Novice solo female looking for stops between London and Athens in two weeks
 

I'm planning a trip in July for approximately two weeks. I would like to fly to London and make my way to the Grecian Islands. I have never been to Europe and will be traveling alone on a budget. I'd love some suggestions of cities to visit and places to stay and things to do. I am 27, active and interested in art and history.

You can fly from London directly to one of several Greek islands on EasyJet. Check their website. After the islands you can make your way to Athens by ferry or flight before returning home.

British Air also flies directly to Santorini, and perhaps other islands. Check their website too.

With only 2 weeks---and on a budget---I would cut down my travel time and costs. Consider Greece only, or London and 3 other destination in Italy---flying home from Rome.

consider taking the train - getting discounted fares can keep costs to really low levels - consider taking the Eurostar train from London to Paris - Paris for a few days - then take the overnight train to Venice - then take an overnight ferry to Greece - save on hotel/hostel costs and experience Europe's fantastic train system.

For lots on European trains check www.seat61.com- for discounted ticket info unsurpassed; www.budgeteuropetravel.com - download their free and superb online European Planning & Rail Guide for lots of suggested rail itineraries and www.ricksteves.com.

Now as Bob says traveling can be expensive - mainly because England, France and Italy are very expesnive even with the low Euro - Greece is still much cheaper - maybe just take the train to Paris - spend a few days there and fly to someplace in Greece?

Thanks! Would it be better to fly into another city cost/experience wise? I have heard that trips to London are cheapest, but I don't have a burning desire to go there.

In two weeks you can 'reasonably' expect to visit three distinct places. Two would be better.

Check kayak for flights, but yes, flying into London is frequently cheapest from the US. Depending on which city you are flying out of Aer Lingus and icelandair often are cheapest.

If London and Greece are you primary interests then you can do that. Fly into London, spend a few days, possibly with some day trips, then fly to a Greek island (Santorini) or two and ferry back to Athens and fly home from there. Or if it's considerably cheaper fly back to London for another couple days. That would be a decent trip. But in two weeks you really can't add in Italy or Portugal.

I don't think you have time to do the London, Paris, Venice, Greece suggestion but you could do London, Paris, Venice. Or London and fly to Italy and do two different regions. Check easyjet.com to see what combinations of places would work for you. Other airlines (like Ryanair) fly intra European routes for cheap but easyjet has the biggest selection.

If you do not have a burning desire to go to london, then don't go, even with cheap flights, because you will be spending money and time going someplace you do not want to be, then spend extra money and time to get to the places you really want to go.

Pick the places that call to your heart the most and concentrate on making them the focus of your trip.

There are lots of great places for art and history. I assume you realize that places like most of Italy and Greece, etc. will be burning hot in July. I have been several times in July, so not saying do not go then, but good to know ahead.

There are hundreds of options, but with what information you gave,

Consider starting in Amsterdam - beautiful city and fantastic art, plus Anne Frank house and lovely canals. Three days.

Take the train to Paris for four days - art and history

Fly to one of the Greek islands for a couple of days, another for a day or so, then Athens for a few days and home.

If art is more of the draw, then go to Italy instead of Greece, three days in Florence and four in Rome, home from Rome.

Also, since you are a novice traveler, you may not know that these days, there or lots of low budget airlines within Europe. Many times that can be a lot cheaper than trains. Be careful though to look carefully at what airports they fly in and out of, since they can use airports that are far out from city centers. Also, check luggage restrictions on those airlines because they can be very strict. And lastly sometimes the budget flights can leave and arrive very early and late. This is a great site to check out your options.

http://www.whichbudget.com

Also, I would definitely consider an open jaw ticket for the overseas part (flying in one place and out the other), but it again depends on where you are flying to and from and where you want to spend time in Europe.

WOW! so many things to check out! I think I've decided to fly into Barcelona. Barcelona (4 days) to Italy(6 days) to Greece( 7 days). I have two and a half weeks. New Question: What is/are the best place(s) in Italy to spend my 6 days with an easy transition to Greece? Also, I am thinking of doing the islands first and then Athens, as I fly out of there on day 17. Thanks!

Barcelona is great, that's a nice itinerary (your last one). Now I haven't gone from Italy to Greece except by plane from Rome, so I'm not up on the best methods otherwise. Definitely not rail. There are some fast ferries across the Adriatic to Corfu in Greece. They leave from Bari and Ancona in the north. Bari is about direct east of Naples/Capri. SO that might be a good place to end up for the Italy portion. Although the train to Bari isn't direct AFAIK.

But if that's too complicated and you don't want to be in Corfu, you can fly to Kefalonia by Easyjet (airline I like) from Milan, or fly to Corfu from Rome or Milan (or Naples), or some of the islands direct from Italy also (like mYkonos or Santorini), say from Rome or Milan (or Naples). Just check on the Easyjet route map, that might make sense if you want to go there first, then end up in Athens.

Doing the islands first, then Athens, is a good idea. You need to decide which island group you wish to visit, then stick with that one. The Ionians (Corfu, Kefalonia, etc) are closest to Italy, but many people prefer the Cyclades, which includes popular islands such as Santorini and Mykonos. It is possible to get a direct flight from some Italian cities to Mykonos or Santorini, saving you a lot of time.

With six days, consider two cities in Italy. Rome, and one of Florence or Venice--all are full of history and art. I'd choose based on transportation costs and ease.