Help with planning where to go in Greece and Italy?
 

In Jan, my parents and I are planning to go to Greece and Italy for a month. In Italy we have decided to go to Rome, Florence, Venice and Naples. We have booked our hotel for Rome but we are unsure about how many days to stay in Florence for and also where we should get hotels in Florence and Venice?

For Greece, we have decided to go to Athens but thats about it. Where else can we go that is close by and easy to travel too? Also what is there to see in Skopelos? My mum and I want to go there because of Mamma Mia but is there anything else that we can see there?

Any suggestions would be great! :)

This page shows the locations where scenes in <i>Mamma Mia</i> were shot:
http://gogreece.about.com/od/greecem...mamiamovie.htm.

To get from Athens to Skopelos you have two choices: flight from Athens to Skiathos, and short ferry ride from there to Skopelos; bus from Athens to Agios Konstantinos and ferry from there to Skiathos/Skopelos.

Frankly, even for an intrepid Mamma Mia fan I feel travelling to Skopelos in January would be a disappointment. It's a long trip, and when you get there most of the hotels, shops, and restaurants will be closed. You may be lucky and arrive during a period of warm, sunny weather, known as Alkyonides Meres (Halcyon Days) that often occurs in early January, but otherwise it is likely to be cold and cloudy. Skopelos is in the Sporades island group, one of the more northerly in Greece.

I think your time in Greece would be better spent in Athens, maybe taking a short trip to one of the nearby islands (Aegina, Hydra, etc.) which are easy to reach from there. Another worthwhile trip would be to the Nafplio area, where there are many interesting sights. Delphi, at the foot of Mt Parnassos, would make a good excursion, and you may even see cars with skis on their roof racks heading for the ski area at the top of the mountain. :-)

Jan off season for travel in all your areas will still be nice.

www.eurocheapo.com great tips in all your areas good budget

hotels....

Was in italy last April/May was nice

for hotels used betterbidding.com for great priceline bidding

values everywhere... for no bid used www.booking.com otel.com

good value Pitti Palace Hotel Florence great for Art 3 days

at least lots more time in Venice-tourism.com magical for me

bauervenzia.com for us and www.hotepausania.it more budget

www.greecetravel.com Intercontinental.com Athens from $55

bidding priceline.com for me last also greekislands.com

santorini.com www.ikies.com Oia best sunsets in the world.

Lastly Greece is almost bankrupt Italy close behind

possible trip disruptions due to this

so I ALWAYS insuremytrip.com pay with CC

Never wire money too risky... Happy Travels!

Rome, Florence and Venice are good choices. I would go to Naples only if you want to visit the Archeological Museum and Pompeii.

For hotels, search on this sight for "Florence hotels",etc. You can also look for suggestions on Venere.com and Trip Advisor.

You need to spend a little time doing research -- so you know what you want to see and how long you want to stay in the various cities. We get guidebooks and DVDs from the library as well as read up online at Fodors' Destinations and other sites.

I particularly like the Michelin Green Guides and Rick Steves' books because they rate sights. That helps me pare down the itinerary.

You will have to make some adjustments because of traveling in the winter. You are wise in sticking to cities; more to do there in the winter. Daylight hours are shorter in the winter, and transportation may be affected by the weather. Fortunately you have a whole month to work with.

Re: hotel rooms, European hotels often have true single rooms for a savings over a double. 2 rooms, a double and a single for you, might make for more comfort than cramming all 3 of you into a small triple.

I think you will like Athens.

You can go north, as mentioned to Delphi. I stayed at a small town called Arachova near Delphi. It was summer when I was there, but the town is actually a ski resort and is quite charming. It is about 20 minutes from ancient Delphi.

You could also go out to the Peloponnesian Peninsula and spend a couple of days in Nafplion. From there you could visit Mycenae, Epidaurus, Tyryns, Ancient Corinth, Nemea, etc. Nafplion is very charming too.

Excellent advice from Heimdall on Greece. In Athens, see the sights included on the combo Acropolis ticket (6 sights are included - the Acropolis, Kerameikos, Temple of Olympian Zeus, Roman Agora, Ancient Greek Agora, and Theater of Dionysus). Also check out the National Archaeology Museum, the fantastic new Acropolis Museum, and the Benaki Museum. We also like the Goulandris museum.
The island of Aegnia is an easy daytrip from Athens. Piraeus itself has a very good museum. We love the Nafplio area and there are many daytrip options within an hour away. Corinth, AcroCorinth, Mycenae, Epidavros, Tiryns, Dendra, Midea, Argos, Lerna...

I would suggest the island of Poros. It's very close to Athens, yet a world away. We rented an apartment there a few years ago and loved it. It's also very close (5 minutes by mini bus) to the continent where you can visit Epidavros and Nafplio (fabulous!) like Texas Aggie mentionned.

qwovadis, some of the links you are recommending, do not work...
In Athens the Intercontinental Hotel is not always a good choice, due to it's location...
Prices in January are low, as this is the deepst low season in Athens, so it is more convenient to stay in the centre of the city, either near Syntagma Square or near to the Acropolis, from where most places of interest can be reached on foot.

Recommending hotel Ikies in Oia, is not a good advice, since Oia in the wintertime will be absolutely boring with almost 95% of cafes , restaurants and cafes being closed.....

Islands that OP could visit from Athens are either Poros, Spetses and Hydra ( the last two islands are very popular amongst Athenians especially during the weekends, so many restaurants and shops will be open), or the island of Syros with it's gorgeous capital of Ermoupolis. Ermoupolis is actually the capital city of the Cyclades, and a city that is very alive in the wintertime.

If you would like to explore the mainland, an amazing and not very known part of Greece is the city of Volos and the Pilion mountain with it's 24 villages, all of them are very beautiful and offer a perfect scenery in the wintertime.
There are many smaller hotels spread allover Pilion, and prices are usually lower during the week, and higher on weekends, when Greeks are like to visit them.