Alternative Itinerary Help

Athens to Barcelona on Ryan Air. Cheap airfare, new country.

Athens to Barcelona on Ryan Air. Cheap airfare, new country. Then Ryan Air from Barcelona to Rome, then train to Florence. Be CERTAIN you understand Ryan Airs requirements and luggage restrictions and abide by them.

I wouldn't go to Turkey at present.

I hope that your $150 pp flights are for each leg from Athens and to Italy. Easyjet flies from Athens to Berlin and from there back to Italy eg Pisa. Their November schedule isn't released yet, but flights for October for the two legs start at c €140 plus check in bags etc and can be much much higher depending on the date of travel.

Berlin has a fascinating relatively modern history and has good restaurants and bars. The trouble with November is that it gets dark early on and the weather is likely to be changeable. If you are there the last week in November, the Christmas markets start.

Another option is Paris. Plenty to see and suitable flights.

Yes, the $150/pp is for each leg.

Keep the ideas coming.. we've been to Barcelona and Paris and not interested in repeating either yet. We haven't been to Berlin, but what do you think the weather would be like the last week of Nov? We were in Munich in Sept last year and the weather was perfect.

Athens to Bucharest; Bucharest to Bologna. Could be as cheap as 10-15 Euro/pp on Ryanair.

While in Romania, spend 2 nights in Bucharest (visit Palatul Parlamentului and have cheap and delicious 5-course meal at Carul cu Bere) and 2 nights in Brasov (visit Sinaia and Peles en route; stay at Hotel Kolping in the Poarta Schei neighborhood; skip the Black Church interior, don't miss hike/lift to top of Mt. Tampa).

Just remember that Istanbul is the northwestern corner of the country. It is far away from the trouble spots. I'm not sure what situation you are referring to. Amman, in fact all of Jordan, is a lot closer to Syria than Istanbul is.

Athens - Sofia - Bucharest - Budapest by ground trandportation. About $300 day invlusive.

Actuałly, based on your risk tolerance I would stay with Istanbul.

I think the weather would be more favourable in Berlin than in say, Bucharest or Sofia.
Whilst the Alps are not a great place to visit in November, other parts of Switzerland would be an option with flights to/from Zurich.

How about instead of flying from Athens to Istanbul, why not fly into Izmir instead and use that as your base to explore the southwest Turkish coast? It would be a very short flight although I wonder if it would have to go through Istanbul first. Izmir is very pleasant although it may feel too similar to Greece in some ways (it used to be heavily Greek pre 1920s). Or would you hesitate to go to Cappadoccia for the 4 days? Granted it's not a large busy mega-city like Istanbul, but what a fascinating landscape! I have not been yet, but a balloon ride over the fairy chimneys is on my to-do list for sure.

I honestly don't know what would constitute "an improvement" and how you would gauge that. Unfortunately, I think traveling to some parts of Turkey will be laced with uncertainty no matter what due to the PKK and ISIS factors (more the former, which has been going on for decades).

Bucharest or Sofia on average are warmer than Berlin. But November is still November and all things being equal I would go where the cold weather action is and not worry about 5 or 10 degrees one way or another. The Alps if you like snow or Budapest if you enjoy classical music and the theater.