Help me plan my trip . Italy , greece and Turkey or Something else
 

Hello everyone

This is my First time going to europe so I am kinda lost.

I will be on my Honeymoon In January 2010

I will be Flying to Rome ( from my Dubai)

My wife to be wants to visit Florence, Venice besides Rome in Italy

Also would like to go to Athens, Greece . She wanted to go to Istanbul, Turkey after but IMO it would get a little expensive. My flight back to home ( toronto ) is from Rome again

I not sure how should I be traveling ?
- What trains should I be using in Italy . I was thinking of rome- florence and Florence-Venice.
- Should I fly to Athens from Venice

And if I do plan to go to Turkey do i need to fly again? If you have any other place in mind that I can visit Please advise

Thanks
-

Well, let's start with...how much time do you have? That's a lot of territory...if you have limited time, I'd start cutting. Easiest would probably be to spend all your time in Italy

You've booked flights? Can you land in one city and leave from another?

If I just had those destinations I'd say...5 days Rome, 3 days Florence + travel, 3 days Venice + travel, Athens..can't say, Sstanblul 5 days +travel...then 2/3 days along Turkish Med to decompress +travel.

(+travel would be time to get to/from location)

People here will mention that you have to watch that this honeymoon does not become a trek "honey, I like it here..sorry, but we have to leave, we have a hotel reservation in XXX"

How long do you plan to vacation?

Im landing in ROME at 12:45 Pm

Flying back to Toronto from Rome at 12:00 on Jan 29th

I have my flight booked to rome and from rome to Toronto,

because landing and leaving from another city was costing me around 175 more per person

Also,

IS there anything besides RailEurope that I can take.

and any idea on pricings

Thanks Alot guys

Sorry Landing on the 17th in RoME

What day do you land?

17th of January at 12:45

You don't need RailEurope for trains in Italy. Buy from trenitalia.it, or just wait until you get there. Ir will be cheaper, especially if you get the Amica discount, which you should be able to do if you buy just a couple of days in advance.

There is no easy and quick way from Athens to Istanbul except flying - otherwise it's a trek (not straightforward) by ferry, or a slow train trip through Thessaloniki. See whichbudget.con for budget airlines.

What is Amica Discount

What do you guys suggest

Italy and Athens would be the only places I can cover in the time frame i have ? and Not being too much in a rush

With only 12 days/nights (17th to 29th) I think you need to just do Italy on this trip. I would train straight to Florence after landing in Rome (it's only 1.5 hours by train and you don't need to buy tickets in advance for January, just get them at the station) and spend the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th in Florence. Then train to Venice and spend the 21st, 22nd, 23rd there. Then train back to Rome and spend your final 5 nights there. Save Athens for another trip and when the weather is warmer and you can include the greek islands.

Any ideas of the train pricings ?

Also what mode of transportation will we be taking when in Rome, Venice and Florence

Go to http://www.trenitalia.com, the Italian rail system's website, to get ideas of train times and prices. Because the system only does tickets 90 days out, just put in a sample date that's earlier than that for your research.

You'll have to decide what mode of transportation you'll take within the cities. We usually walk, though we usually take taxis to and from train stations or car rental agencies.

In Florence, there's no subway system. In Rome, there is a subway system, but there aren't a huge number of stops, so we don't find it useful for where we want to go, usually. There's a good bus system, per other posts on Fodor's. In Venice, there's the waterbus (vaporetto) system, or expensive water taxis.

Thanks alot


I really want to take her to Athens as she really wanted to .
Would it make sense to do the following

Take the train straight to Florence after landing in Rome .Spend 17th, 18th, 19th, Florence. Then train to Venice and spend the 20st, 21nd, 22rd there.

Fly to athens for the 23rd and return to Rome on the Night of 25th or early morning of 28th and spend the 2-3 days there and fly back home

Would this be feasible or become too hectic

Personally I think it would become too hectic. Athens is alright but I don't think it's worth flying all the way out of the way just to see it - what does your wife want to see there?

she just has heard from people its beautiful and a must see

and probably the islands

but u mentioned it might be a little cold