2 months, London to Greece and back?

[ellenbruun]

Hi everyone.

My friend and I are planning our first trip to europe for both of us. I'm 22 and she's 24, we're both pretty street wise girls, and we're definitely traveling on a budget. We're flying into London, May 26, and flying out from London on July 22. We want to work our way down to Greece, spend a lot of time in eastern europe, and then get back to London through Italy/France.

We have a rough itinerary, but are definitely are up for deciding things along the way. How does this sound? I would really appreciate any advice, what not to miss, bad route, too much, etc. Is this too much? Thanks so much.

• 5/27/09 - London
  
• 5/28/09 - London
  
• 5/29/09 - London
  
• 5/30/09 - London-Brussels
  
• 5/31/09 - Brussels
  
• 6/01/09 - Brussels-Cologne
  
• 6/02/09 - Cologne
  
• 6/03/09 - Cologne (I have family here)
  
• 6/04/09 - Cologne-Munich
  
• 6/05/09 - Munich
  
• 6/06/09 - Munich
  
• 6/07/09 - Munich-Prague
  
• 6/08/09 - Prague
  
• 6/09/09 - Prague
  
• 6/10/09 - Prague-Bratislava
  
• 6/11/09 - Bratislava
  
• 6/12/09 - Bratislava
  
• 6/13/09 - Bratislava-Budapest
  
• 6/14/09 - Budapest
  
• 6/15/09 - Budapest
  
• 6/16/09 - Budapest-Belgrade
  
• 6/17/09 - Belgrade
  
• 6/18/09 - Belgrade
  
• 6/19/09 - Belgrade-Sarajevo
  
• 6/20/09 - Sarajevo
  
• 6/21/09 - Sarajevo-Mostar
  
• 6/22/09 - Mostar-Dubrovnik
  
• 6/23/09-7/6/09 - Bus down Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and maybe through Macedonia to Thessolonia or coastal Greece. Get to Athens somehow.
  
• 7/07/09 - Athens
  
• 7/08/09 - Athens
  
• 7/09/09 - Athens-Patras
  
• 7/10/09 - Patras-Bari
  
• 7/11/09 - Bari-Naples
  
• 7/12/09 - Naples-Rome
  
• 7/13/09 - Rome
  
• 7/14/09 - Rome
  
• 7/15/09 - Rome-Florence
  
• 7/16/09 - Florence
  
• 7/17/09 - Florence-Milan-Paris
  
• 7/18/09 - Paris
  
• 7/19/09 - Paris
  
• 7/20/09 - Paris
  
• 7/21/09 - Paris-London
  
• 7/22/09 - London-LAX
  

[madamtrashheap]

ellenbruun, welcome to GFE.

Overall, your itinerary looks fine, just a couple of comments/questions:

London - Brussels: Eurostar might be the best choice here, only 2hrs direct.

Bratislava - I'm interested that you're spending 2 full days here and by-passing Vienna - what's your reason? There's nothing wrong with Bratislava and it warrants a visit, just curious.

Croatia-Greece section: if you plan to make your way down the coast to Albania, bus will likely be the best option, however you should know that some sectors of road are rough and add to travel time so allow for that. You could cut across to Thessaloniki and travel by train to Athens from there, or you could think about travelling from Albania (Saranda is the port town closest) to Corfu (they are super close, so close you can get the Albanian telephone system on your mobile phone when standing on Corfu!) then flying to Athens from there - it all depends on what you want to see.

I notice you don't have any Greek Islands listed (which is why I suggested Corfu, it's a little different, and greener) and I'd suggest flying from Athens to Rome rather than travelling back up to Patras adn taking the ferry from Bari then the train to Naples. Of course, if you have specific things you want to see along the way (Corinth Canal, Basilica di San Niccolo in Bari, parts of Puglia) then fine, but otherwise I'd fly direct and then take the train to Naples from Rome and perhaps consider basing yourselves in Sorrento for a few days to visit Pompei, Naples and Capri. Alternatively, you could visit Naples (briefly) and Pompei in a long but worth it day trip from Rome.

Florence - could do with another full day.

Florence - Paris: there really is no need to go via Milan, unless you book tickets to see The Last Supper or plan to get into the city centre for brief sightseeing. You could fly direct from Florence to Paris with Air France if they have any good deals, otherwise look at Pisa to Paris with EasyJet (avoid Ryanair as they fly to Beauvais which is miles out of Paris). This way you'll sneak a little extra time into both Florence and Paris.

Paris - London: again, look at the Eurostar and if you book far enough in advance (between 1 and 3 months, but no less) you'll get a good fare for the 2hr30 journey.

Happy planning!