Italy & Greece in 2 weeks
 

Hi there...
My friend and I (2 20-something Canadian girls) are thinking about visiting Greece and Italy next summer. I am wondering if anyone has suggestions for places to visit, or things to do... or a suggest itinerary... I'm thinking a week in Greece and a week in Italy...

I'd love suggestions! Thanks!

Do you want to learn some history or focus on partying or fashion?

You can have something of all of it, but if it's primarily the first, combine antiquity in Greece with a part of Italy most heavily influenced by greek colonization, and I would pick the area between Napoli (Neapolis) and Paestum (near Salerno).

If it's partying you want, definitely go for Rome and Athens for at least part of the time.

If it's fashion, Milan and then you might as well go through Venezia over to Greece, making day trips to both Torcello and Ravenna to see the Byzantium, which you can pick up more of in Athens and I would go to Mistras.

Have a great trip.

If it's partying you want, Ios is considered the ultimate Greek party island for 20-somethings on a tight budget. Santorini and Mykonos are also great for socializing but are significantly more expensive.

Not really looking for partying... although a nightlife is good... just looking to see the sights and have a great time doing... I love history so I definitely will put Athens and Rome on the list...

If you are going to have a week in Italy that includes Rome and a week in Greece, try to either make it to Napoli/Pompeii/Paestum or make it to Tarquinia (north of Rome) to see the Etruscan museum there.

But I really do think if you go south to see Pompeii and especially Paestum, you will grasp something about the history of Europe that is really clearer once you see it with your own eyes. There is one cultural development that is distinctly Mediterranean, and to see the Greek colonies in Italy (and one hopes later you will get to see them in other parts of the Med) will give your trip a really unified whole, you'll be making an small exploration of Mediterranean history, which at one time, was an extraordinarily rich and adventurous empire.

If you were to travel from Rome to Salerno, you could see Pompeii and Paestum in a few days and then return to Roma by way of the scenic Amalfi coast drive, which would be very lovely.

In summer, both Athens and Roma have particularly enjoyable outdoor cafe life that embraces all age groups and social classes. Both are polluted capitals, with abrasive qualities, and hard to get around, but they have jaw-dropping antiquties and their outdoor cafes at nighttime are marvelous places to be.