Hi, I thought the obvious answer is Istanbul, but I'm thinking of avoiding it for personal reasons (not security reasons).

I'm planning to be in Crete in mid June. Before that, Mykonos. I've already been to Athens and Santorini. As usual it'll be a short trip (but please don't tell me to spend more time on Crete).

Where else is convenient to get to from Athens?

1. I'm not too interested in Eastern Europe.

2. I'm planning a visit to Scandinavia; this is too far from Greece anyway.

3. I've been to the usual big cities and don't really want to visit again for this trip.

4. I'm not too interested in Germany or Spain.

So I'm thinking of visiting Nice and the French Riviera for three days. I've never been to other parts of France apart from Paris. But how does one get from Athens to Nice? What's the cheapest and fastest option? The closest big city to Nice seems to be Milan, and the train ride is five hours. There're no direct flights to Nice from Athens (I've looked up the schedules on Athens International Airport).

Thoughts and suggestions? Other possibilities?

Thanks.

Lake Como. Distinctly under one hour from Milan Malpensa airport.

And superior to much of the Cote d'Azur.

Best wishes,

Rex

Ah, but I've a bias towards France, despite my horrible French. The idea is to try to practice it as much as possible.

I'll look into Lake Como though. It comes up a lot, obviously. I was in Milan a few years ago, but only for one day.

Thanks Rex.

By the way, I should add -- I don't want to drive -- so please don't suggest an area that's impossible for me to investigate without a car. Not sure if this is true of Lake Como, but I'll look into it.

Hi rideon, I've been to Madrid and Barcelona. While I liked Barcelona quite a lot, I wasn't terribly interested in Madrid. I could go to other parts of Spain, but I don't feel a great affinity for the country at the moment, and I don't speak Spanish. And I don't think that it will be easy for me to get to Spain from Athens, anyway.

Of course I don't speak Italian either.

I did look into more of the lakes region near Milan. It seems like this really will be quite a good choice. I'm not sure if not having a car will be a problem, but it seems like for a day or two, it shouldn't be much of a problem. And I'm happy to hear other suggestions too.

Thanks.

Yes. Probably a separate trip -- I doubt that three days would do them much justice. And I should probably learn some Spanish before I go. I'll read up on it though, but I suspect that this will be more planning and coordination than I'll have the time for.

Well of course. They're all famous for a reason.

As for Athens, I was actually there very briefly last summer. I doubt that I'll have time for it this summer, though I did think about making a special trip to see the National Museum (which was closed during my visit in preparation for the Olympics). Parthenon, etc. -- definitely worth seeing. It also didn't seem as bad and polluted as what I was expecting, so a pleasant surprise for me.

What about Dubrovnik???

Well, I'm thinking that Dubrovnik is not very accessible from Athens. What's there? I don't know if I want to see more of Eastern Europe at the moment. And then I'd have to worry about flying back to NYC after.

It seems like Nice is more accessible -- and I'd imagine Milan is even much more so.

Thanks.

Hi, I'm reviving this thread to see if I can get some more ideas from this group.

Plan: Leave from New York. Visit Mykonos. Then attend wedding in Crete. Then visit ??? for three days. All this happens mid June.

Any ideas regarding how best to buy tickets that will make the trip as cheap as possible? Flying to Athens is quite expensive. And I'm planning to fly between Mykonos, Athens and Crete, and this will add to the cost.

???:

As rex suggested, possibly Milan and the Lakes.

But I'm open to other possibilities. Another friend suggested Amsterdam (where I've been, but with day trips to surrounding towns and cities I haven't been). Yet another possibility is to fly to Paris after Athens, but take a trip to the Loire Valley. A friend in Paris may join me for this part of the trip (after Athens), but Milan and Amsterdam are both accessible, presumably.

Other suggestions? What would be the most convenient in terms of flights?

Thanks.