The 30th and 31th of August are even considered as low seasn in Athens hotels, and you will find reduced rates. ( to be increased to high season prices after the 1st of September)

Nice and quiet neighbourhoods of central Athens are : Acropolis, Koukaki and everything between Syntagma Square and Monastiraki Square. :)

Hello Clausar,
Thanks for the valuable advice.

I was doing some searches and I loved Greve and Montepulciano towns. I was thinking of driving from Piza and spend 2 nights in Greve, then drive to Montepulciano and spend 3 nights there. I was told I can also visit Peinza, Bagno Vignoni & Montalcino from Montepulciano as day trips. Finally I’ll drive to Roma from Montepulciano and leave the car.

What do you think of my choices? Is it a feasible itinerary? Are there any parking difficulties in the towns I listed above? Does Verona require overnight stay or just a day trip?

Also I’ve checked Nafplio and “WOOOOW”. Is 2 nights ok for it? Or maybe 3 nights?

Thanks
wella