Help choosing between Greece, Italy, or Spain
 

My wife and I are starting to think about a trip to Europe for our 1 year anniversary. We're planning sometime in March or April 2007 for about 10 days.

We've both been to Europe before, and are trying to find a good destination that neither of us have been to. We've narrowed the choices down to: South of Spain, Italian Riviera (with possibly stop in Florence and/or Venice), and Greece (Athens and Isles).

We are most interested in natural beauty, culture, historical sites, and nightlife...museums and the like are secondary. We'd probably like to stay in 3 or 4 cities over the 10 days.

Would any of these 3 be more expensive or affordable then the others? We're looking for the best value anniversary vacation for the money. Are there any positives or negatives about any of these destinations that would help us in making our decision?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Got back from Italy about 6 weeks ago, and am just starting to research a trip to Spain. It may be a vast over-generalization, but accomodations in Spain seem to cost less than those in Italy.

Bennyboy....We tend to travel each year in the early spring. Some general ideas; I think you will have a better travel experience in general if you can make your trip in April. Easter is April 8 next year. If you can, go right after that. The reason is that these areas are just starting their season.

To us, Greece seemed to offer the most travel value for the dollar/euro. It is not noted for nightlife but is strong in your other areas of interest, and, although I've not been there, I read that there if plenty of nitelife to be found on Mykonos.

You don't mention where you are traveling from but, in general, Italy may offer the best airfares simply because there are more ways to get there.

we'll be traveling from San Diego. Also, when I say nightlife, I'm not neccesarily looking for clubs going all night, but some fun bars and other activities...basically when towns seem to shut down around 9pm, it can be a little bit of a bummer.

Andalusia would be a good option. You could base yourselves in Seville and make daytrips to Cordoba, Jerez de la Frontera and Cadiz (even Portugal if you wanted to!). I'm not sure about the weather in April in Andalusia, but when we were there for our honeymoon last September, it was hot.

Seville is a great city to explore and it is hopping into the wee hours of the morning, mainly because Spaniards dine very late compared to North Americans (10 p.m.).

I would pick Spain for its food and youthful outlook and its great nightlife. I would either pick Catalonia or Andalucia. The Alhambra is an extrordinary destination, and seeing the gardens in the springtime would be sublime.

Go to Greece, to Santorini, it's got everything you've asked for.

Have been to all three destinations and all are good choices. Based on your criteria, Spain or Greece will be more economical than Italy. All will have nightlife and plenty of things to do.

Thanks everyone...i think we've decided on Andalucia. We can get to Malaga for about $200 (each) less than getting to Athens, and then we'd need to go from Athens to the islands as well.

Good choice, I just spent my honeymoon there and it was fabulous!!! I highly recommend the hotel Amadeus in Sevilla.