carcassone

My kids' spring break is March 3-18 and I'm deciding whether we should head to Greece or Spain. Never been to either. We like ancient ruins, good food/wine, charming old towns (been to Italy & France already).

With ruins, Greece is an obvious choice but I'm concern about this island hopping concept. We are "slow trav" types and prefer to stay in a central town for a week and do day trips. Prefer not to have different hotels every other night which seem to rule out island hopping. Is it possible in Greece to stay put but still see some of the beautiful islands?

Given our slow trav preference, which city would be a good base camps in both countries?

brotherleelove2004

Daytrips on the islands are problematic, especially in the off-season, and March is definitely off-season. Most of the island tourist infrastructures will not be up and running until sometime in April. Also the weather won't be all that great.

That being said, I think you'll need to choose a group of islands, such as the Dodecanese or Cyclades islands and limit your exploration there so as not to waste too much time between islands. The Cyclades are no more than an hour or two apart.

caroline_edinburgh

I think in March you'd be better sticking to cities, so Spain rather than Greece. With 15 days you could do something like Madrdid, Barcelona & Seville. How would you want to travel around ? I've been to Madrid & Barcelona in early March & it was nice & sunny during the daytime, so warm enough to sit in the sun in shirtsleeves, but cold enough to need a light coat at night. Seville should be even warmer.

floydvic

Been to Spain twice in March and was happy with the weather each time; first trip was the first week of March; second trip was last week of March. on both trips it was very pleasant in the day with a light jacket useful in the evenings.

There are many day trips available from Madrid; Toledo (although I always suggest spending the night, Toledo is a delightful little city after the daytrippers have departed); Segovia is an enchanting experience; El Escorial should be visited; Avila is worth a visit and that is just to mention some of the most well known attractions around Madrid.

Barcelona and Seville have many enthusiasts although I have not personally been those cities (maybe next time) but the Alhambra in Granada is a marvel and should be seen if it can be worked into one's schedule.

Check out Maribel's guides; they are quite good. http://maribelsguides.com/

Heimdall

Greece is more than just islands. If you are interested in "ancient ruins, good food/wine, charming old towns" then you will find those in abundance on the mainland. Stay on the mainland and you can see Delphi, Meteora, Nafplion, Epidavros, Olympia, and of course Athens, without ever having to get on a ferry.

In fact, seeing ancient ruins on the islands in March is problematic, considering that sites such as Delos, Akrotiri, and Knossos are all on different ferry routes, requiring a detour back to Piraeus or Athens to get from one to another.

carcassone

So I guess you guys validated my concern about island hopping in Greece during March. Would I even be able to do day trip out to these islands from Athens or is that too far? My thinking is that even though there are lots to see and do on the mainland for day tripping, but if we can't see the islands, then perhaps we should save Greece all together for a better time of the year.

Given that, if we switch to Spain, what would be a good base camp? We have roughly 2 weeks and would like to spend a week per city. We love Tuscany and Provence and have heard about Spain's Andalucia. Is that similar? It's quite far from Madrid and Barcelona, right?

josele

A base city in the south of Spain: it depends. Staying in big cities with car for daytrips shall need hotel with parking. A city I see little recommended (though I do, and much) is Antequera, in the very center of Andalusia, beautiful and monumental but not crowded, with a train station and well conected by road. Check a map and see distances to Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Ronda-white villages-Jerez, and Malaga, and consider.

isabel

I've only been to Barcelona - last March and the weather was fabulous. We spent four days which was Ok, I could have used longer but did feel I got a good taste of it in four days. This March I'm going to Andalucia. Although I haven't taken this trip yet, I have done lots of research and it seeems that picking one city would be possible. It would be Sevilla, which you could easily daytrip to Cordoba from. We have chosen to split our 9 nights between Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada. I don't know if you had a car if you could stay in Sevilla and see the others easily, Cordoba by train sounds easy, Granada less so.

I've also researched Madrid and decided that deserves another week. There do seem to be very good day trip options from there - Toledo, Segovia, Avila. When I started researching Spain a few years ago I realized - even though I'm not a partaicularly "slow trav" trype - that it really needs to be split into at least three: Barcelona, Andalucia, Madrid and environs. That doesn't even count the north. If I had two whole weeks I'd pick two of the three I mentioned and do a week in each and save the rest for another trip.

I've also considered Greece for a March trip but as you are finding out, it doesn't seem like the greatest idea. I'm saving Greece for when I can go in the summer.

carcassone

Thanks isabel, I just started research on Spain so you're ahead of me. When we did France, we spent a week in Paris, no car. Then took the fast train to Arles, picked up an rental car drove to all the great towns in the area. Everything was no more than an hour or two away. It worked out great.

So I'd imagine we will not have a car in Madrid but will have one in Andalucia. Should we drive or take a train between Madrid and Andalucia? We did the TGV in France because it was the high speed train, much faster than driving. Can we fly out of Andalucia and not have to back track to Madria?

josele

You can take the AVE fast train to seville. It makes a stop in Cordoba, but you better get to your hotel in seville and prepare a Cordoba daytrip. For Granada daytrips I am not familiar with train/buses. It is a 3hr. drive, train but no hi-speed. You can prepare your route at www.guiacampsa.com , only spanish but easy.
Get the car for leaving Seville towards next destination. Malaga airport is very important and you'll have flights from there. Perhaps with a stop at Madrid airport, depending your destination.

julie_Colorado

We visited Greece for spring break... and spent about 5 days on the mainland (Delphi, Meteora, Athens, Corinth, etc)... plus 4 days on Santorini. While Oia was basically closed... there were plenty of restaurants and shops open. To be honest... we all liked mainland Greece more than the islands. My kids absolutely loved it. The weather was beautiful...

isabel

We assumed we'd need to fly in and out of Madrid, but discovered for almost the same price we could fly into Seville and home from Granada (you have to change planes in Madrid, but it's all one ticket so no worries about missing connections, etc - if you miss it's their problem). We are flying in and out of NYC. That's one reason we are just doing Andalucia this trip, but it does give us more time. The high speed train does look like a good option for getting from Madrid to Seville, but you need advance reservations. There's lots of info on it on this site if you do a search.

msfelithatsme

I was having the same issues, deciding on greece or spain for my 1st week of april vacation.

After setting my heart on greece, i got to talking to a woman in the travel section of barnes and noble (she was planning her trip to brazil). She recommended not going to islands when its still a bit cool out. And with the help of a stranger i reverted back to spain.

Now i have March 30 - April 9 booked from JFK to Seville.

Just have to figure out how to spend those days! (And i would love to visit Lagos, Portugal). Any advice how to divide up the time? Is Lagos a dream or reality?

Heimdall

What a shame that to so many people Greece means only the islands. That's like saying the only places to go in Spain are Majorca, Minorca, and Ibiza. Yes, the Greek Islands can be cool in April, but Spain can be as well. The Greek mainland has much to see, and the major sites are much closer together than, say, Seville, Madrid and Barcelona. April would be an ideal time for sightseeing without the heat and crowds.

sassy27

I was in Greece the middle of March 2 years ago and had a great time. I am a "slow trav" as well and my base was Athens. I was there for only a week but got to see so much and the weather was perfect. A long sleeved T and spring jacket was all I needed and I'm always cold.

Since I knew Athens was doable in a few days, I booked 2 excursions. They both were full days, one to Delphi and the other a quick boat tour of three of the islands (Poros, Aegina and Hyrda). Granted, the tours were quick and we didn't get to spend as much time sightseeing as I would have liked, they were an experience I don't regret.

I haven't been to Spain yet but I will be there this coming March. My trip is book for March 15-21 to Madrid.

carcassone

I haven't completely ruled out Greece yet and am encouraged by the positive experiences from those have who visited Greece in March. Since we'll have 2 weeks, I think I can easily base in Athens for the mainland sites and perhaps arrange for one or two island excursions (day trip or overnight).

I do want to see the caldera. Is that Santorini or are there other islands as well? Given that island hopping may not be possible in March, if I were to visit just one or two islands from Athens, which will be my best choice? Santorini? Mykonos?

I agree that Greece is much more than islands. However, I think I'll regret if I go to Greece and not visited at least one or two of the islands.

Heimdall

You certainly can go to the islands in March, and if fortunate, the weather will be pleasant. Were you to visit one island, then Santorini would be a good choice for a couple of days. For day trips there are islands in the Saronic Gulf, eg Aegina, which can be reached easily from Piraeus.

Since my last post I have looked at some weather stats, and found that Athens is warmer on average during March than Madrid, and about the same temperature as Barcelona. I don't wish to start a Greece vs Spain debate, but was trying to point out that a decision shouldn't be based upon weather. Both are worthy destinations.

carcassone

Thanks for checking the wheather. Regarding Greek islands, I'm actually more concern about the lack of ferries and infrastructures than the climate. My kids actually thought it was "cool" when we ran into frost in Italy.

How are the islands in Saronic Gulf compare to Cyclades? Would it be sufficient to day trip from Athens to these island in place of Santorini/Mykonos? (Somehow I think the answer is No.)

Heimdall

Santorini is very easy to reach, as there are daily ferry runs also stopping at Paros and Naxos. You can see on http://tinyurl.com/y9jpjv that the Blue Star Paros leaves Piraeus at 0725 (and arrives Santorini about 1500). If that is too long for you, there are several flights each day on Aegean and Olympic airlines that take only about 45 min. Of course the March ferry schedules won't be firm until late this winter, but the Blue Star schedule is unlikely to change very much. The Hellenic Seaways highspeed ferries might also be running to Santorini by then.

Aegina is a popular choice for those who don't have time for more than a day trip, but wish to see a Greek Island. You can see on http://tinyurl.com/y8wnkk that it only takes 40 min from Piraeus. Poros and Hydra are also in the Saronic Gulf, but take a little longer to reach.

Which island to choose? I'm not going to impose my views on you, but if you've been reading this board, the popular vote seems to be Santorini. I would pick it over Mykonos unless you are an ancient ruins addict and wish to take the day trip from Mykonos to Delos. Don't plan on seeing both Santorini and Mykonos, though, unless you don't mind going back to Athens or Piraeus first. The connecting ferry between the two islands doesn't run that early in the season.

As for the Saronic Gulf islands, I have never been, but have heard many favorable reports. They would be a good choice if you don't have time for Santorini.

You can learn a lot about travels in Greece on Matt Barrett's http://www.greektravel.com/.

Nikki

I took a spring break trip to Greece with my daughter in 2005 and had the same concerns about the islands so we opted to spend the entire time on the mainland with a day trip to Aegina. I don't know how Aegina compares to the Cyclades, but it was a delightful destination for a day trip, with a wonderfully preserved temple, a colorful port, and a ferry ride just long enough to be fun.

March was a wonderful time to go. It was carnival time, but I don't know what the dates would be in 2007. This lent a very festive feeling to the streets of Athens. We were lucky and the weather was wonderful early spring sunshine with wildflowers carpeting the hillsides.

My trip report (warning, very long!):

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34589254

Photos:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&y=-b9k6sz