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Athens or Venice?

Athens and Venice side by side: recommended length, best time, daily budget, highlights and which one suits whom.

The Parthenon in Athens

Greece

Athens

The hill is a morning. The evening belongs to another neighborhood.

Country
Greece
Recommended length
2 days
Best time
May and September
Daily budget
70–120 €
Language
Greek
Currency
Euro

Highlights

  • The Acropolis at the first entry
  • One museum, or none
  • A neighborhood table

Neighbourhoods

  • Koukaki — You can walk to the hill from here, and the evening closes on a more local note.
  • Pangrati — Beyond the stadium. One of the right addresses for a long table.

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The Grand Canal and a dome in Venice

Italy

Venice

The first two hours save the city.

Country
Italy
Recommended length
2 days
Best time
April and late October
Daily budget
110–170 €
Language
Italian
Currency
Euro (€)

Highlights

  • The Rialto near sunrise
  • A pause in Dorsoduro
  • An evening broken up with cicchetti

Neighbourhoods

  • San Marco — See it. Do not stay. By evening the square turns into a stage.
  • Dorsoduro — On the Accademia side, you can breathe a little longer.
  • Cannaregio — For dinner, it sits one ring out from the crowd.

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Which one for whom?

Why Athens?

Climb the Acropolis in the first hour. The table you remember is in an outer neighborhood, not under the signs of Plaka.

It is easy to treat Athens as a layover. Give it two days and the city starts to live below the hill as well. See the stone in the morning, then come down into the shade.

Why Venice?

The Rialto fills by noon. Start early, and you still see the canal as a street.

You can see Venice in a day. To live it, give it two. Win the first morning with an early hour, not with a map. Getting lost after lunch is allowed. Do not pin dinner to a single tourist menu.

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