Italy-Greece 15 days late March to early April, needs help!!

Day 7: flight back to Athens and return home at noon

Unless this is a single ticket, 'suicidal' is the word that comes to mind.

maybe blitz visit to....

That pretty much describes your entire trip, with the exception of Santorini. If that is what you like, then go for it.

No need to go to Hydra if Santorini is on the agenda.

Way too much travel. You should pick one country and go with it.

Your day 9 CT to Athens via Florence is also risky. Totally dependant on the trains running on schedule, with NO room for any delays.

I was exhausted reading that itinerary. Had to have an apperol spritzer and then take a nap. Sounds like you won't have time for either.

Thanks for you guys kind reply!

@joe32F

Unless this is a single ticket, 'suicidal' is the word that comes to mind. That pretty much describes your entire trip, with the exception of Santorini. If that is what you like, then go for it. No need to go to Hydra if Santorini is on the agenda.

Thanks, no Hydra it is!

@CJean

Your day 9 CT to Athens via Florence is also risky.

OMG this is so important, I totally neglected the nortorius delay issue, we add 1 layover in Milan for cushion.

@treemoss2

Sounds like you won't have time for either.

Yeah that's important too... the new itinerary is mostly based on R/S and Frommer's guidebook suggestion, but if it's still too hasty we could consider sacrifice a city during this visit for better overall experience.

What about this:

Italy:
D1 to D3: Rome - late train/plane to Florence on D3
D4 to D5: Florence
D6 to D7: Venice - early train/plane to Venice, late train/plane to Milan on D7
D8 to D9: CT - MXP farewell, later to CT; late train to Milan on D9

Greece:
D1 to D4: Santorini - early direct plane (07:00-10:40) to Santorini, plane to Athens on D4
D5 to D6: Athens - D6 15:50 plane departure

@geovagriffith

Way too much travel. You should pick one country and go with it.

The reason Greece is included instead of more Italy is mainly due to flight issue - we get more travel days and spend much less money for the same days-off we use (sorry for the grammar, English is my second language)

Do not [corrected] even consider flying from Florence to Venice. The Freccia trains make the trip is 2-1/4 hours without the need to deal with transportation between city center and airport.

I don't like the idea of two partial days in Venice, but your time is very tight, so that may be the best you can do. Consider your hotel location carefully, though, since you'll apparently need to store your bags there while you sightsee on Day 7 and then retrieve them as you head to the train station. Although Venice isn't large, the vaporetti do not move at the speed of a subway, and you need to consider how long it will take you to get to the nearest vaporetto stop from your hotel.

Do even consider flying from Florence to Venice

99.999% sure acraven meant to say "Do NOT even consider flying from Florence to Venice"

I cannot find any direct flights, so taking the train is THE choice.

I did indeed, Joe. Thanks for spotting the error.

Do not [corrected] even consider flying from Florence to Venice. The Freccia trains make the trip is 2-1/4 hours without the need to deal with transportation between city center and airport. I don't like the idea of two partial days in Venice

@acraven Thank you!!! I've updated two plans accordingly, and would like your opinion! Thanks very much!

Of the 10/25 update options, I vote PLAN A, because it includes Venice.

Greece: D1 to D4: Santorini - early direct plane (07:00-10:40) to
Santorini,

Which flight is it?

I don't see any direct flight from Italy to Santorini in the early April period

I love Venice, and it shouldn't be as rammed with tourists in March-April as it is later in the year. But really there isn't a clear "best" when you're choosing between Venice and rural Tuscany. They're both great destinations.

@joe32f @acraven
Thank you! Plan A it is, Venezia here we go!

@JoLui

Whick flight it is?
I searched with Google Flight and there were plenty results? We are more flexible with this flight due to this

Hi there, OK this is a whirlwind trip but I will make a stab at the Italian part. Am assuming this is the latest plan -

D1 to D3: Rome - late train/plane to Florence on D3 D4 to D5: Florence

D6 to D7: Venice - early train/plane to Venice, late train/plane to

Milan on D7 D8 to D9: CT - MXP farewell, later to CT; late train to

Milan on D9

You can and should take trains between all these Italian destinations. Are you counting Day 1 as your jet lagged arrival day? So realistically, this is only 2 days in Rome. May I ask what are the ages of the travelers and has everyone had a look at what they want to do in these places? Please look at what you need to book ahead, if you plan to go to the Vatican as you mentioned, or inside museums? You're spending a LOT of the trip getting from one place to another, plus remember you have to EAT and get to hotels, maybe take a stroll and not just schlepp between locations! HA. What is the attraction of staying so long in Milan?

If it were MY family trip, I would add days to Rome, Florence & Venice and only arrive in Milan the evening before my flight to Greece. I would skip CT on this route, as it's just too many places without stopping to enjoy whatever it is you love about travel! And I would not want to risk getting from CT to Milan in time for whenever your flight leaves to Greece. Hopefully for this whirlwind trip, you're packing VERY light. And the more details you can thrash out ahead of time (taxi or public transport, what areas to stay in, etc) the easier your trip will be. But it's your trip so if this style suits you, well just make sure you've added in some extra time in case of train delays so you make the international flights, and have a great trip!

@Sandancisco

Are you counting Day 1 as your jet lagged arrival day?

Yeah that's a good point, yet since we are arriving from timezone(GMT+8) east of Italy and also all medical professionals so I fathom that wouldn't be much of an issue?

May I ask what are the ages of the travelers and has everyone had a look at what they want to do in these places?

The 3 of us are all in our mid-20s, and yes we've got that in mind! Already bought two books(R/S and Frommer's) preping for that!

This is our latest itinerary(11/2) thanks to help from you guys:

D1-3 Venice (Flight to Milan then take high speed train to Venice subsequently)
D4-6 Florence, late train to Rome
D7-9 Rome, including sending a friend off at FCO off in D8 morning, and perhaps one day in Naples if there's just too much people in Rome to enjoy (Jubilee) but we'll keep that flexible
D10 Athens (early flight from Rome)
D11-12 Meteora
D13-15 Santorini, early and late flight from/to Athens
D16 Athens wrap-up in morning, leave Europe in afternoon

It's looking great, and sounds like you've done quite a bit of thinking about how to have the best trip possible! Rather than jumping on a train to Naples for the day, there are some wonderful day trips closer to Rome in case of bigger than expected crowds. And since you're all in your 20's, how about sending that friend off TO FCO via taxi or train from downtown? LOL. (It would take you at least 1.5 hours out of your only full day in Rome just getting to FCO & back.)

Day trips - In no specific order, consider what kind of day you'd like. 1) Mellow, pretty and quiet I would choose Frescati. 2) Just a quiet, beautiful archeological spot Ostia Antica is a 30 minute subway ride from the Pyramid stop, mellow and uncrowded. Rick considers it the most underrated spot in Italy. 3) If you're into gardens, Tivoli would be my favorite, again it will be quieter than Rome, & if you want you can stop and see Hadrian's Villa nearby as well.

Sounds like a fab trip!

@Sandancisco

Just a quiet, beautiful archeological spot Ostia Antica is a 30 minute subway ride from the Pyramid stop, mellow and uncrowded. Rick considers it the most underrated spot in Italy.

That's a good idea to get a glimpse into the economy of Ancient Rome! Just found out it being near to the airport, hence easier to fit into our last day in Rome. Thanks very much for this suggestion!

Ah, great & not as demanding as Pompeii. I would check on luggage storage, not sure if OA has it. What time does your flight to Greece leave (I thought you said you have an early flight to Athens?)

@Sandancisco

I would check on luggage storage, not sure if OA has it. What time does your flight to Greece leave (I thought you said you have an early flight to Athens?)

Sorry the only OA I know is osteoarthritis... is that some kind of airline?
The flight to Greece leaves at 0545a.m. (Ryanair), so we've booked an accomodation near the airport for that night, and planned to be at the airport at around 0330 a.m..

OA = Ostia Antica. Were you being tongue in cheek?

HAHA sorry I meant Ostia Antica! Not sure if they have luggage storage... Maybe someone else knows.

@Judy @Sandancisco
LOL of course its Ostia Antica!
No, I wasn't trying to be sarcastic, it's just that English is not my first language, and I didn't expect Ostia Antica to have an abbreviation :/
If we do plan to visit OA then we'd store our luggage at our accomodation near Fulmicono airport first then take an Uber or taxi to the site, thanks for the tips!