Italy, Croatia, and Greece

[ViviTheMage]

I am going in June of next year ... solid 21 days. Should be a blast, what shouldn't we miss (GF + myself)? I've done 'all' of Europe, these are the last 3 countries to conquer!

 

[blackdogdeek]

make sure you go to florence. i liked it better than venice or rome. i haven't been to croatia or greece.

EDIT: especially if you played Assassin's Creed 2

 

[dullard]

Croatia and Greece are on my radar, but I haven't gone there yet. Dubrovnik, Croatia comes highly rated by travel writer Paul Theroux and he dislikes most cities, so that is quite some praise.

With Italy, I'd highly suggest Rome and the Amalfi coast. Rome is self-explainatory, 3 days will do you well there but 4 would be better. The Amalfi coast has some of the most beautiful places on Earth (many famous/wealthy people go there for weddings for example). I proposed to my wife here on that coast line. It has the charm of the Cinque Terre that people rave about, but with steeper cliffs and Roman ruins nearby.

 

[Josh]

blackdogdeek - I haven't been to Florence so I can't comment. Have been to Rome. Stayed in Trastevere, beautiful little neighborhood with many cafes and shops that seemed a little less touristy. Rented a scooter and drove around the whole city pretty much late at night when no one was around, was cool to see the Colosseum, Vatican, etc at night. That would be my only and obvious suggestion - make sure to see all that, very cool...and Trevi Fountain.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[ViviTheMage]

Yup, I plan to hit up Florence, Venice, and Rome for sure.

I do want to see Dubrovnik, Split, Zagreb ... the dalmatian coast if you will.

We're avid bikers, so we'll be renting bikes in a few of the cities, and scooting around to see what's out there.

Greece is where I am a bit at a lost ... probably see Athens + Santarini, but passed that I am unsure.

I am Croatian by blood, so i'll probably spend 10~ days over their on the coast...Italy should be a blast. Neither of us drink, so I hope we don't piss anyone off by denying ourselves from their wine, haha.

 

[blackdogdeek]

blackdogdeek - I haven't been to Florence so I can't comment. Have been to Rome. Stayed in Trastevere, beautiful little neighborhood with many cafes and shops that seemed a little less touristy. Rented a scooter and drove around the whole city pretty much late at night when no one was around, was cool to see the Colosseum, Vatican, etc at night. That would be my only and obvious suggestion - make sure to see all that, very cool...and Trevi Fountain.

Enjoy your trip!

don't get me wrong, i loved rome. i just liked florence even better.

 

[bignateyk]

I am going in June of next year ... solid 21 days. Should be a blast, what shouldn't we miss (GF + myself)? I've done 'all' of Europe, these are the last 3 countries to conquer!

We just took a cruise that covered those 3 countries.

Dubrovnik in croatia is a beautiful city (the old part). In Italy, I would highly recommend Cinque Terre. I've been to Greece a few times.. the food is good, but the wine sucks. Scenery is nice in some places. Santorini is really nice. Athens is a pretty dirty city overall, but I guess you might as well go to say youve been there.

 

[ViviTheMage]

don't get me wrong, i loved rome. i just liked florence even better.

I've heard this a lot ... Rome is 2-3 days at most, Florence should be longer.


We also plan to take a "cruise" from Greece back to Venice (we enter/leave from Venice)

 

[ViviTheMage]

I also hear Plitvice Lakes National Park is just epic...so that is a must.pictures for those interested :

http://beautifulplacestovisit.com/lakes/plitvice-lakes-national-park-croatia/

 

[Cookie]

Dubrovnik is a must.

Any of the small towns around Makarska, Croatia are nice also for swimming, beaches, and romantic dinners by the beach. Walking along the boardwalk in the evenings is nice there too. We stayed in Brela, Baska Voda, Makarska, and Tucepi. You can take a boat out to Brac and Hvar from any of these towns too, though the best bet is from Makarska. Split is bigger, lots to do, lots to see. I was only there for an afternoon, so I don't remember a lot.

I'd suggest Plitvice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plitvice_Lakes_National_Park because I really wanted to go, but didn't get the chance. I've heard it's amazing. It may be hard to get to, depending on how you are travelling.

 

[dullard]

Greece is where I am a bit at a lost ... probably see Athens + Santarini, but passed that I am unsure.

I am Croatian by blood, so i'll probably spend 10~ days over their on the coast...Italy should be a blast. Neither of us drink, so I hope we don't piss anyone off by denying ourselves from their wine, haha.

So that leaves you with ~11 days for Italy and Greece. That gives you at max 4 locations to even begin to enjoy the areas. You already mentioned two key parts of Greece (Athens + an island), so pick two places in Italy and you are set. Seems like Venice is already on your list, so pick one more. Otherwise you'll be doing nothing but travelling and not enjoying your locations.

We also plan to take a "cruise" from Greece back to Venice (we enter/leave from Venice)

Is that set in stone? The cruise may be fun, but it is always quite a waste of precious vacation time to travel back to the same location. It is often cheaper/better selections to do an open jaw vacation (fly to one city from home and fly back from a different city). Plus you save the time and expense of travelling back to where you already were.

 

[JulesMaximus]

When I go to Italy you can be sure a trip to Borgo Panigale will be on the agenda.

 

[bignateyk]

Is that set in stone? The cruise may be fun, but it is always quite a waste of precious vacation time to travel back to the same location. It is often cheaper/better selections to do an open jaw vacation (fly to one city from home and fly back from a different city). Plus you save the time and expense of travelling back to where you already were.

I've never found this to be the case. Usually 1-way plane tickets are outrageous (often more expensive than their round-trip equivalents). Whenever we've gone to Europe we've always booked round trip tickets and then taken a short flight back to the original destination.

 

[dullard]

When I go to Italy you can be sure a trip to Borgo Panigale will be on the agenda.

Are you after the best food in the world? Or is there another reason to go to Bologna?

 

[ViviTheMage]

So that leaves you with ~11 days for Italy and Greece. That gives you at max 4 locations to even begin to enjoy the areas. You already mentioned two key parts of Greece (Athens + an island), so pick two places in Italy and you are set. Seems like Venice is already on your list, so pick one more. Otherwise you'll be doing nothing but travelling and not enjoying your locations.

Is that set in stone? The cruise may be fun, but it is always quite a waste of precious vacation time to travel back to the same location. It is often cheaper/better selections to do an open jaw vacation (fly to one city from home and fly back from a different city). Plus you save the time and expense of travelling back to where you already were.

My guess is the cruise is only 12~ hours, so travel + sight seeing on it should be helpful.

We're young, we like to pack in a lot, see a lot, do a lot. So fast passed is a-ok for us. We love to travel by plane/train/boat every time we go, so we make it a point to do it that way.

We MIGHT fly from greece -> croatia, boat from split -> venice and fly out, which would give us a much shorter boat ride.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Are you after the best food in the world? Or is there another reason to go to Bologna?

Yeah, what is there? details...

 

[Cookie]

I've never found this to be the case. Usually 1-way plane tickets are outrageous (often more expensive than their round-trip equivalents). Whenever we've gone to Europe we've always booked round trip tickets and then taken a short flight back to the original destination.

Ya, Flights within Europe are dirt cheap too. Pretty sure EasyJet and RyanAir both fly out of Venice and Athens. Depending on time constraints it might be a better option.

 

[dullard]

I've never found this to be the case. Usually 1-way plane tickets are outrageous (often more expensive than their round-trip equivalents). Whenever we've gone to Europe we've always booked round trip tickets and then taken a short flight back to the original destination.

No, don't get two 1-way tickets, get an open jaw round-trip ticket. http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/dullard/OpenJawTicket.JPG

Save the cost, hassle, and time of that short flight. Plus you get more selections in your main flights. For example it may be cheaper/better to fly into Venice and out of Athens. Or maybe it is cheaper/better to fly into Athens and out of Venice. It just depends on pricing at the moment and flight timings that fit your schedule. You simply get more options when you don't limit yourself to just one city.

 

[Cookie]

My guess is the cruise is only 12~ hours, so travel + sight seeing on it should be helpful.

We're young, we like to pack in a lot, see a lot, do a lot. So fast passed is a-ok for us. We love to travel by plane/train/boat every time we go, so we make it a point to do it that way.

We MIGHT fly from greece -> croatia, boat from split -> venice and fly out, which would give us a much shorter boat ride.

We took a ferry from Split to Rijeka ~12 hrs (I don't think it was an option to get a boat all the way to Venice), then a cab from Rijeka to Trieste (the only cab I've ever taken through 3 countries - it would have been a 10 hour wait for the next bus), then a train from Trieste to Venice. Double check if you can get a boat all the way to Venice first.

http://www.korculainfo.com/ferries/rijeka-split-hvar-korcula-dubrovnik-bari-ferry-summer.html

 

[AreaCode707]

Just did three weeks in Italy. Florence was bustling and touristy but amazing art and architecture. Hiking Cinque Terra was one of the very best parts of our trip, and trying the local anchovies (a food I normally detest) was incredible.

Check out some of the hill towns, especially San Gigminano and Volterra. Assisi was one of my favorites.

We visited Le Marche, which was off the beaten path and pretty countryish but it was the most relaxing part of our trip. We stayed here for 55 Euro a night and I wish we'd just canceled the rest of our trip and lounged around there, we had such a good time talking to the owner and enjoying the treats his little Italian mother made for us.

 

[arrfep]

Definitely spend a day or two in Cinque Terre. If you don't feel like too much hiking/walking, stay in Manarola, the main of the five:

I will echo the sentiments about Florence. I enjoyed it more than Rome, I think. More history and art than you can possibly take in, but I think the city overall was more beautiful. It has a charm and intimacy that Rome seems to lack (I loved the area around Ponte Vecchio), and was very walkable. Of course, Rome is also still awesome.

I'd also try and stop in Venice on your way out east, assuming you're traveling overland.

Can't give any input on your other two countries, though they're both on my list!

 

[ViviTheMage]

No, don't get two 1-way tickets, get an open jaw round-trip ticket. http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/dullard/OpenJawTicket.JPG

Save the cost, hassle, and time of that short flight. Plus you get more selections in your main flights. For example it may be cheaper/better to fly into Venice and out of Athens. Or maybe it is cheaper/better to fly into Athens and out of Venice. It just depends on pricing at the moment and flight timings that fit your schedule. You simply get more options when you don't limit yourself to just one city.

from MSP -> VENICE was cheap as hell. I used my miles .

We took a ferry from Split to Rijeka ~12 hrs (I don't think it was an option to get a boat all the way to Venice), then a cab from Rijeka to Trieste (the only cab I've ever taken through 3 countries - it would have been a 10 hour wait for the next bus), then a train from Trieste to Venice. Double check if you can get a boat all the way to Venice first.

http://www.korculainfo.com/ferries/rijeka-split-hvar-korcula-dubrovnik-bari-ferry-summer.html

perfect, thanks



We're flying into Venice, so it wont be missed. I will have to look up Cinque Terre, I haven't really heard about it until this post...we love to hike, we've never really hiked any of the other times in europe, maybe Italy is the country to do it in this time.