I want to go to Italy (Rome) and Greece (Athens) this summer. Three or so days in Rome, 3 or so days in Athens. Never been to Europe before.

1. The flights from north carolina to Italy are in the $1500 range. It would cost the 3 of us almost $5000 to get there. Are there cheaper routes or airfares?
2. What is the best way to get from Rome to Athens? Willing to land in Italy and take a cruise as well.
3. any recommendations as to where to stay? We are a family of 3 (son will be 11 years old).
Thank you

>Never been to Europe before.<

IMHO, I suggest dropping Athens from this trip - save it for another time. After the long flight and $5000, 3 days is woefully inadequate. Focus instead on Rome and perhaps one other (nearby) Italian site...

1. A quick check on Orbitz shows tickets at about $1000 each.

2. At $1500 each and 6 nights, that adds up to $250/night just to get to Europe. I would a) stay longer, if possible, to make better use of the one time air cost, and b) spend the entire week in Italy. You will burn most of a day getting to Athens even if you fly. By the time you get up, pack, check out, get to airport, wait, fly, arrive, get to hotel, etc you'll have lost one of your precious 6 days in Europe.

Consider taking a train to Florence or Naples, but for such a short trip sty in Italy.

posting at the same time Tuck

Check every site for airfare to include onetravel.com, www.kayak.com, www.mobissimo.com, and www.itasoftware.com

If you are within driving distance of an airport which might offer a greater amount of competition in routing consider leaving from that airport rather than the current one.

For that amount of airfare money I would agree with concentrating on Italy alone rather than adding Athens.

If you do so also consider an open jaw itinerary flying into one city in Italy and out of another.

Also price flights into and out of Milan (MPX) as well as Rome.

OK, I may even surprise myself with this one. But if you're saying you only have a week and you want to do both Rome and Athens, and you've thought about a cruise, it all honesty that may be the best deal for you.
I would think you might get a real deal on the airfare with a cruise, and there are lots of them that go from Rome to Athens. In fact, I'm not so sure you can't get the cruise AND the airfare for little more than you're looking at for independent air fare alone. If possible I'd still try to add a day or two to each end so you can experience more of those two main destinations.

With just one week I would pick either Athens or Rome, and go to just one city. It will be easier to plan, less expensive, and (imo) more enjoyable.

Or take the cruise.

Hi S,

You are making the standard first-timer's mistake - too many destinations.

You will lose almost a full day of your vacation getting from Rome to Athens.

I urge you to visit one city or the other, but not both.

However, you can fly Rome FCO/Athens for about 39E pp.

see www.whichbudget.com.

You should fly into one city and out the other. See www.kayak.com

^ for Shilly

Thank all of you for your replies. Based on the replies and what we would like to see and do, this is what I have come up with...
Fly to Rome, spend 3 days in rome, then take a 6 day cruise from rome to greece, then back to rome.
Total would be 9 days and we would see everything we were looking for. Believe it or not, it was one of the cheaper options.

Now for my next set of questions
How hard is it to land in rome and get to a hotel with out renting a car? We will also need transportation from the hotel to the port Civitavecchia then when we return from the cruise from the port back to the airport? Is there an easy/inexpensive way to set this all up before we go?
As far as hotels (based on this site), we are looking at these hotels that are near everything and not too expensive. Any further recommendations on these or others?
www.albergodelsenato.it/index.html
www.hotelmimosa.net
www.hotelnavona.com
www.hotelportoghesiroma.com
www.romeby.com

Thank you all again!

Sorry don't know Rome or the hotels, but I'm pretty certain you can get around using taxis and public transportation. I never hear of people renting cars to get around withIN Rome proper.

..Do not under any circumstances rent a car. A real albatros in any European city. You can take the train from the airport to "downtown" or with 3 of you, I would consider a cab esp after a long overnight flight. Good luck.

..whoops- check out reviews of these hotels on tripadvisor.com.

Hi S,

Good advice from Tbunny

This may seem odd, but you may be able to get a cheaper rate flying into London, then to Rome. We're planning trip to London, France and Italy, and London has the cheapest flights of them. Check www.kayak.com for cheap rates