Well I haven’t been to a lot of those places but as far as what you are trying to get accomplished in the time you have it looks very realistic. 

Athens is located within a similar geomorphology as Los Angeles, along with an identical climate.  This, car exahust may build up particularly on a temperature inversion day.  However, the problem has been greatly alleviated since the early 1990s. 

No, Athens is not “crowded” that time of year, not any more so than it would be in the winter.  If you go in late July or in August, you’ll find the city pretty empty.  The city has plenty to see and explore, as long as you don’t overstay at the expense of other, more rewarding places in Greece.  Give it two days to explore the historical city center, and its museums.  Unlike Rome or Paris, Athens was a very small town until relatively recently, thus most of the city was built during the architecturally-nightmarish era of 1965-1985 (and some older neoclasical buildings were even torn down, a mistake now regretted in hindsight).  If you do a little research (I have written quite a bit about the city), and explore the old 19th century quarters, as well as the ruins from antiquity (Acropolis, Agora, etc), you’ll have an amazing experience.



Nothing else in Spain interests you?  You’ll be there for full week.  Have you thought about also visiting Madrid?  Or maybe a smaller coastal town somewhere along the Mediterranean coast (Valencia, Catalunya, and Murcia regions), or the Atlantic coast (País Vasco, Asturias, etc)?

Greece: please do a search as a lot has been written about amazing places all over the country, islands and mainland.  I think a great 14-day itinerary, if you’re coming from Italy, would be: Corfu-Metéora-Athens-Syros-Santoríni  or Corfu-Metéora-Athens-Santoríni-Rhodes

Thanks for information – my whole trip is pretty much set in stone at the moment as I’ve got almost all of the plane/train tickets taken care of.  As far as Spain goes, I will be there 5 days and so I’m not sure if its worth going to more than one place – but I will keep that in mind.  Another thing is that I’m a student and so I am also trying to keep this as low budget as possible.  Right now its all about finding the cheapest accomodations etc.
I will definitely focus more attention on the Greek mainland though, I appreciated the recommendation.  Just out of curiosity, how expensive would a Corfu-Metéora-Athens-Syros-Santoríni trip be (and how long)?

Spain: Barcelona is one of my favorite European cities.  But for 5 days, would you be interested in squeezing in a day-trip to Tarragona or Cadaqués?  Cadaqués is a very charming coastal town on the Costa Brava.  Tarragona is a charming town just south of Barcelona, with Roman ruins, and medieval monuments (such as its cathedral).  Barcelona has lots to see, but you might want to squeeze in a day-trip within the Catalunya region.

Greece: I’m really bad with remembering costs, but Corfu-Metéora-Athens-Syros-Santoríni is a trip that makes sense, and thus should help reduce your transport expenses because:  If you’re coming from Italy, the first part of Greece you reach is Corfu.  Makese sense to stop here first both to rest and because Corfu is in itself a great place to see.  Metéora-Kalambáka is on the mainland, another remarkable site, and on the way from Corfu to Athens.  Might as well break up that trip.  And Syros is the administrative capital of the Cyclades island chain, and manny ferries from Athens to Santoríni, stop there, so you’ll might as well see its beautiful main town.  So: bus from Corfu to Metéora-Kalambáka (ferry crossing at Igoumenítsa included in cost of bus ticket), then bus to Athens, then ferry to Syros, then fery to Santoríni.  Then ferry or fly back to Athens.  these are all great places to see, and are on each others’ way.

In barcelona- i would 100% recommend a youth hostel called Kabul. check out their website- but i had a great time there- perfect location, right off las ramblas, safe, and crazy fun. if you end up in corfu- check out the pink palace hostel- also amazing.

Where are you going in the Baltic of Poland? I found Gdansk to be quite boring, but I’ve heard great things about the Tri-Cities are of Gydania (sp), Sopot and such. So check those out – supposed to be nice beach areas and a hot spot for Poles to go in the summer.

I’ve already booked all of my BCN hostels, i saw Kabul on the list but i ended up booking a few other ones.  All near las ramblas though, so that should be ok.  As far as the Baltic goes, I’ll be in Sopot actually – I just mentioned Gdansk as its the biggest city in the area.  Thanks for your suggestions, now all that’s left for my trip is booking Greek Islands hostels and ferries.  So far i’ve heard Far Out Beach and Francesco’s on Ios are good.

 
I think I’m gonna end up staying in Barcelona for a handful of nights (flying in and out of there). How is it, anyway? Is the crime thing exagerated, or is it really the pickpocket capital of teh universe? I was even shaky about the hostels too…

I haven’t been to Spain, but I talked last year to another American girl who had visited Barcelona. According to her, the pickpockets are really bad. She told me of one scam, where when a train is pulling into the station the thiefs will cut the lights, then run down the aisles snatching bags, and then leap off the train with their stolen goods. She also complained that the Spanish men harassed her. I personally had no problem with Greek or Turkish men.

Athens is okay for a couple of days, see the Parthenon and the Acropolis and all the other sights. I just didn’t find it to be a very clean city, and it didn’t have a “friendly” vibe to it, either. The Parthenon is amazing, of course, but by far the most astonishing sight to me and my boyfriend was the Temple of Olympian Zeus! It’s HUGE! When you visit the Acropolis, it’s on a high hill, the sun is bright, the stone is bright, so wear sunglasses. [image]http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e185/Mississippienne/athens2.jpg[/image]
[image]http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e185/Mississippienne/athens3.jpg[/image]

Both times I was in Barcelona, I found it no different than any other big city in the world that I have been to.

It’s exaggerated.  When the same thing happens in Amsterdam or London, people just accept it as a fact of life in major cities.  It happens in Barcelona, and oh whoa, what a horrid city.  I’ve never had any problems in Barcelona.  Exercize the same precautions you would in any major city.  Don’t forget to do this when on holiday, because a lot of tourists do.  A major tourist magnet since the 1992 Summer Olympics, Barcelona has now become a magnet for shady people from all over, who come to the city to take advantage of the tourism industry…just don’t make yourself a target.




IMO, unless there’s a specific reason you’re going to Ios, I would recommend skipping it. If you wanna go there for the backpackers’ party scene, then it’s the place for you (It’s like Ibiza, but with pubs instead of clubs).  But if you’re more interested in an overall itinerary for of the country, then I would recommend either Corfu-Metéora-Athens-Syros-Santorini or Corfu-Metéora-Athens-Santorini-Rhodes.  Nothing Ios has, architecturally/culturally, that you can’t see anywhere else in the Cyclades (plus, Santorini and Syros have more stuff of cultural and historical value, although Ios is a charming island).  Plenty of partying on Santorini too.

Thanks, I’ll put more concideration into the other islands – I do want to party though so we’ll see.  As things stand now I fly into and leave out of Athens so I need to base my travels around that.  I was planning on spending a day or two there and visit Syros, Santorini and Ios for the rest of the time.  Turns out I will only have about 10 days there (opposed to the two weeks mentioned in the original post) so thats a bit of a bummer.

Sounds good.  I just want you to enjoy the places you visit.  Go to Ios because you know and want what’s there, not because you just heard the island’s name.  []

Syros is an island I often suggest to people because it’s a nice and quiet island, with lots of cultural value, that balances out an itinerary.  It’s convenient (administrative capital of the Cyclades island chain, thus most ferries make a stop here), and its main town is a very charming 19th-century neoclassical city.  It’s very popular with Greek mainlanders, but gets very few foreign visitors.  So it’s a great way to visit a very lively place with an active tourism industry, but that’s still one of the country’s best kept secrets.  The beaches aren’t that great, but if you’ll be visiting other places in Greece, Syros is a great complement to say Mykonos, Crete, Corfu, Santorini, Rhodes, Ios, and the other big-name islands.