TravelEurope2022

After suggestions and review, I am trying to revise my trip to Europe for June 2022 and would love some help.

Plan is to go to either Barcelona or Paris for seven days, then fly to Rome and be there for four days. Cruise to Naples, Crete, Turkey, Mykonos and end up in Athens. Stay in Athens for two days. Go to smaller island, Naxos or Paros, for four days. Go to Siena (either fly into Pisa from Athens or Naxos) for four days. Go to Florence for eight days.

I have never been to Greece. Would love feedback on Naxos or Paros. Can you fly from Naxos to Pisa or do you have to go back to Athens and fly from there? Is there a different island I should be looking at? Trying to find one that is fun and interesting without it being too touristy. Would love feedback on the trip in general too. I have been to Barcelona, Paris and Rome before and love all of them. I have been to Siena before - am trying to be there for the Palio di Siena. Worth going there for that or too crowded? I love Florence more than any place I have ever been and want to spend a lot of time there.

Thanks ahead for any feedback

Sassafrass

Since it is the same trip, but with revisions, I suggest keeping it all in the same thread. Otherwise, people will be making the same suggestions over and over. Continue refining on the same thread so people can see the direction you are thinking.

Using a base for local day trips often works well so you do not have to change hotels, etc. Sometimes doubling back cannot be helped, but every hotel check in and out takes time and getting to it from airport or train station eats up time, so try as much as possible not to do the same place twice.

I have always wanted to go to the Palio. It should be crazy and fun. From what I have read, it takes a lot of planning and reservations way ahead of time. Teens would likely think it was great.

I still think that is an ultra long visit in Florence for kids.
Since you want to go to Italy, have you considered including going South to Naples, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Positano, The Amalfi Coast, etc.? Perhaps you have already been to that part of Italy and did not like it? It has been several years since I was there, but my teens loved it.

Have you done cruises before? Perhaps you do not need any help with that, but if you do, go to the cruise forum and to cruisecritic.com for good advice about cruises, ships, cabins, etc.

Doing a cruise, as you suggest, from Rome to Athens makes much more sense. It might be even better if you could fly to Athens and do the cruise in reverse, but things do not always work perfectly. The stops on your cruise sound really good. Cruises are fun, and I like putting it in between time on land. Where is the stop in Turkey?

Heimdall

The airport runway at Naxos is only 900 meters long, so not big enough for jet aircraft. The only planes that fly from there are small turboprops to Athens. Paros has a longer runway with plans for further expansion, but still only a national airport with only a few international flights, mainly to other Balkan countries.

Naxos is the largest island in the Cyclades group, much larger than Mykonos. It gets busy in summer, but isn’t a party island like Mykonos. If you rent a car you can drive into the mountainous interior to visit traditional villages which still depend upon agricultural for their livelihoods.

Paros is a little smaller than Naxos, but has beach resorts all around the perimeter of the island. One advantage of Paros is the smaller island of Antiparos within easy reach. Antiparos is the island Tom Hanks, the actor, has chosen for his villa, and he comes for a few weeks every summer.

KTtravel

I agree that 8 days in Florence is a long time. Have you considered taking a train to Venice and staying two or three nights?