Greece island selection

I suggest you check out the transportation between your destinations before making any further plans. How long will it take to get to Budapest from Venice, for example? 2 nights in Venice = 1.5 days, at most
Is that worth the time spent getting to the airport, waiting for your flight, in the air, and getting to your hotel in Budapest? Also, getting from an island to Athens will take some time, leaving you less than a day there.
My advice is to scratch Budapest. Add those days to Venice.and Athens.
On the question of a Greek island . . . Santorini is quite stunning. It's probably somewhat less crowded in October than in the summer.

I tend to agree that dropping Budapest from the itinerary might be a good idea (I enjoyed Budapest quite a bit, but it seems like it would require too much added transit time in this case). I think Athens is worth at least a couple days. Check out the ticket booklet they sell at the entrance to many of the old sites (e.g. the Parthenon). It can save you money if you plan to visit a lot of the sites. I don't know much about the Greek Islands, but I spent a few days on Hydra - very picturesque and laid back - lots of possibilities for walks of any length. The boat ride from the mainland is relatively short. I want to visit Santorini some day - it looks fantastic.

Santorini is one of our favorite places we've been-the caldera view really is that wonderful. I wish Akrotiri had been open when we were there.

We just got back from 11 days in Greece. Our itinerary included Athens, Mykonos & Santorini. I would strongly suggest Santorini! The views were amazing, like nothing you have ever seen. This is high season and the entire island was sold out but it never felt too crowded. We had some terrific meals too. We stayed in Fira and took day trips to Oia and the beaches.

I too recom Santorini. u will need far adv reservations for Oia and will be pricey. I also enjoyed Rhodes . A variety of things to do there and not perched on a cliff.

You may want to reconsider your itinerary. Rome, Venice, Budapest, Greek Island & Athens?!

Every time you go from Point A to Point B eats up valuable travel times, especially from one country to another which will really eat into your holiday.

I would suggest Rome & Venice this time around. You really need to spend several days at each area to fully appreciate what you are experiencing.

I haven't been to Budapest so can't speak on that but I would think it would deserve several days.

Greece/Athens is a whole other matter. It would be best suited as a separate trip and would take many days to experience, especially Athens, then the time to get to an island and stay there.

October is a great time to travel to Greece, Italy or probably most other countries in Europe since it's off season.

Still, you have to consider the time it takes to get from one place to another, flight, train, bus, checking in for flights, security checks, time to travel from one area to another, etc.

Pick one country and spend your time there. Trying to do to much and see too much only causes stress and not fully being able to enjoy what you are experiencing.

However, do what's best for you, but do you really want to spend more time on a plane, boat, train, bus going somewhere rather than enjoying where you are?

Agree with tommyk5. Will replace both budapest and greece with bavaria.

For this time of the season you are going on holiday in Greece,i would recommend visiting the southern part of the country,like Crete or Cyclades as the weather will look more like summer than the northern country.