Summer trip to Santorini and Rome -- critique my (really, really rough) itinerary please!
 

Hi everyone! I'm trying to plan a trip to Santorini and Rome for the end of the summer, and I want a loose idea of itinerary now because my huzb and I are trying to overlap with a friend's stay in Italy. I was thinking:

Fly into Rome
Fly to Santorini same day (or next morning if necessary)
3 nights in Santorini
Fly back to Rome
4 nights in Rome

Is that a good amount of time in each place? Is it possible to do a day trip to Venice from Rome? How about Pompeii? I don't want to cram so much in that I don't "get" any one place, but I also tend to have vacation ADD :) Any input is appreciated!

Not sure if you know this or not, but you cannot fly direct between Rome and Santorini -- you must connect through Athens.

Any reason why you want to fly in and out of Rome? I would recommend an open jaw ticket for flight into Santorini (JTR) and out of Rome (FCO). You'll also need to buy a ticket for JTR to FCO (via Athens).

We stayed for a week on Santorini and loved it. You could probably spend 3 nights and feel like you caught the highlights.

I would NOT recommend a day trip from Rome to Venice. By train, that trip will average you about 5-6 hrs each way.

Also should add that I just checked airfare for this itinerary for end of August 2006:

Washington DC to Santorini
Santorini to Rome
Rome to Washington DC

...and the cheapest fare with tax was $1800 per person.

I did a day trip from Rome to Pompeii, twice. Both times it took the full day, but it is a possible day trip. If you only have 3-4 days in Rome, there is plenty to keep you occupied there, especially if you have never been.

I love Rome, but if I had to choose between the two I would spend the most time in Santorini, especially if it is summer and you can enjoy the sand and sea. And contrary to what you might think, Santorini is great for vacation ADD, you can visit the volcano, hike it, visit Akrotori (sp?) the excavation site of an undergroup Pompeii like village that was hit by the volcano, and enjoy the most perfect beaches when you are finally tired out.

If you haven't been to Athens, it would be a shame to miss that as well, especially if you have to connect there to get to Santorini.

If you flew into Athens and then went straight to Santorini you would be less crazed with jet lag I think. And although it takes a day the ferry from Greece to Bari is rather romantic and fun if you have the time. Then you could take the train into Rome and fly home from there...Certainly sounds cheaper to me. I took the ferry years ago from Bari to Greece and loved it.

Is an open jaw ticket the same as a multiple destination ticket? Newark - Santorini - Rome - Newark is coming up around $2200, whereas the two round trips (Newark to Rome, Rome to Santorini) are coming to about $1500 total for late August. I don't mind some extra travel time if I'm saving $1400 total on two tickets.

I do know that I have to fly through Athens (and will probably have to connect on my way to Rome too) but I don't mind. I agree that Athens would be cool to see if I have a stopover anyway, but could I really see it in a day? I can't really extend my trip beyond 7 or 8 nights.

Would I be better off leaving Italy off the itinerary and going there next year instead? Is there another destination that's easier to combine with Santorini? Or is this itinerary do-able? And can someone give me a quick explanation of open-jaw tix? :)

An open jaw ticket is where you fly into one city and fly out of another. For example - Boston to Paris and Brussels to Boston would be an open jaw ticket. If you look at Orbitz, I do believe they reference this as "multiple destinations."

With only 7 or 8 days, I personally would choose either Greece or Italy...but not both. But that's just my personal preference. :)

If you could limit yourself to just Greece, I would spend the whole time on Crete OR I would split between Crete and Santorini. I was in Athens for 1 night and enjoyed myself - 2 would have been better.

I agree with others, save Italy for another time and focus on Greece. You can't go wrong. Athens can be "done" in 1-2 days if you just want to see the highlights/major sites. I personally love Athens, but I know a lot of people find it a little dirty and busy. If I HAD to choose I would spend my time in the islands though.