Travel tips for Rome/Venice/Cinqueterre/Athens/Santorini?

We are not free travel planners. You have the time. Go to your public library and check out guidebooks, DVDs, etc. of the areas you are interested. Make notes, decide what you like and don't like, Develop you own tentative ideas and then ask specific question on this site and others. Read, Europe Through the Backdoor. There is no substitute for doing your own homework. It will mean more to you in the end.

Jeanne, There are of course numerous ways the trip could be structured, but in the same circumstances I'd probably arrange the Itinerary along these lines. > Flight to Venice (you'll arrive the day after you depart, so you've lost one day) > Train to C.T. (this will take at least six hours) > Train to Rome (that's an easy connection as there are direct trains from La Spezia to Rome with a travel time of ~3H:45M). > Flight to Athens (I'd suggest EasyJet from FCO to ATH - I travelled that route last year and it's an easy flight). > Flight to Santorini (I'd suggest Aegean - I found them to be a real "class act") > Flight back to Athens to connect with flight home (if you take the first flight from Santorini in the morning, you'll arrive at ATH fairly early, so should have lots of choice in departure times back to the U.S.) One very noticeable potential problem is the fact that you haven't allowed for travel times between locations. For some legs of the trip, you'll need at least half a day when you change locations, while this will be longer in other cases. Is there any way you could get a bit more holiday time? I'd highly recommend reading some Guidebooks and plan your sightseeing carefully. You don't have a lot of time in any location, so it will be important to plan efficiently. The one exception is the C.T. which is a good location to relax and just enjoy the ambience. If this is your first trip to Europe, reading Europe Through The Back Door would also be a good idea. As you'll be travelling in summer (PEAK SEASON), pre-booking accommodations would be prudent. Regarding your budget, could you clarify whether the $7K amount includes air fares? Good luck with your planning!

Hi Jeanne. It sounds like you still have a lot of planning to do. The "best" country to visit first might be determined by plane ticket prices - maybe it's cheaper to fly into Rome or Venice instead of Athens. You also have to plan a budget. Some people like to stay in pricier hotels; others, like myself, prefer budget hotels (a room for 2 people under 100 euros a night). You might want to splurge on meals. Or art museums. Or whatever. Start with how much money you can afford to spend, or want to spend, on your trip and go from there.

First trip? I think I'd pick up a couple more destinations in either Italy OR Greece, rather than spend only 3 nights in 5. You will have a more relaxing vacation with 2 weeks in one country, and your friends will drool. ( your mileage may vary, but my friends think anything more than a week or 10 days in one place is great).
For example, when you get your Rick Steves guidebook, you could read about the hill towns and decide to take a couple of nights there. Or you might decide to spend a day or night in Sorrento and see Pompeii aswell. You could add a couple of nights for Florence. You could head towards Milan and have a lovely day there and fly home from there. I found there was enough to do in Rome (with a couple of day trips out) for 10 days. I have the impression that Greece deserves at least a week or 10 nights and a few days going from island to island. Once you read the guidebook and find all the things that sound interesting to YOU, you'll find there isn;t enough vacation time to do it all!