Hello! We are planning our honeymoon in August. We are frequent travelers, and have travelled all over the Caribbean islands. For our honeymoon we want to do something different; Thailand or Europe. We have anywhere between 2-3 weeks to spend. Our number one choice was Thailand but after reading posts about the weather in August we are contemplating other options.

We are considering the following in Europe:
1) Greece alone
2) Italy alone
3) Greece and Italy
4) Greece and France

What are your thoughts? We are completely stuck, so any advice would be highly appreciated!

I should also mentioned that we hope to stay within a $10k budget. Additionally, we are looking to get some relaxation as well as sightseeing done.

Thank you so much in advance!

Well if you don;t want hot weather then Italy in August - or much of Greece - may not be for you either.

With France you have amore temperate climate - can get some cooler days but also some well into the 90s and humid.

And August is the highest of high tourist season since kids are out of school and many small businesses close.

If I were going in Aug I woud do Switz of Scand - but they are very expensive and $ might well be ap roblem.

For moderate weather consider the british aisles, germany/austria or the Benelux countries.

I'm okay with warm weather I was referring to the 'wet/rainy season' in Thailand. Sorry- I should have been more clear on that.

Thank you for your reply!!

Most of Europe goes on vacation in August and while all of them don't go to the picture postcard beauty spots in the mountains or by the sea, many of them do, and those are also where a great many foreign tourists go, making them quite crowded. By contrast, apart from the most famous tourist sights, a lot of the most fascinating cities of Europe can actually be pleasantly empty.

So it really depends on what you want from your honeymoon.

If you don't mind crowds or heat, you can head anywhere in Europe, and all the countries you named are beautiful and rewarding, so you just have to decide whether you want the variety of more than one country or the peace and recuperation of traveling slowly in one. Then get a sense of what places fit your budget.

If you really don't want crowds, they you need to pick an off the beaten track destination. All the countries you mention have fabulously beautiful and enjoyable locations that most tourists have never heard of. Or if you do want to experience Rome or Paris, just be mindful that if you plan a trip around going to Louvre and the Vatican, those places will be mobbed. You will need to approach those cities from a different angle than checking off the most famous sightseeing targets.

We are okay with crowds. We are from NY, so quite used to it.

We have narrowed down our selection to either Italy only (where we would visit several cities as well as the amalfi coast/Capri), or Greece (where we would visit the islands- likely Santorini and mykonoos) and Italy (for sightseeing and relaxation).

Which do you think is better and why?

Thanks again!!

Without knowing which cities in Italy you would be visiting and why it is hard to help create a picture for you that would enable you to choose. I don't think any of your choices are "better" than the others objectively. It really depends on what you like for a honeymoon.

Also, are you looking for high class honeymoon accommodations everywhere you go?

Finally, while I don't want to harp on crowds, please be aware that a crowded famous tourist destination in August is not the same as living in a populous city like New York -- unless part of the reason you enjoy New York is being able to go to Times Square on NYE or the finish line for the New York Marathon and watching the Macy's Day parade in person. Sometimes it is fun to be part of the holiday crowds in the famous tourist destinations of Italy or Greece. Everybody is having fun. But you will also find traffic jams and lines.

Hi Marta1,

Thanks for sharing your views here,marta firstly i would like to congrats you for your honeymoon.
As you are planning for your honeymoon, its really great and i would like to suggest to visit Greece once,i'm sure you would love,enjoy your honeymoon much more than your expectation.
There are several lovely places to visit Greece including Athens,Mykonos,Sparta.
But if its first time for your Greece trip, i would like to suggest you to concerned any travel agents who can help you in arranging your honeymoon trip,including high class accommodation for you.

Thanks

If you go to Santorini and Mykonos in August for "relaxation" you will be disappointed ... unless your budget enables the kind of "resort" which isolates you from the jampacked crowds -- but then you will be in one of those "international bubbles" which could be anywhere in the world, but with a famous view, though not true Greek flavor. Same for Amalfi coast. This does have its own charm, though not giving an authentic picture of either culture; that may be what you actually want, in which case, godspeed, and have a wonderful trip!

If you want a different experience, consider another approach for Greece (I cannot speak for italy). Check this map -- http://www.explorecrete.com/crete-ma...ges/greece.gif (click to enlarge) and consult this FAB quick-ref overview-- http://www.greek-islands.us -- for this August strategy

(1) go to a very isolated island, such as Astypalea. If u look at this map -- Astypalea is waaay off by itself, halfway down on RH side. Even in high season only 4 flights per week.

(2) Choose island(s) which cannot accommodate jumbo jets or monster-size cruise ship, and have strictly limited lodging facilities; when hotels are full, that's IT -- so beaches, towns etc cannot get overpacked, as is the case with islands with hundreds of hotels and apts. Examples might be Folegandros, Amorgos, and Sifnos.

The best hotels in these isles may already be full, but your best bet may be to consult an agency like Aegean-Thesaurus or Dolphin-Hellas. People who know Greece have found it is always best to use agencies who are actually THERE, and able to deal quickly with any glitches. These agencies are GReece-based and are very accustomed to serving N. American customers via e-mail, and get good reviews for their helpfulness. A good approach is to e-mail them with fullest info possible -- exact dates, island preferences, budget range per night -- and choose from their responses.

Don't think I would recommend Astypalea for a first-time visitor to Greece, especially if you want to combine it with another destination in Greece. Of course Mykonos and Santorini will be busy, but that's exactly why so many <i>young</i> people like to go there in August. The clubs and beach parties will be in full swing, and the atmosphere buzzing.

Thank you all so much for your replies!!!

After reading everything and giving it much thought, we have settled on either Greece only OR Greece and Italy. We are fine with the crowds and weather conditions in these countries in August.

My question now is how many days do you think we would need to spend in Greece? I wanted to visit Santorini for several days and Mykonoos for several days. I know that Athens is highly recommended (especially since we will already be flying in there) but we are not so interested in seeing it. Is it absolutely crazy to not sightsee in Athens at all, and go straights to the islands? What would be your recommended itinerary?

In terms of Italy, if we have about 8 days to spend there before or after Greece, what is your suggested itinerary?

Thank you so much once again for all of the suggestions! We really appreciate it!!!

It is YOUR honeymoon, and nothing is crazy --- or everything should be crazy. This is about you and your beloved, so discuss it and we promise not to tell if you don't go to Athens. Seriously, you should feel free to be doing together what -- uh -- grabs you!

If you look at the websites for the airports on the islands you might be able to decipher seasonal flights directly to Italy, from the islands, that most people don't know exist. For instance, you might be able to fly from one of the islands to Verona airport -- or Pisa airport -- or Naples airport. Even if you don't want to go to Verona it can be a great place to land if you want to go to Venice but can't find a direct flight from an island to there, or want to go to the Dolomiti (gorgeous). If you want to go to Capri (just tossing out stuff here) then a direct flight to Naples would be be a great time saver.

In the alternative, you can just think about what you want to experience of Italy after visiting some Greek islands. Much of scenic Sicily, the Amalfi coast, le Cinque Terre, Puglia and Sardinia shows its Greek roots from ancient times, and some of the rocky landscapes and blue seas can have a greek feeling. So if you can't get enough of that for your honeymoon, maybe those are the places to go. Or if you are looking for something REALLY different, then the Dolomiti Alps are amazing, Tuscan is some people's idea of heaven, there are of course the famous art cities -- and Italy pretty much as anything you really care about it.

So figure out if first you would like to look at easy flights from the islands (or Athens if you decide to go) or if first you would like to identify some "Wow!" things to see. Some people think Venice is the end-all be-all of travel (not me), others say David's Michaelangleo (not me), others want the Vatican blah blah but you might want a vinyeard, a glacier, a horse ranch....

Thank you, Sandralist!!

So I think we have narrowed it down to the following itinerary:
fly into Rome, stay 3-4 days
train to Florence, stay 2 days
train to Venice, stay 2 days
fly into Sentorini, stay 4 days
ferry to Mykonoos, stay 4 days,
ferry to Athens and fly out.

What do you think? Is it reasonable? Do you think we could stay within the 10k budget with this itinerary (given that we like to stay at expensive hotels and eat well)? Your feedback is much appreciated!

Venice will be an absolute zoo in August.

Think Times Square on Saturday before Christmas.

I call it The Tsunami of Tourists.

And the path from Santa Lucia Station to Rialto to Piazza San Marco is the Tsunami Highway.

Of course, if you can afford to stay at Cipriani....

If I were going on my honeymoon in August, I would head to Luzern, Switzerland and hole up at the Palace Hotel and spend days at spa services, drinking Champagne, taking cruises across the lake, and shopping at Bucherer.

Thin

I understand that coming the distance it is tempting trying to fit as many destinations as possible, but would you be really happy to move on every other day?
Personaly I try to spend no more than 1/4 of my time spent on transit among places and I prefer to spend as much time as possible actually within places too.
Take some time to consider the practicalities every time you move around... Not only transit time but packing/unpacking, checking in/out of hotels, getting to airports, ports and train stations, arriving on new place, find your way to hotel, get oriented... It gets tiring after a while...
Why no to pick less destinations and enjoy more in leisure?

The Pelion region of Greece is not as crowded as some other parts, even during high summer. It is a really beautiful area which remains green when other parts of Greece are getting roasted in the summer sun. People only seem to want to go to the islands, but missing out on the mainland is a pity.

I think there are too many places listed in the itinerary, I would limit it to either Greece or Italy rather than hop from one place to another. In Greece for instance, you could spend some time in Athens and see the sights there, perhaps go to the Athenian riviera, Vouliagmeni, Glyfada etc, combine some islands eg Santorini (not necessarily in this order). I've been to Santorini in late July and it was not as crowded as I expected and would not miss it, even during August.

We travel quite often to Naxos as my parents in law have an apartment over there. But after 3 days on the beach I get always excited about Island hopping. If I would go to Santorini or Mykonos for my honeymoon during summer holidays in August? I suppose not. During my honeymoon I would like to feel special and with TONS of package tourists it will be not possible.
Santorini is really beautiful and maybe worth it, but Mykonos not.
What about that combination:

Athens - Santorini (by flight)
Santorini - Folgeandros (by daily ferry direction Athens, off the beaten track, best Hotel: Anemi Hotel)
go on with the ferry back to Athens
stay 2 nights in Athens

From Athens you can head nonstop to Rome/Naples/Pisa. But I would avoid Amalfi at all cost (narrow streets, lots of busses in summer). I can imagine that Tuscany and Umbria (!) are the better deal.
We stayed at Montone (L'Ariete) and loved the surroundings. It is totally off the beaten track.