Italy & Greece for 3 Weeks, 2012 August/September
 

We plan to return to Italy for my husbands 60th birthday next summer/fall. I recently did the Meditteranean Brilliance of the Seas cruise and have some ideas. I would love to have your input. Many of you made my 50th trip to Italy 4 years ago better than I could have planned alone. I am thinking - fly into Rome, train to Venice for 3 days, train to Florence, rent car and tour Tuscany for a few days, drive back to Florence, train to Naples, rent car for the Amalfi Coast and then Greece. How do we best get to Greece? Ferry? From where? We can do 2 weeks for sure but hope for 3. Do we fly back out of Rome and spend time in Rome before we return to the USA?

Any advice is appreciated! Thank you.

I would fly into Venice, spend your time in Italy heading south end in Naples and fly to Athens/Greece (or Rome to Athens if there are no flights from Naples) and then fly home from Athens.

I suggest Italy or Greece, not both. That is a lot of traveling around for two weeks, even three. The schedule as outlined doesn't do justice to those locations.
You would fly Rome to Athens if you do these countries together. There is a ferry to Patras , Greece from the Adriatic coast of Italy, not sure where.It would take a lot of your time.

I live in Italy and, having just returned recently from another trip to Greece, I recommend that you consider doing your trip the other way: Start in Greece, and then go to Italy. That way, you really get the benefit of the arc of history -- not only in the chronology, but also the inspiration. When the men of the Renaissance rediscovered Greek art and thought, it was a lightning bolt. You so much better understand what the Renaissance aimed for if you see the original first!

I would urge you to consider moving the start date of your trip back to mid-September or a bit later. That way, you miss the worst of the crowds, the prices and the heat (especially for Greece).

By flying to Greece first, you get over the worst of the transatlantic flying, and no backtracking. After Athens, head to Naples (the old Greek colony of Neopolis), to follow the footsteps of the Greeks into Italy. Then up to Rome and the Florentine Renaissance -- and personally, I would fly out Florence (or Pisa) and save Venice for another trip. If you can get 3 weeks, you can see something of Etruscan Tuscany too.

That is a very ambitious history trip for people really motived to get some insight into the dawn of European civilisation. If this trip is really more about scenic sightseeing and photosnapping, I still recommend you start in Greece, but after that it scarcely matters whether your fly to Naples or Venice, just as long as you don't backtrack, and you probably should cut out what interests you least if you want something more than just whizzing around.

These are wonderful insights and suggestions. The intitial planning phase is the hardest. I like the idea of starting in Greece. We have been to Florence and Rome, which is why I thought my husband would love to see Venice.

We had private tours in both Florence and Rome (Vatican and Ancient Rome on separate days and also the underground tour offered by the Vatican - I can't think of what it is called.)

We saw Sienna, Volterra, San Gimigano, Montalcino (two wineries) while staying in Radda in Chianti.

I so appreciate your input! If we started in Athens and have three weeks, what do you suggest? Is Venice and the Amalfi Coast too much?

Thank you!

It's a lot of geography to cover, so a lot depends on how much you actually enjoy the pace and the travel. From Athens, I would fly to Venice, and then I would probably take a break mid-Italy before heading to the Amalfi area -- either revisiting a place you felt you didn't get enough of the last time, or someplace new. Hard to say without knowing why you want to go back to Italy.

Were it me, after that, I would take the train from mid-Italy all the way to Salerno and rent a car. Visit the Greek temple in Paestum, which is in better shape than almost all the Greek temples in Greece! Then head up the coast. In late September, you should be able to avoid summer traffic jams or parking problems. Use the car to visit Pompei, but give it up before reaching Naples. Cap off the trip with some time in Naples -- at the archeology museum for sure, and there are other astounding sights. You could even take a day trip from Naples to Capri as a finale on a nice day. Fly home from Naples.

But if you are going in August and early September, you are going to be contending with lots of crowds, and lots of heats, which will really slow you down, and rather than take a car along the Amalfi coast, you should use ferries.

I am so appreciative of your help and just read your posts to my husband. I can't thank you enough and hope I can ask for more help!

Well, of course you can! You should also post on Frommer's multi-country board (and you will find a lot of great trips for Greece there). It is especially good on logistics, and people are not so against multi-country trips.

LOL, I certainly find insight and advice from experienced travelers so helps make a trip more wonderful!

As an update, we sort of took your advice. Now we are going in and out of Venice for a Greek Island cruise. Thanks for the input. I will be sure to write a trip report.