Italy to Greece Itinerary Help...Method Of Travel

[awluter]

Beginning in Rome, I would like to travel through Austria & Slovenia. My ultimate destination is Greece; I'm not sure whether to continue down through Croatia or attempt to visit Hungary, Romania, etc. Any suggestions? What cities should I be sure to visit?

What is the most economical and practical way to travel this route? Bus...train...will I need to fly? I don't necessarily have to begin in Rome; would there be any advantage to visiting in a different order?

I have approximately 2 months for this leg of my trip (middle of May through the middle of July); I would like to spend 1 week in Rome and at least 1 week in Athens. Everything else is fairly flexible, time-wise.

I am just beginning the planning phase of my trip and am trying to get a general itinerary set so I can establish a budget and researching destinations in more detail. Any advice on any aspect of the trip is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

[WillTravel]

I would try to do the hottest places near the start, probably. Take a look at www.weather.com, but that might be Athens in your list. Posts like yours make me realize how much I have left to see in Europe.

I think you will want an open-jaw flight from your starting point. For example, land in Rome and fly back out of Vienna, or something like that. Then you save some backtracking. You will probably want at least one budget flight to cut down travel time. Take a look here:
www.whichbudget.com
www.skyscanner.net

I think for you likely itineraries, a railpass is not likely to be much good. Take a look at www.bahn.de to get an idea of train routes and times (it's a German site, but has most trains of Europe in its schedules).

There are so many great possibilities in your list that it's really hard to suggest the best. How important is budget on your trip? Some destinations are a lot cheaper than others, but of course some of the more expensive ones are really worth it.

I'll just throw out a few ideas, rather than try to give a comprehensive plan for you. You could also do these in reverse, etc.

I could see doing something like starting in Rome, traveling across Italy, probably to Florence and Venice, taking a bus/train combo (I think that is what you have to do now) to Slovenia.

Land in Vienna, stay there a few nights, take the train to Salzburg for the day, then Munich for a few. Take the train to Venice, stay for a few days. Take the express train to Rome. Fly to Athens.