Greece › Italy or Greece
By Santorini Dave
I love Italy. I’ve spent months traveling there and would happily return tomorrow. Rome is one of the world’s great cities, Tuscany is spectacular, the food is phenomenal, and every region feels different from the last.
But if a friend asked me where to spend their first Mediterranean vacation, I will always recommend Greece.
That’s not because Italy falls short. It’s because Greece combines spectacular scenery, beautiful beaches, fascinating history, excellent food, warm hospitality, relaxed island life, and outstanding value in a way that’s hard to match. It’s also surprisingly easy to travel, whether you’re visiting one island or hopping between several.
If your dream vacation is museums, famous cities, Renaissance art, and wine country, choose Italy. If your dream vacation is swimming every day, watching sunsets from a seaside taverna, wandering whitewashed villages, and relaxing on beautiful islands, choose Greece.
Quick Answers
- I’d choose Greece for most first-time visitors to the Mediterranean.
- Choose Italy if cities, museums, architecture, and food are your priorities.
- Choose Greece if beaches, islands, scenery, sunsets, and relaxation are more important.
- Both are fantastic. There isn’t a wrong choice.
Which Would I Recommend?
If you’re still undecided, here’s what I’d recommend.
- First trip to Europe: Italy or Greece both work well, but Greece is a little easier to combine sightseeing with a relaxing beach vacation.
- First Mediterranean vacation: Greece.
- Honeymoon: Greece.
- One-week vacation: Greece.
- Two-week vacation: Either.
- Three weeks or longer: Visit both.
- History lovers: Italy.
- Beach lovers: Greece.
- Island hopping: Greece.
- Road trip: Italy.
- Budget travelers: Greece.
- Food-focused travelers: Italy.
My wife and I in Santorini – one of the highlights of Greece and the Greek islands.
Who Should Choose Greece?
I’d choose Greece if your ideal vacation includes swimming, beaches, boutique hotels, sunset dinners, ferries, island hopping, relaxed villages, and spending as much time outdoors as possible. Greece is especially good for couples, honeymooners, families, and anyone who wants to balance sightseeing with genuine relaxation. Even busy days usually end with dinner overlooking the sea.
Who Should Choose Italy?
Choose Italy if your vacation revolves around cities, museums, architecture, food, wine, and history. Rome, Florence, Venice, Bologna, Naples, and countless smaller towns each deserve several days, and Italy’s rail network makes exploring them remarkably easy. If you enjoy wandering museums, visiting churches and palaces, exploring historic neighborhoods, and eating your way across different regions, Italy is one of the world’s greatest travel destinations.
Which Has Better Beaches?
→ Greece.
Italy certainly has beautiful beaches, especially in Sardinia, Sicily, Puglia, Calabria, and parts of the amazing Amalfi Coast. But many of Italy’s most famous coastal destinations are known more for dramatic scenery than long sandy beaches. Greece is simply built around the sea. Nearly every Greek island has excellent beaches, the water is exceptionally clear, and swimming becomes part of your daily routine. Whether you want lively beach clubs, quiet coves, family beaches, or dramatic volcanic landscapes, Greece offers more variety.
Which Has Better Food?
→ Italy.
Italy is one of the world’s great food destinations. Every region has its own specialties, and the variety is extraordinary. If restaurants are the highlight of your vacations, I’d choose Italy every time. That said, Greek food is consistently excellent. Fresh seafood, grilled meats, local cheeses, olive oil, vegetables, pastries, and traditional tavernas make eating in Greece one of the pleasures of traveling there. It’s also generally less expensive, and it’s remarkably easy to find memorable meals without extensive planning.
Which Has Better Scenery?
→ Both are spectacular, but in different ways.
Italy offers tremendous variety, from the Alps and Dolomites to Tuscany, Lake Como, Venice, and the Amalfi Coast. Greece delivers a more classic Mediterranean landscape: white villages, turquoise water, rugged coastlines, tiny harbors, dramatic cliffs, olive groves, and endless sea views. If that’s the vacation you’ve been imagining, Greece rarely disappoints.
Which Has Better History?
→ Italy has the edge.
Rome alone could occupy a week, and cities like Florence, Venice, Siena, Verona, and Naples contain some of the world’s greatest art and architecture. Greece shouldn’t be overlooked, though. The Acropolis, Delphi, Olympia, Meteora, Knossos, Mycenae, Delos, Epidaurus, and Rhodes offer extraordinary experiences for anyone interested in ancient history.
Which Is Easier to Travel?
→ It depends on the type of trip you’re planning.
If you’re visiting cities, Italy’s high-speed trains make travel incredibly easy. If you’re dreaming about islands, Greece is unmatched. Ferries connect dozens of destinations, and combining Athens with two or three islands is straightforward once you understand the ferry network.
Which Is Better Value?
→ In most cases, Greece.
Luxury hotels in Mykonos, Santorini, and Athens are expensive, but outside those destinations Greece generally offers better value than Italy for hotels, restaurants, rental cars, beach clubs, and many activities. If you’re trying to maximize your budget without sacrificing the quality of your vacation, Greece usually wins.
Sample Trips
If You Choose Italy
- Rome and Florence (7 days)
- Rome, Florence, and Tuscany (10 days)
- Venice and the Dolomites (8 to 10 days)
- Naples, Amalfi Coast, and Capri (8 days)
- Sicily (10 to 14 days)
If You Choose Greece
- Athens and Santorini (7 days)
- Athens, Naxos, and Santorini (10 days)
- Athens, Paros, and Naxos (10 days)
- Crete and Santorini (10 days)
- Athens, Milos, and Santorini (10 days)
Can You Visit Both?
Absolutely.
If you have three weeks or more, combining Greece and Italy makes an outstanding trip. Flights between Athens and several Italian cities are frequent, and ferries connect western Greece with southern Italy.
My Recommendation
Italy is one of my favorite countries anywhere in the world, and if you choose it you’ll almost certainly have an amazing trip. But if you’re asking me where I’d send a first-time visitor looking for sunshine, beautiful beaches, great hotels, friendly people, excellent food, and a vacation that naturally slows you down, I’d choose Greece. Nearly every day ends with a swim, a sunset, and dinner by the sea. It’s one of the few places where the reality consistently lives up to the dream.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Greece cheaper than Italy?
Usually yes. Outside a few luxury destinations like Santorini and Mykonos, Greece is generally less expensive for hotels, restaurants, transportation, and activities.
Which country has better beaches?
Greece. Both countries have beautiful coastlines, but Greece offers more beaches, warmer swimming water, and many more destinations built around beach vacations. The beaches of Naxos, Paros, and Mykonos are my personal favorites.
Which is better for a honeymoon?
Greece. Santorini, Milos, Paros, Naxos, and Crete combine beautifully for a romantic trip with stunning scenery and excellent hotels.
Can you combine Italy and Greece in one vacation?
Yes. With two to three weeks, it’s easy to combine Athens and the Greek islands with Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, or southern Italy.
If I can only visit one, which would you choose?
I’d choose Greece. Italy is extraordinary and absolutely worth visiting, but Greece delivers one of the world’s best combinations of scenery, beaches, history, hospitality, food, and value in a single vacation.
Santorini Dave was started in 2011 when I posted a short guide to visiting Santorini with kids. Now, my site publishes regularly updated guides to 
HI Dave! How doable would it be to combine a trip to Athens/Santorini with Sicily? Thinking 10 days total. If not Sicily, what are your thoughts on Crete? We are two semi-adventurous adults in our late 50s.
Santorini and Sicily are not easily visited together on a short trip. I recommend devoting those ten days to Sicily (plenty there to fill 10 days) or Athens and Santorini (and one more island if you wanted). Crete is wonderful but once again, if you spend 2 full days in Athens and 4 full days in Santorini (which is pretty much the minimum) then you’re only left with a few days for Crete – which is large. Naxos, Paros, Milos, and Mykonos are better choices to pair with Santorini (when dealing with limited time).
Hi Dave,
Looking more like hoping to plan a trip for the Summer. I am wanting to visit Florence, Venice, Rome, Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini. Looking for the best options on best routes to take and where to fly in and where to fly out. I would be flying out from Dallas, TX. The trip would be about 14 days but can add one or two more days to make it more doable.
Thanks in Advance!
There are many different routes you could take and they all require some research to see if they work with your dates. My most important recommendation is to buy an open-jaw ticket even if it’s slightly more expensive than the cheapest available flights. For example, look at flying into Venice, train to Florence, train to Rome, fly to Santorini, ferry to Mykonos, ferry to Athens, fly home from Athens. Or do the reverse or change routing entirely but that should give you a start.
This may be our only trip to Europe for our honeymoon. We are wanting Paris, Italy, & Greece. We have 2 weeks. What kind of itinerary would you suggest & who would you book through?
I recommend: Paris -> (flight) Venice -> (train) Florence -> (train) Rome -> (flight) Mykonos -> (ferry) Naxos -> (ferry) Santorini -> (flight) Paris. Find flights on Kayak.com (but book through individual airlines). For hotels I only use Booking.com.
Hi there!
My family of 5 (ages ranging 21-50) are heading to Greece for our first time from Miami, Florida and we have plans of enjoying the culture, especially the food. We have 9 days, 8 nights for our vacation during summer and would love to do Athens-Santorini-Mykonos-Italian Coast (Positano). Do you think this is doable? Should we remove a Greek Island?
That is too much for 8 nights. I’d recommend dropping the Italian part of the trip which requires another flight and then train (probably from Rome). Leave Italy for another trip. 8 nights just for Athens, Santorini, and Mykonos will keep you plenty busy.
Hi Dave,
My wife and I are planning a 2-week vacation to Europe. And we are having a hard time deciding whether to visit both Greece and Italy or just Greece. This is our first trip to Europe and I was hoping to explore at least 2 cultures but at the same time, I don’t want to spend 2 weeks just running from one place to another. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks
If you think you might be back to Europe in the next 3 to 5 years then I would focus your two weeks on one country (sounds like Greece is your first choice). But if this could be your one and only time to Europe then do both countries (top spots would be Florence, Rome, Athens, and Santorini).
Hello! My husband and I are planning to go Italy & Greece for our honeymoon in October/November, and are planning to visit the following places. It’s our 1st time going to both countries hence would need your advice on where we should fly to 1st from Singapore and the traveling routes, if possible. Thank you so much!
Rome
Florence
Venice
Athens
Paros
Santorini
The route that I recommend (given the time of year) is to fly into Athens, ferry to Paros, ferry to Santorini, fly to Rome, train to Florence, train to Venice, depart from Venice.
Hi! My husband and I with our two girls (ages 13,15) are planning to go to Greece next August. Unfortunately, we have to go in August during the busiest month. We will have about 8 days. trying to figure out the best two islands to visit. We are basically skipping Athens. I am thinking Naxos and Santorini (originally had thought of not doing Santorini but worried if we don’t get back then I’ll never see it). my girls love adventure, anything water, and we are active but also love a great beach. I have been imagining the Greek Islands forever so I would love to see the charming and beautiful towns I see in pictures. Any suggestions would be very appreciated! I am getting tired of researching because I just want to make the right decision. Thank you!
I think Santorini and Naxos are two great choices and a nice mix (very different from each other). Naxos does not have direct flights from Italy (or the rest of Europe) but Santorini and Mykonos do. I’d suggest adding a quick stop in Mykonos so you don’t have to retrace your steps: fly Italy-Santorini, ferry to Naxos, ferry to Mykonos, fly Mykonos-Italy (or the reverse route).
Looking to travel to Greece for 2 weeks. Thinking of flying to Venice for a day or so – then on to Athens. From Athens – I’m considering: Mykonos, Santorini, and Naxos. Santorini is where I want to spend the most time. What “route” would you suggest?
Jordene Lyttle
Fly Venice to Athens, ferry to Mykonos, ferry to Naxos, ferry to Santorini, fly Santorini to Rome. Also Santorini flights to Paris, London, Amsterdam, and a few other cities in Europe.
Hi Dave,
We are planning to Greece in early June. Want to visit one more country, Italy or turkey. We want to go for 9 nights. Can you suggest the places we must cover. We are 2 families having 2 kids up to 15 yrs in each family.
Ashish
For a 9 day trip you’re much better sticking to one country. 9 days in Greece will go quickly enough but you should be able to visit 3 places comfortably (Athens and 2 islands). Good islands for families are Naxos, Paros, and Antiparos. Santorini is a little less kid-friendly than the others but so special and memorable that I still recommend it for families. You could fly Santorini to Rome and get a day in there if you really wanted.
Hi there! I can’t decide if this is a doable itinerary! Can you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help!!!
28 fly
29 venice
30 venice
31 train to tuscany
1 la spezia – train to cinque terre
2 tuscany
3 train to rome
4 rome to athens to santorini
5 santorini
6 santorini
7 fly to athens
8 fly out
It is a busy travel plan but doable. Better if you flew directly from Rome to Santorini to save time. I would cut out the day trip to Cinque Terre and add a day to Rome.