Honeymoon in Italy and Greece

First of all if your week in Greece includes the travel time to get there you don't have enough time to visit 3 islands, especially if that week includes any time in Athens (I'm assuming you're planning to fly home from Athens). A ferry from Athens/Piraeus out to your first island might take up too much time. You can fly from Rome and Venice to Athens on Aegean Airlines to make a connecting flight to an island. Choose islands close by in the same island group connected by ferry for the best use of your time. http://www.greeceathensaegeaninfo.com/ferry-info-greece/greek-islands-ferry-chart.htm One possible pairing would be Santorini and either Naxos or Paros for a nicely diverse experience. I don't suggest Santorini and Mykonos as they won't give you as diverse an experience. Ferry Schedule website: http://www.gtp.gr

travel options bet 3 cities rome, florence, venice : many years ago, we rented a car in florence to drive south to perugia, then north again to florence and padua. driving is stressful, we got lost more often than not but we did see a lot more. from padua, we took a train to venice. train travel is less stressful. in 2009, we took aegean air from rome to athens. our plan was to take the ferry at 4:00pm to paros. didn't happen bec rome had a strike that day, luckily our flight was able to leave but arrived in athens at 5:00ish. good thing we didn't buy the 4:00pm ferry tkt. we took the 7:00pm ferry instead to paros, the hotel owner in paros picked us up at the paros dock at 11:30 pm. you never know what will happen. suggestion is you must be flexible. perhaps stay in a hotel in athens for 1 night, then take ferry the next day. ferry rides not too easy to find in big piraeus port, luckily there was a greek woman who helped us. stayed in paros for 6 days. then, took ferry again to santorini, stayed 4 days. then flew out of santorini to athens. i can say our greece trip was super-great.

Hi Lindsey, My family spent 3 weeks in Greece last summer (and have previously spent 3 weeks in Italy). You will love both, but you are packing a lot into one trip. Thoughts on Greece: We spent one week seeing Santorini (3 days), Naxos (2 days) and Paros (2 days). Santorini is full of tourists but beautiful. Naxox and Paros are very laid back. To save time, I would fly in and out of Santorini if you can afford it (25 min flight versus 5 or more hours on a boat). We did not go to Mykonos, because it sounded like spring break (drinking all day, all night, party until 5 am) with lots of nude beaches. Since we were traveling with our 12 and 14 year old daughters, we wanted to avoid that. Not sure want you want for your honeymoon, though. If you go to Santorini, check out Senor Zorbas (a wonderful Mexican restaurant). On Naxos, I would rent a car and see the interior of the island (same on Paros, as the town of Lefkes was gorgeous.) Enjoy!! Kaye,
Folsom, CA

Lindsay, To begin with, congratulations! To answer some of your questions.... The best travel options between cities in Italy is usually the fast EuroStar italia / Alta Velocita trains. You can purchase tickets in Italy, either from the staffed ticket offices or from the automated Kiosks (credit card required). You might want to have a look at This Website for LOTS of great information on using the trains in Italy. The best travel option for getting from Italy to Greece is via EasyJet from Rome / FCO to Athens / ATH. I travelled that route last year, and it was a nice trip. When you arrive in Athens, take the Metro into the city. Regarding the "best islands", that's somewhat a matter of personal opinion. I definitely agree with Lee that choosing islands in the same "group" makes travel by Ferry somewhat easier. You might consider making Santorini your last stop, as there are easy flights from there to Athens. In choosing which islands to visit, you may find it very helpful to have a look at This Excellent Website (everything you'll need to know about Greece). I used one of the Greek Travel Agencies recommended on the website to make all the arrangements for that part of my trip, and that worked out REALLY WELL! I assume you'll be using open-jaw flights, into Italy and home from Greece? As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. Use the country-specific Guidebooks to plan Hotels, sightseeing, etc. I often pack one or two Guidebooks along, as they're valuable reference during trips. Happy travels!