If you have both the time and the money I would do this trip in a shot. Unfortunately for me - except for 5 weeks with my BF one summer I was in college - I have had either the time for the trip but not enough money or the money - but not the time.

In this economy I would make sure that jobs are totally stable and your financial affairs are in order before spending this much money on a vacation - but if you have it - go for it.

As fo ryour itinerary - if doing a multi-country tour - we always try to mix Latin and Germanic cultures - so you don;t have too much of the same thing. All of the countries you are interested in a re fine - but IMHO would be too much the same - and I would leaven with Germany, Austria or Switzerland.

Also wold do open jaw tickets - into one city and out of the last to avoid circling back. Also - if you are doing all Schengen countires be sure to follow the 90 day limit.

It's not just Greece, you know!>

Yes I know but no other country has had the spate of protests, national strikes, etc that Greece already has experienced and no other nation is seriously considering ditching the euro as Greece may well have to do - causing at least temporary currency chaos perhaps during the changeover.

But point granted Italy and others could also have many more strikes - the thing that upsets the apple carts of most tourists - say a national transit strike or ATM fillers on strike, etc.

The lavender fields in Provence do not always bloom mid to late June. It depends on the weather, but July is more guaranteed and their normal bloom time. Mid June is really too early, I believe, although end of June probably would work. Some areas do the harvest in August, typically. Early July is pretty much a safe bet on that front.

nspotz,

the differences between France and Italy are quite significant. If you like Germanic food, go for it, but few people feel they have too much of the same thing going anywhere in Italy alone. You only feel that way if you constantly aim for one tourist spot after another, where you are mainly surrounded by other tourists having a canned experience of the culture. Since you have some time, use it to occasionally step off the beaten track instead of slavishly following a guidebook (or following in the footsteps of message board posters). Just leave time and space to sample the unknown. You won't get lost and you'll be amazed at how lovely and liberating it is to do that.


PalenQ,

First of all, Greece is not considering ditching the euro. It was suggested by others that Greece be shown the door. Greece is starving itself to live up to its end of a deal that was struck weeks ago. However, were it to become unsustainable for Greece to continue to starve and it defaulted, the entire euro would go for everybody.

As for protests, the New York Times recently ran a story about how the protests have become fairly routine, even if they maintain their size. (After a while, the police and protesters actually get to know each other; plus, police whose paychecks are getting cut often don't feel like beating up demonstrators).

All that said, if the present scheme to put most of the euro-zone under a blanket of austerity holds, traveling to any euro-zone country (which includes Greece, Italy and France) risks finding normal life in these places disrupted by strikes and protests -- that is the point of them.

PS, PalenQ:

I should amend my remarks to acknowledge that Greece did propose a referendum on accepting imposed austerity (which most people believe would have resoundingly passed in favor of remaining in the euro), and that many commentators, inside and out of Greece, talk about Greece leaving the union. But this talk goes on about Italy as well, and even some scenarios having Germany leaving. Truth is, at this point, if anybody goes, so goes Europe.

The only reason Greece has seen longer disruption is that the crisis hit there first. But Spain is now seeing many strikes, Italy has strikes scheduled for next week, Belgium has gone through a spate of strikes. London just saw a very large strike and its not even in the euro, just facing an austerity regime. So as the austerity deepens as it has in Greece, expect the strikes to go on.

Greeks however it seem are more reluctant to swallow the cuts than other countries and thus perhaps more protests and strikes than others. But I agree with what zeppole says.

The Greeks it seem have been more profligate than other countries and have much harder task cutting back and not having things get worse as a result.

But yes strikes need not be dibilitating to the tourist - just keep in touch with proposed strikes and carry a wad of euros with you in case ATMs go on strike, banks, etc.

Thanks Christina for the lavender info.

Ok, so the consensus seems to be that we should, if we want to work it into our schedule, stay in both Tuscany and Provence. Again, I have been to Italy, so I don't necessarily feel like I need to see the cities I have already visited, althought I would love to. Any thoughts on staying in Positano? Yes, we could technically travel for as long as we want to but with trying to keep costs somewhat down I don't know if we would do Amalfi Coast and go up north to Tuscany also. I think we will need to do one or the other. We have never visited Southern Italy so this is seeming to appeal to me more.

Also, any thoughts on Bordeaux?

Two months or not, too much moving about and you'll burn out and have a much less enjoyable trip.

I don't think the order and especially what is or isn't included is that important if you allow yourself to be based in various places for a while.

Try these general rules-of-thumb:

<b>1 week if it's major city</b>, even if you've been before (Rome, London, Paris). You can always do day trips form these home bases too, if that appeals.

<b>3 night minimum anywhere else</b>, whether a city (Naples) or a town (Amalfi).

..and then look at your final itinerary - if you end up with no more than 10-12 hotel/apt. stays for your entire 2 month trip, then you'll be just fine.

nspotz,

We crossed posts.

Positano is a great base with easy access to Capri, Amalfi, Ravello and Sorrento (by bus or ferries). Five nights there would give you time to see a good part of the Amalfi Coast. I would then move to Naples for 3 nights (with a day-trip to Pompeii?) before heading north to Tuscany.

My thoughts on Positano are that, as pretty as the position and scenery is, it has become a caricature of an Italian vacation experience, overloaded with foreign tourists. It is also terribly inconvenient to going anyplace other than more of the same when it comes to beautiful places now commercialized for meg-mass tourism. Some people don't mind any of that, and some people positively prefer the company of other travelers who speak their language and with whom they can share travel tales and photo slides, and they like the strong tourist infrastructure. I prefer something away from the tourist crowds, and in Italy, that doesn't mean you sacrifice beauty, and the food is usually better elsewhere.

Here's a trip report (not mine) from someone who once briefly got of the beaten track in southern coastal Italy and found it "stunning" and said he "loved it."

http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/triprepor...id=104&index=2