Return to Italy or see another country?
 

In October, I will be making my third trip to Europe to visit my cousin who lives in London. On my previous two trips I've been to Paris, Dublin, Rome, Venice and Madrid.

This time, I'm debating whether to spend my travel time returning to Italy -- this time I'd like to see the Tuscany area -- or to try to see another country.

We definitely plan to go to Greece, but our other travel destinations are up in the air at that is point.

I'll have about five days in London and nine days to travel to other places.

If we don't travel to Italy, my other picks would be Germany, Austria or Belgium.

Where should I go?

I don't know why you tagged this post with Greece since you did not ask a question about travel there. Let us know if you have one.....

Totally depends on your interests of course, but if I could do open jaw ticket I'd work my way down to Italy, then crossover to Greece and return from there to avoid a lot of doubling back. I think I'd try to see Belgium, Germany, Austria on another trip staying in that general area.

I don't know if anyone can really answer the question, but if you do decide to return to Italy, keep in mind that there's a lot to see in the south, and Oct. is a good time of year to visit that part of the country, as far as weather and thinning crowds.

I'm a little unclear re your travel plans and time. If you have nine days to see Greece AND another country, I'd definitely stay in Greece for the nine days.

I agree---see London and Greece.

Well, if you have only nine days and you definitely plan to travel to Greece, there's your plan - go to Greece.

Ditto — London and Greece. :-)

ditto - what they said above.

Do you have 9 days worth of things you want to do in Greece? If not, then you can fly from Athens to many other destinations very easily.

Tuscany is really very different from Venice, but if you stay in Florence in Tuscany, then most of the museums and churches share quite a bit of similarity with Rome. It is only when you get out into the countryside of Tuscany that you begin to see something radically different from Rome, and to do that you really need a car.

So if you are not thinking of renting a car to see Tuscany in Italy, I think that tips the balance in favor of going someplace other than Italy if you don't have 9 days of things that attract you to staying in Greece. (Some people plan their trips according to numbers, not the content of what they want to do there. There is no reason to spend 9 days in Greece if you would enjoy a shorter time there and someplace else.)

If you want to see "Greece" then you need more than a few days. For a bare minimum you would need 3 days for Athens, at least 2-3 days for a mainland site like Nafplio or Delphi, and another 3 days for an island. If all you want to see is Athens or e.g. Santorini, then you can do it in a few days. Remember that each change of location will eat up the best part of a day, so factor that into your planning. :-)