I like it a lot, because its very similar to my itinerary. Personally I would eliminate several cities such as Naples and add those days to Rome. Likewise I would eliminate Salzburg and add those days to Prague/budapest but thats just me. Why you say? I think this would not only cut down on your travel time but I am under the school of thought that the less you travel the more you see/ immerse yourself in their culture. My 2 cents.
 
A couple of questions, since your itin is similar to mine
How are you planning on getting from Pompeii to Crete? It might be faster or cheaper to go Athens then Island hop. just a thought
 
How much are you planning to budget for your trip?

i think3 days in rome is adequate
i’d say don’t book hostels except at the beginning and end and have flexibility with your schedule

I would consider changing the order of of places visited to may better use of night trains.Eg:
 
Paris – Berlin (night train)
Berlin – Munich (night train)
Munich – Salzburg
Salzburg – Prague
Prague – Budapest (night train)
Budapest – Vienna
Vienna – Venice (night train) There is a Budapest to Venice night train but it leaves before 7pm, so it vounts as two days on the pass.
 
Is your day trip to Siena & Pisa day trips? cause you wont see them both in a day.

Wow!  Such great help already!

lazyMonkey —- I agree with dropping Naples… I hear its one of the only cities in Europe where people feel unsafe, and I really would only go to see Pompeii.  Do you think it would be possible to just stop in for about a half day on the way thru to Crete?  Also, I think you might be right about it being cheaper to stop in Athens first, before heading to Crete… Although I am under the impression that there are some cheap flights from Italy to Crete.  Does anyone know?  Budget wise:  I’m planning on about $10,000CAD, including flights and rail passes.  I pretty much planned for the most expensive hostels, maximum food and local transportation expenses, plus sightseeing, and that’s the number I came up with.  What do you think?

The Clance —- Really liking the idea of switching up the places to make better use of the rail pass.  I’m definitely going to take a closer look at that.  As for the day trips, you would be right… Although I’m thinking I should cut it down to one or the other, no?

Why go to the ancient Pompeii, when we have a much newer Pompeii in Europe? Go for a guided tour of Chernobyl (yes, it is possible), that’s much more astonishing and moving than old Pompeii

I like your itinerary alot. The only thing I would cut out is 4 days in Munich. Two days in Munich is more than enough. You could add on to Prague, because Cesky Krumlov is a long day trip and you might want to stay over night. Also stop by Telc on your way to or from Cesky, as its a cool like village that’s a world heritage site. 

Papyr —- I had no idea you could do that!  That would be super intense, and mildly scary, no?  Dare I ask if its very accessible?

Prague12 —- Thanks for the help!  Definitely will now consider more time in Prague.  How long a trek is it to Cesky?

Thanks again to everyone!

If I remember correctly, it was about 3 hours to get there by bus. You go via Cesky Budejovice. I would recommend that if you do go, and you definitely should for an overnight, you can get to Vienna from Cesky Budejovice, so you wouldn’t need to go back to Prague. Hope that helps. I really liked Krumlov, beautiful place.

It is, but it is a day trip from Ukrainian capital, Kiev, which is quite off your route. And the tour’s expensive as hell. See http://www.tourkiev…. for details. But a super-intense experience is guaranteed. Radiation levels are low enough for short trips, but too high for permanent settlement, therefore the vicinity of the power plant is a ghost land. And also, it’s something everyone will envy you

there
Link

and back
Link

Well, there’s a lot more to the Campania region than Naples.



Stop where for half a day?



From Italy, yes.  But where in Italy are we specifically talking?  There’s a dense flight route system between Italy and Greece, with the introduction these past few years of direct flights from Athens to Bari or Rome to Mykonos, and so on.  There’s also scheduled seaplane service now between Brindisi and Corfu.  Add easyJet connecting Milan and Athens, increased service between Venice and Athens, and the growth of charter flights.  On the downside, you may not be able to find exactly what you’re looking for.  According to the www.aegeanair.com website, the airline offers direct flights from HER (Heraklion Crete) to FCO (Rome Fiumicino) and MXP (Milan Malpensa)  [as well as flights via Athens], but when I ran a search for a random Wednesday in July, only a two-leg itinerary via Athens was available for that day.  So try doing a search, and see what you find.

My advice: is there a reason why you want to hop over to Crete first thing?  The ferry system has served the backpack community very well, and there’s lots to see and do in Greece between Italy and Crete.

Prague 12 & Papyr —- Thanks so much for the help.  I am definitely going to try to work those two excursions into my itinerary.

Luv_The_Beach —- Do you have any thoughts on what else to see in the Campania region?  I not terribly sure what all that entails… Also, the half day trip I was referring to was Pompeii.  I’m unsure what amount of time is necessary for such a trip.  Thanks for the advice on the flights between Italy and Greece!  The only reason why I wanted to go to Crete first was to get the longest leg of our journey over and then simply work our way back to Athens.  But now, I’m starting to wonder if a ferry ride to say Corfu or Patras would serve us better on our way through to Athens, and then using Athens as a touch stone while we explore the islands.  Is this all doable by ferry?  Also, what sort of references are there for ferry travel in the Greek islands, websites or otherwise?  Thanks again for the help!

Athena,

Well, I’m wondering why you’re skipping over so much of Greece to get to Crete.  Crete is awesome, but it’ll be a long commute from Naples, and you’ll be skipping over so many great areas of Greece: the Ionian Islands, all the mainland regions, and the Cycladic Islands.  Is there’s a specific reason for Crete?  Family?  Meeting up with friends?  If not, I would recommend your 2 weeks in Greece as follows:

I would recommend you base yourself in 3 places, and possibly take side trips from each.

First, arrive in Corfu, and base yourself here for a few days. 3-5 days.  explre the island, possibly take a daytrip, and “hop” over to the island of Paxoi for a day.  Then, head to Athens, base yourself here for a 2 or 3 days.  Take a daytrip to Delphi, and possibly (if you find a tour) to Nafplio and Epidaurus.  then, head over to Santoríni or another Cycladiuc Island, and chill for 2 or 3 days, then back to Athens and head home.

The itinerary can look like this:

• Arrive Corfu, stay 3-5 days (possible side trip to Paxoi/Paxos)
• head for Athens, stay 2-4 days (Athens itself needs only a day or two. you can base yourself here for Delphi and/or Nafplio, Epidaurus)
• head for Syros or Mykonos (Syros has a lovely city; Mykonos is party capital), 2 days
• head to Santoríni, 2 days
• head back to Athens

Another sample itinerary:

• Corfu 3-5 days (possible daytrip to Paxos/Paxoi)
• bus to Ioánnina (nice city to stop for day)
• bus to Metéora (cool place for a day)
• head to Athens, 2 or 3 days (include daytrip to Delphi)
• ferry to Santoríni, Mykonos, or Páros (or island hop between the 3 islands) for the reminader of your stay in Greece, then back to Athens

I’ve listed some other suggested Greece itineraries here: http://www.eurotrip.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=128034

As for Campania:

Campania is the geocultural region in Italy where Naples is located.  The region also has the lovely (and famous, hence a bit touristy) Amalfi Coast (towns like Positano, Praiano, Ravella).  There’s also Sorrento, Capri, and the archaeological sites of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Paestum. 

Luv_The_Beach —- I really like the itineraries you posted! Thanks for all the help!  Also, one of my friends has her heart set on visiting Crete as well.  Is Crete fairly accessible to backpackers?  My concern is that it seems to be a fairly long distance from everything else…  Any thoughts?

Athena,

I really think you’ll enjoy my suggested itineraries. 

As for getting to Crete: it’s a wonderful island, but given your time constraints: getting to Crete from Naples while bypassing all these other great places you’d be spending a large chunk of your time in Greece traveling, and not enough time experiencing the country.  That’s why I gave you alternative itineraries.  As for you friend: yes, of course Crete is accessible to backpackers. [] 

Good news!  We now have an extra week!  This means that we will be able to combine the itineraries and visit Crete as well!  My next question is:  What is the best way to get to Crete?  Are we better to fly out of Athens (does this option even exist?) or should we take a ferry?

 

That would be perfect.  Add Crete to the end of either itinerary, and focus on western Crete.

Here’s what you can do:

A 3-week itinerary can look like this:

• Arrive Corfu, stay 3-5 days (possible side trip to Paxoi/Paxos)
• head for Athens (bus, fly, or ferry/train), stay 2-4 days (Athens itself needs only a day or two. You can base yourself here for Delphi and/or Nafplio, Epidaurus)
• head for Syros or Mykonos (Syros has a lovely city; Mykonos is party capital), 2 days (or both, 2 days each)
• head to Santoríni (www.bluestarferries.com), 2 days
• ferry to Heraklion Crete (www.hellenicseaways.gr), about a day (and see Knossos if interested)
• head to Chaniá or Réthymno (base yourself in one of these two cities, and explore western Crete), 4-6 days
• ferry or fly back to Athens from Chaniá or Heraklion

Or like this:

• Corfu 3-5 days (possible daytrip to Paxos/Paxoi)
• bus to Ioánnina (nice city to stop for 1 day, or if interested extend it to 2 days and visit/hike the nearby Zagoria villages http://www.great-adventures.com/destinations/greece/zagoria.html [useful website, but the sucky&nbspictures do no justice])
• bus to Metéora (cool place for a day)
• head to Athens, 2-3 days (include daytrip to Delphi)
• ferry to Syros, Mykonos, or Páros (or visit 2 of these islands), 2-4 days
• head to Santoríni (www.bluestarferries.com), 2 days
• ferry to Heraklion Crete (www.hellenicseaways.gr), about a day (and see Knossos if interested)
• head to Chaniá or Réthymno (base yourself in one of these two cities, and explore western Crete), 4-6 days
• ferry or fly back to Athens from Chaniá or Heraklion

You can both fly and ferry from Athens to Crete.  You can fly to either Cretan city of Heraklion (largest city), or Chaniá (older, lovelier).  But my suggested itineraries have you taking the ferry to Crete from Santoríni (and the ferry company I found, www.hellenicseaways.gr only offers ferry service from Santoríni to Heraklion, not Chaniá).  Heraklion doesn’t have much interest for the visitor besides the archaeological site of Knossos so I suggest spedning little time there, and heading to the western part of the island where you can base yourself in the lovely cities of Rethymno or Chaniá, and then you can either fly or ferry back to Athens from Chaniá.