Hi,
Painful choice as Italy alone needs weeks, or better months or years. But I adore Greece as well. I assume it's your 1st time in both places. So, i'd do this:
2 weeks in Italy with strong accent on Tuscany + 2-3 days in Rome, 1 day Venice, if ur going in spring to autumn time then you may spend 3-4 days in mountains & lakes (North). For 'extra" may add Napoli - at the beginning or at the end of Italian part. Anyway, make 1 direction move, dont spend time on double-transportation (return round trip).
Italy is just THE BEST, it cant be enough ever.
Greece. If it's summer - do islands for at least 4 days (1-2 islands). If u have interest in history - spend 1-2 days in Athens. Athens is nice, but cant compare to Rome (which is must). If ur not much abt history - go islands for whole week. Keep in mind that ferry-transportation may be tricky (delays and cancelations), so, your last day before leaving Greece be near airport, if u dont want to miss your flight.
All this relevant if you r going between May to Oct. U didnt say when u do.
If you are going winter - then concetrate on cities in Italy (much culture and architecture), I'd not going to Greece in winter, exsept may be Athens (again for history).
tht sounds grrrrrrrrrreat!!!
enjoy your trip!
I have to redress the balance here! Greece also needs weeks, months or years! I have holidayed in Greece 25 times & lived here for 4 years, ther's still plenty on my to do list.
Your interests will dictate what is the best itinerary as well as the time of year. You say April in your post title, if that is late April & covers Greek Orthodox Easter it is a fantastic time to be here, the biggest celebration of the year in Greece! Budget is also a consideration, on the whole Greece is cheaper, although not for everything.
Will you hire a car in any places, rely on public transport or do some organised trips?
If there is any chance that you will do a future trip I would devote this one entirely to one country, then come back & do the other. If it's only the one chance I would certainly have more than one week in Greece, it's more time consuming to travel around because of all the islands, but just concentrating on the mainland would make it easier (Athens + Peloponnese sights &/or Delphi).
[ 21-Oct-2010, at 03:08 by Athensfan ]
wow ! thanks for the suggestions - so we actually are going in May now and we plan to spend 2 weeks in italy and 1 week in greece.....Someone suggested to us that we plan it as one week italy, one week greece, and then back to italy for a week.... we are going to fly into rome, and then are planning on venice and florance [pisa and chianti] (but its not carved in stone). Any thoughts on renting a car for italy versus using transit to get around? We are planning on chianti to check out the wineries, any thoughts on that? Also anythoughts on a cruise versus a daily travel around greece?
I'd say go ahead and rent a car, especially if you plan to explore rather than site-see. If you are from the US, you will find it's more expensive and the cars are all manual (stick shift), but it will save you time and give you more freedom. Florence, Venice and then Greece is quite a bit of ground. Unless you are flying to Greece, you will probably burn 3 days getting from Italy to a Greek Island, so I think you will be happier with the greater efficiency. Italians have a reputation as aggressive drivers, but it's not that bad, though the ring highway around Florence is a bit crazy. Just clearly signal your intentions and don't be tentative (hesitation is what they honk at most), and on the autostrade don't sit in left lane (they start flashing their lights a 1/4 mile back):-).
If I was starting in Rome, I'd probably do Rome, then head to Florence by way of Orvieto, Siena, Volterra, and San Gimignano (the latter two are often recommended by Italian friends of mine), then Florence, then Bologna, then Venice. If you like history, Ravenna south of Venice is interesting (it was the capital of the western Roman Empire in the 400s and is famous for its mosaics). That might be too much, but it gives you some ideas.
With that itinerary, I'd probably rent a car when I left Rome, and up until I was done exploring the wine country. Then I'd turn in the car, spend a couple days exploring Florence and take the train to Bologna and Venice. "Bologna the Fat" - Emilia-Romagna has some of the best food in Italy (though I'm biased because my wife is from Romagna) :-).
I'm sure you want to see Venice, but if you were willing to give that up, rather than heading north, you could explore the hill towns of Umbria: Spoleto, Gubbio, Todi are some I hear mentioned a lot (I've driven by, but haven't been to any of those towns myself).
For Greece, I'd recommend Santorini. Not sure how you are getting from Italy to Greece and where you are flying home from, but if you are going by train/ferry and then back to Rome to fly home, that's going to take some time, so I'd probably stick with just one island and relax. Rent Vespa's and tour the island. I did that on Santorini and it was a blast (don't forget the sunscreen!)
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