I'm starting to plan a family vacation: 6 adults and one baby. We like to rent a villa and get to know an area. (Our last family trip was a week in England's Lake District.) We've all been to Italy at different times and initially thought of a family trip there. But then Greece was thrown into the mix. Only one of us has been there. We like to experience food, hike, bike, explore and enjoy the culture. Travling from the US. How do we decide which country? Any suggestions?

I assume you are not thinking of this summer, but perhaps you should bear the Olympics in mind anyway. Prices in Spain never went down again after the Barcelona Olympics; there is no reason to think that they will go down again in Greece after the Olympics are over -- unless there is a massive disaster, which I pray will not be the case.

The other thing to bear in mind and to exercise great caution about is to avoid the -- unfortunately, very numerous -- places in Greece that have been totally defaced by mass tourism.

Greece is fantastic, but may not be the best place to visit during the Olympics, unless Olympics is why you are going..I would wait till next year.

When undecided between Greece and Italy, I think the best choice is a part of Italy that used to be Greece, for example Sicily.

Thanks for the replies so far.
I'm planning for next year, off season for cheaper rates.