Must See Suggestions: Athens, Santorini, Pompei/Sorrento, Rom

[Don Plumley]

Headed over to Europe with the family later this week. I've traveled lots, don't take tours, am pretty adventurous, but will definitely take the kids to the marque places (e.g. Acropolis, Vatican, Spanish Steps, et al).

Anything especially wonderful to recommend or to avoid?

Thanks,

Don

[}{arlequin]

forgot how i got there (maybe a cable car?) but there is a great vantage spot in athens. almost right in the middle of the city and when you get up there you can pretty much see the entire city all around you, in a 'bowl' created by surrounding mountains.

when in naples you should definitely go see pompeii. a tour is not necessary but will definitely make you notice some cool stuff that you'd not on your own. lots of interesting details and they all have function, starting w/ white stones in the road to help navigate chariots at night...

from naples there is a 20min boat ride to capri. small relaxing island made famous by caligula's parties... you really do feel like you leave the 'rush' behind and just unwind when you're there. good food is a given.

edit: here's the 'hill' in athens. cool little church on top of it too
http://www.acropolis.gr/images/lykavitos.jpg
http://www.10best.com/Athens/Sights_&_Activities/Sightseeing/index.html?businessID=64894

[Noah930]

Uh, Europe's kinda big. Unless you're planning on spending the entire summer there, could you be a little more specific as to where you're planning to go or what countries you're planning to visit?

[Don Plumley]

Originally posted by Noah930
Uh, Europe's kinda big. Unless you're planning on spending the entire summer there, could you be a little more specific as to where you're planning to go or what countries you're planning to visit?

Noah - the subject line has the four destinations I'm curious about:
Santorini
Athens
Sorrento/Pompeii
Roma

[Noah930]

Oh, sorry. Misunderstood. I thought those 4 locales were examples of the places you might like to see.

In that case, see when the Rally Acropolis is running. It starts at the bottom of the Parthenon (in Athens) around this time of year, and winds its way through Greece. Obviously I'd put the Parthenon on your Athens list, as well as the Placa. Santorini/Thira is incredible. As breathtaking as the postcards (as well as the bus drive up from the harbor). Take a tour of one of the excavation sites, particularly if you're going to Pompeii (for comparison purposes). Haven't been to the other 2 places you've listed.

[Joeaksa]

Plan to spend a day or so in Athens then head to an island or 3.

Rome is beautiful and if you have never been to the Vatican go there. I got a private guide the last time and was the best $100 (for three people) we ever spent. Saved over an hour waiting in lines everywhere and he got us into places where the general public are not allowed to see.

[Don Plumley]

Originally posted by Joeaksa
Rome is beautiful and if you have never been to the Vatican go there. I got a private guide the last time and was the best $100 (for three people) we ever spent. Saved over an hour waiting in lines everywhere and he got us into places where the general public are not allowed to see.

I've heard that more than once. Where did you find this guide?

Don

[Paco Anton]

I have been to Athens+Santorini last summer and visited Rome+Naples (Pompey) 3 years ago. Living in Europe does help.

Must sees:

- Rome: Everything. Do not miss Colosseum, Forum and Vatican. Also try to see Caracalla baths (ruins) and do some city walking (Fontana di Trevi, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, ...)

- Napoli: Skip the city. Take a ferry boat to Capri and spend a day there. Take a day trip to Pompey. You will enjoy both visits. On the way from rome to Napoli, if you go by car stop at Montecassino and you will understand why it was fought over so fiercely in WWII.

- Athens: Walk around Plaka (old town) + Acropolis. The museum is nice too. It is safe to take the tube and it was modernized for the '04 Olympics, so you can go mst everywhere. You may want to take a one day tour of the Peloponese (sp?) seeing Epidauro and Micenes once you hace seen the basics in Athens.

- Santorini: Too crowded and tourist oriented (you will notice when a cruise boat is in the port). Walk the old town and see the sunset from Fira (sp?), you will feel like Times Square in new year eve. There are cruises around the volcano crater but I skipped them.

If you want more info PM me or send me an email

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by Don Plumley
I've heard that more than once. Where did you find this guide?

Don

Don,

Not sure how we found him, but over 10 years later still remember his name just because he made a very nice impression on all three of us. Ruben Popper, very nice guy and a German gent living in Rome.

Let me look in my address book and cardscan and see if I can find him. Would recommend him to anyone and he was a big help.

Joe

[Don Plumley]

Gracias Paco.

All in all, I'd rather go back to Spain. I've been many times though, but as much as I've been to Europe, never been to Rome.

We are skipping Naples. We'll take the train to Pompeii, maybe visit Sorrento and will take the ferry.

[cantdrv55]

Pompeii is an amazing place. Try not to go in July as it's quite hot. Are you taking a bus tour up to Vesuvius? That's a must see.

[cantdrv55]

Bay of Naples is beautiful but the city itself is so freaking dirty.

[72doug2,2S]

You can do Athens in 1-2 days, I'd say 1, then off to the Islands.

Santorini is one of the most beatiful places I have ever been.

On our last trip we did
Mykonos
Ephesis (Turkey)
Rhodes
Patmos
Crete
Sanortini

+1 Rome (If you have time Florence one of my favorites)

[vash]

dude, in turkey they have an ice cream dessert that is kneaded and pulled like taffy. it melts alot slower than our american icecream. they lopp off a section, put it on a plate with crushed pistachio. i friggen didnt get any when i was there and regret it horribly. i cannot remember the name! they even mention it in this months SAVEUR magazine. don, you are in a good place. keep in mind that once you see one set of ruins you have seen them all. i personally can handle toppled over marble columns so much. sorrento! bring back some limoncello!

have a good time buddy.

[450knotOffice]

To prepare yourself for Roma and Pompeii, do a little light reading about The Roman Empire. It will really put what you are seeing in those historic cities into context and bring out the real sense of the people who lived there 2,000 years ago. Fascinating.

Take a walk to the forum and marvel at the amazingly well-kept ruins (along the way, see the Trevi fountain, which is amazing). From there, continue on toward the Coliseum and go inside. You'll be blown away at what the Romans could do so long ago. Go to the Pantheon, which has one of the largest domes ever built and which for centuries, WAS the largest dome in existence. Another amazing feat of engineering by the Romans.

At night, take a walk around the old center of town and find yourself in an old square (there are dozens hidden away everywhere), surrounded by little shops and restaurants, and just alive with Italian culture. This is where you will find the absolute best Italian food on the planet - bar none.

Pompeii is amazing because it is literally a Roman city stopped in time. It's like you've been dropped off into an old Roman city lost in a time warp, except that everyone has mysteriously left. There are intact two-story buildings everywhere; there are one-way and two-way streets with stepping stones at the intersections and wagon wheel rows worn into the city streets. There's an intact brothel with some pretty racy murals up on the walls too. Amazing residences, shop, cafe's, everything. That place is a sight to behold.

Athens was beautiful but my wife and I were only there for one evening before we had to leave for the islands. The feeling I got was that the Greeks haven't got quite the same respect for their antiquities as the Italians do. The ruins were in much worse shape and were out in the open in many places and obviously have been subjected to graffiti, etc. It was kind of sad, considering that the Greeks were the inspiration for the Romans, in terms of their stonework.

Just below the Acropolis, on its flanks, is a little old section of town that is also very quaint at night, if not a bit more "touristy". It is worth it, however, to find a little outside restaurant just before sunset and sit there in the warm breeze and watch the sun go down behind the temple while the lights slowly come on all around you. It's pretty special being in a place like this. It really puts ancient history into perspective.

Enjoy your trip. Too bad you can't get a few days in Istanbul, Turkey - one of my all-time favorite cities and much better than Athens in my book.

[Don Plumley]

Thanks for all the tips so far!

Joe, that would be great. I did some digging today and have contacted a few individuals and companies as well.

Rally Acropolis sounds cool - ran in June though.

Scott - I've heard wonderful stuff about Istanbul and E Europe and look forward to seeing them one day soon.

[Howard Agency]

We arrived in Naples by ship and took a cab to the National Museum. It's at the top of the hill and has a great collection of artifacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum. Strolled back down the hill, sampled local stores and food. Very friendly.

Museum

Dirty? A little

[Brian Cameron]

Rome:
- Pantheon - possibly the oldest completely intact building you will ever stand in
- St Peters Basilica - try to climb up inside the dome (if they still let people do that)
- everyone goes to the coliseum and why not (it is pretty impressive) but be sure to cross the road and check out the Forum. The Senate building with the brass doors is the another very old intact building but I don't know if you can get in there now
- try to dine at least once in the area called Trastevere
- if you have a car, drive out of town on the Appia Antica - old roman road, you can still drive over sections of the original flagstones, ruts worn in the rocks from the passage of wagons over the millenia
- beware small, unwashed children travelling in groups, they are gipsy pickpockets

Naples
- personally I liked Herculaneum better than Pompeii
- if you have time to go a little bit further south, take the Amalfi drive past Sorrento to Positano, a beautiful little artist's dream of a town spilling down the sides of the cliffs onto the beach - the twisties, the view, and the sense of impending death (as you hurtle at breakneck speed around corners 600 feet up in the air) are absolutely divine

Athens
- basically one big traffic jam
- but the Acropolis is well worth seeing
- of course the crowning glory being the Parthenon. Hopefully not marred and obscured by scaffolding like last time I was there

Santorini
- never been there but if the ground starts to rumble, get out while you can!

[cantdrv55]

We went to the Nat'l Museum as well. Very interesting to say the least.

That pic of Naples bring back a rush of memories. We ate at a sidewalk cafe not far from a bush hiding filthy garbage cans. That region could do a lot better if they just cleaned it up to encourage more tourism. They've got the ingredients for world class resorts. Instead they've got trash and scum hanging about.

If you have time, go to the Isle of Capri. Just beautiful!

[72doug2,2S]

On second thought, perhaps you should skip Rhodes. The topless pebble beaches are still a source of contention for my wife and it's been over three years. But if your wife doesn't mind 20 year olds frolicking on the shore, it's worth a day.