This fall we are doing a cruise out of Rome and ending in Athens. We've never been to either. We are currently scheduled to spend 3 nights in Rome before the cruise to see that city and the Vatican. We are tentatively scheduled for 1 night in Athens so we can see the Acropolis.

Here is where I could use some wisdom from people with experience in those cities. Note, we can change our flights for only fare difference. Hotel costs in Athens are not high, as of now our trip is 11 days and we have kids at home with grandparents, so it's more an issue of whether or not to make the trip longer than it is budget.

1) Is there 2 days worth of stuff to do in Athens? Or, what day trips would you recommend if we stay another night? I find Meteora to be intriguing, Delphi also looks interesting.
2) Would you flip a day from the Rome end so it's 2 nights in each?

Thanks for your advice!

Most people will suggest going to one of the islands, and they will all make great points, but Meteora is one of the most unbelievable places on the planet. And I use the word unbelievable in the literal sense. It just doesn't look possible that this place & these monasteries can exist like that when you see it all in person. I can't recommend a trip to Meteora enough. It might be the most fascinating & unique place in all of Europe.

We spent the night in Kalampaka at the base of Meteora and spent the next day visiting the monasteries. You should book a couple of spots in a tour instead of trying to drive around up the rock formations yourself. Honestly, I'm not even sure that they allow you to drive up there near the monasteries anymore unless you're a tour guide.

Delphi is a cool stop as well, especially since it's so famous. It has the oracle, an ampitheatre, a stadium, and a couple of other temples all essentially in one spot, so you can see a good sampling of what ancient Greece has to offer all in one spot. But the actual town is tiny. We chose to stay the night there, but we probably should have just stopped there on the way between Meteora & Athens.

I say keep your Rome stay at 3 nights & 1 night in Athens.

There is so much to do & see in Rome, I spent the 3 nights there and wish I'd had more.

Athens can be done in one day. I spent 3 nights there, and I'm glad I did, but the Acropolis & the accompanying museum are the big draw there. There are lots of other cool & fascinating things in Athens (the Agora, Mars Rock, temples, etc), but they don't compare to Rome's Colosseum, Pantheon, Forum, and city in general if you have to choose between the two. And I would definitely sacrifice a 2nd day in Athens if it meant making the trip to see Meteora.

We just got back from a trip to Europe and spent 3 nights in Athens, and would say there's definitely enough to do 2 nights there (especially if you want to do a day trip). We went to Meteora as well like was mentioned above and would agree that it's a must if if fits your schedule - its an amazing sight to see in person, but it'd be a full day's activity (we got picked up at our hotel at 7am and made it back around 6pm). We did both a walking tour and a night ebike tour and those were really good. Overall we actually really liked Athens, but never been to Rome so cant compare the two.

Mind sharing what cruise you're taking? Sounds awesome.

Royal Caribbean , departing Oct 30 out of Rome, let me know if that's not enough to find it

If you only get 1 night in Greece and it is Athens, don't let it steer you away from returning to Greece. The Parthenon is cool for sure, and there are a few interesting things, but Athens pales in comparison to everything else in Greece.

I'm not saying don't go, just do something else if possible. Meteora is on my bucket list, and I can confirm that Delphi is badass. Can't speak to the town, but the ruins are amazing.

It is in the mountains looking down a valley.

I'm looking into extending the air a day, so we'll get the 3 nights in Rome and 2 in Athens. Thanks for the advice... we'll decide what the activities are later, but I'm leaning really heavy to Meteora

Are you on your own in Rome? If so, get a personal or small group tour guide. They can cut the lines and they make it so much more enjoyable when they can speak to what your are actually seeing. I did it once on our own and they second time with a guide. It was a night and day difference.

We used Through Eternity I believe.

So much to do in Rome. Definitely extend it as long as you can. You can spend a week just touring and learning the city. The tour guides where worth it! Especially going in the back doors and skipping lines. With the short time you have, highly recommend.

Yeah... we are still well before retirement, so we are looking at this as a "first" trip. Just accepting that we can't do everything and we will have to come back. With kids still at home, we can't really just stay as long as we want. But we will definitely be getting the "beat the crowds" tours booked.

Agree with this. Took a winter trip to Greece this past December and didn't shy away from some off-the-path locations. I didn't make it to Meteora but spent a day and a half just relaxing and walking around Metsovo which is not far away.

Between Athens and the mountainous Macedonia region, there's a lot to take in. Much of it is not ritzy, but it's a beautiful place.

I spent 8 days there and have other places in the world to see, but I won't be disappointed if I ever find myself headed back.

Any recommendations for tours/guides in Rome? Looking to plan a trip next year.

I am in Greece now. We spent 3 nts in Cappadocia, Turkey. 3 nts in Istanbul. 3 nts in Paros, Greece. 2 nts in Santorini. 3 nts in Milos. Leaving in the am for 2 nts in Athens. We have had a great time & Greece is amazing.

Please come back and post, especially about Santorini and Athens, those are stops we will make.

Out trip planning is coming together, but still have some time in Rome to plan. Itinerary so far:

Day 1: Arrive pretty early in Rome after overnight flight. Plan a walking tour (maybe self guided, might hire a tour group) of the Forum and Colleseum. Will probably be an early retire.
Day 2: Early morning, early entry tour of Vatican, Vatican Museums and Sisten chapel. AFTERNOON?
Day 3: Open - Thinking the Catcombs and perhaps the Scavi tour
Day 4: Morning open, board cruise ship at some point. Cruise departs in early evening.
Day 5: Port of Salerno: Isle of Capri day trip
Day 6: Port of Messina, Sicily: Day in Taormina
Day 7: At Sea
Day 8: Port of Ephesus, Turkey: Tour of Mary's home, Basilica of St. John, Library of Celsus
Day 9: Port of Santorini: Tour of Oai, mostly walking on own
Day 10: Port of Mykonos: No tour, just walking and exploring
Day 11: Port of Athens, early morning: See the Parthenon etc. in the Athens
Day 12: Meteora day trip out of Athens
Day 13: Depart for home

Still time to adjust most of this (other than schedule of the cruise of course). Mostly interested in:

1) We still have a lot of unplanned time in Rome. Pretty sure that will fill up with the Scavi tour, the catacombs, and the Pantheon. But open to suggestions.
2) We wavered between a day at Capri or Positano, and opted for Capri, mostly because the Positano trip was just 4 hours and we wanted a full day. I could still be talked in to Positano if anyone has reliable "on your own" transportation ideas.
3) Looking for suggestions for dining or activities in Santorini and Mykonos

Appreciate all the input so far!

The Red Bicycle in Santorini was amazing when we went last summer.

Please come back and post, especially about Santorini and Athens, those are stops we will make.

I was not on a cruise this trip although I have been on multiple cruises. Everyday I was there I saw 3 or 4 ships. It was very crowded in Oia. A large portion of the Greek islands shut down starting in Oct. I am assuming there will be some things open since ships are still going there in Nov. You tender in & I observed the tenders going to 2 different port areas to drop the passengers. Wear closed toe comfortable shoes & be prepared for narrow cobblestone streets/sidewalks. Oia is beautiful & scenic….just like a post card. Athens is a dense, dirty city with lots of graffiti. I was only there 2 nts. Basically long enough to see the museum, the Acropolis, eat & walk around the city. Wear closed toe comfy shoes. It took me 20 min to walk up to the top of the Acropolis to see the Pantheon but I think we took the long route. Lots of stairs & I am still recovering from pneumonia so I was moving a little slower. We did eat some good food if you will be there for that & made some bar stops.

kjcAg said:

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Any recommendations for tours/guides in Rome? Looking to plan a trip next year.

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Do a golf cart tour. We did the 3 hour and it was worth every penny. Hits all the spots you want to see, weave in and out of traffic and save your feet from all the other walking you are gonna do.

Travel Tip/Rant...
Don't buy an expensive bottle of olive oil when you are in Athens and throw it in a random pocket in your backpack. Because you might forget it until you go thru security and you get to watch them throw it in the trash, because it was 100ml over the limit. In a sealed, shrink wrapped bottle.

How much longer are we going to pretend that this "regulation" is doing anything to keep us safe? It's dumb and I can't think of one instance where it's been proven to have prevented anything.

It sucks.

Was in Rome last summer - looks like you have a great trip planned - your day 2 you might think about a food tour or a cooking class in Trastavere- our cooking class meal was one of our best.

Few things we did (this was about 10 years ago just FYI) that I thought were awesome and a little off the beaten path. We did a week in Rome and 2 nights in Athens. Athens was fun if only to see the MASSIVE riot that happened right outside our hotel at the government building there in downtown. It was certainly a sight to see, once we got over the fear of them burning down our hotel.

Rome:
The Borghese Gallery: https://borghese.gallery/
This place was AWESOME. It has a lot of well known sculptures, and not a ton of people. We signed up for a tour, and happened to be the only english speakers in the entire gallery at that time. So we got a private tour for group price (I think it was like $10). Our tour guide was a college student studying art in Rome who you could tell completely loved it. Was a highlight of the trip for us.

At the Vatican, there is a little-known tour of the Roman Catacombs underneath. I am not talking about the tour that everyone does. You have to book it separately. You get to walk on the actual ancient roman roads, and walk in and through buildings from that time. At the time we did it, it was only one english tour per day with 20 people, so it may be booked already. But it was seriously the coolest thing we did in all of Rome. If you are Catholic, it probably will mean more to you, as the end of the tour is getting to see a finger bone sticking out of the ruins that they believe to be St Peter. We are not Catholic, but the rest of our group was, and it was awesome getting to see how much it meant to them. I recommend this tour to everyone as it was by far my favorite thing we did on that trip.
http://www.scavi.va/content/scavi/en/ufficio-scavi.html
After reading back through this post I see you already mentioned this. But I am leaving it here as a recommendation because it is that good.

In Athens, the main attractions are all fun, but we had a lot of fun just walking to a local park and seeing Hadrian's wall. Pretty neat sight there. And just getting to walk the streets was more fun in my opinion than the ruins. When we went, Greece was in a huge upheaval over their money being devalued, and it was pretty wild to get to see the people get up in arms. There were two large protests and one large (like 20k people in the town square) riots while we were there.

Rome:
*Pantheon is a must, perhaps the most amazing structure from
the ancient world.
*Trevi Fountain
*See one of Bernini's baroque churches (Santa Maria maybe)
*Consider a trip to Villa d'Este outside of the city, maybe too much time to burn

So I have a question regarding the Scavi. I was told that you had to go directly through the Vatican Scavi office at the link you provided. However, there are lots of places where you can book the tour through a tour company and not deal directly with that office. I have a feeling those companies are submitting on your behalf, but I'm not sure. The prices are not that much higher and it seems a lot easier, but I don't want to get ripped off. Does anyone have any insight on whether or not those other Scavi tours are legit options, or do I need to stick with the office directly?

I would go directly to the office if it was important to me. It honestly was not hard at all. But having to send a random email (I Think it was an aol email even) a copy of our passports if I remember right was a little unnerving. But in the end it was worth it.

Back when we went, there wasnt an option to go with another tour group from what I remember.

I just got back from Rome a couple weeks ago. You have some good things booked/planned for your 2-3 days. I would plan a decent walk through the city to do the sites like Trevi, Spanish Steps, Pantheon. Maybe combine with before or after the Colosseum or your first day? The Pantheon is a church, it does not require a ticket/reservation. St Peter's at the Vatican is the same, you only pay for extras but you can go in for no cost, just a little more security to enter. If you have the early morning entry, you'll avoid crowds which is good. You are not far from Castel Sant Angelo if you wanted to see that after the Vatican.

If you had more time and were Catholic, I'd recommend seeing the 3 other major Papal Basilicas in Rome (in addition to St Peter's) St Paul Outside the Walls (St Paul's tomb is here) St Mary Major, and St John Lateran with the Holy Stairs. All of these churches are amazing and would also hold significance to any Christian, but may not be worth the time of someone not religious other than to marvel at the artwork and see some historic resting places.

Be careful of pickpockets! I luckily felt them tugging at my zipper on the side leg pocket on my pants. I reached down and gabbed their arm and loudly said "Hey - What are you doing?!?" and they stepped off the crowded metro. Colosseo station, it was raining that day so it was packed.

Crowded, metro, right by the door. The worst possible combination. I lucked out, but I feel stupid in retrospect putting myself and family in that situation. American tourist, they probably figure high reward/low risk if they get caught like they did. All I did was yell at them and they left the train and went on their way (a few other choice words were uttered).

Texas Ag Mom said:

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Please come back and post, especially about Santorini and Athens, those are stops we will make.

I was not on a cruise this trip although I have been on multiple cruises. Everyday I was there I saw 3 or 4 ships. It was very crowded in Oia. A large portion of the Greek islands shut down starting in Oct. I am assuming there will be some things open since ships are still going there in Nov. You tender in & I observed the tenders going to 2 different port areas to drop the passengers. Wear closed toe comfortable shoes & be prepared for narrow cobblestone streets/sidewalks. Oia is beautiful & scenic….just like a post card. Athens is a dense, dirty city with lots of graffiti. I was only there 2 nts. Basically long enough to see the museum, the Acropolis, eat & walk around the city. Wear closed toe comfy shoes. It took me 20 min to walk up to the top of the Acropolis to see the Pantheon but I think we took the long route. Lots of stairs & I am still recovering from pneumonia so I was moving a little slower. We did eat some good food if you will be there for that & made some bar stops.

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Ok we are back.

There were only 2 ships at Santorini on Nov 3, not terribly crowded and perfect weather.

Athens was the pleasant surprise of our trip. We stayed in the Monastriaki neighborhood at an Air BnB. We paid about $100 per night, were in the shadow of the Acropolis, and had wonderful restaurants with rooftop dining all around us, in addition to our own rooftop patio. In general Athens was friendly, easy to navigate, and inexpensive. When we planned our trip I questioned whether we'd want to spend extra time there but glad we did.

The other pleasant surprise was our stop in Sicily. We spend most of our time in Taormina and it was stunningly beautiful, and a lot less crowded than the Amalfi coast.

For us the highlight of our trip was still Rome, but we were expecting that and it lived up to our expectation. I'm sure there are bad restaurants in Rome, but we didn't find any. Someone here said anything in Trastevere is great dining, and while we were very pleased with the places there we ate, we had equally good luck in just about every neighborhood. Our best meal was in a small mom and pop in an alley near Plaza Novona.

Rome was still very, very crowded at the end of October, but apparently not nearly as crowded as it is in early October. We paid ahead for our tour entrances, and the only line we waited in was to go in to St. Peters on an evening when Pope Frances held a prayer vigil for Israel. The line was most of the way around St. Peters square but we were in in less than an hour and sat 3 rows from the front. Our most memorable time of our trip.

Our weather was ideal the entire time, temps in low to mid 70s, very little rain.