Originally Posted by pandoraone

Here is the *final* tentative plan. Looking good? Is the price a good deal for 2 people? Any criticism?

Plan:
May 7th: arrive in Athens at 1:25PM
Transfer to Hotel for 1 night and explore Athens (4hrs)
May 8th: Depart from Athens at 5:15AM and arrive at Santorini at 6:00.
Spend all day exploring Santorini, see sunset, dinner
May 9th: Depart from Santorini at 8:25PM and arrive at 9:10PM in Athens,
Check into hotel
May 10th: see all major sites in Athens
May 11th: Day trip to Sparta or Delphi
May 12th: Depart Athens for Cappadocia at 12:15, arrive 8PM – Check into a hotel for 1 night
May 13th: Spend day touring Cappadocia and hot air balloon
May 14th: Spend day touring Cappadocia and fly back at 8:25PM, arriving in Istanbul at 9:45PM.
Check into hotel
May 15th: Early wakeup, see major sites in Istanbul
May 16th: Explore Istanbul
May 17th (IST): Explore Istanbul half-day, 5:40PM Flight to Zurich
Check out from Hotel
Arrive in Zurich at 7:40PM, explore Zurich for a few hours – return to airport on May 18th AM – Fly out at 1PM from Zurich to JFK, landing at 3:50PM

Hotel list:
- May 7th – Athens (1 night)
- May 8th – Santorini Hotel (1 night)
- May 9th – 12th - Athens Hotel (4 nights)
- May 12th – Cappadocia Hotel (1 night)
- May 14th – May 17th – Istanbul Hotel (4 nights)

Running cost list:
- $1460 for tickets to Europe
- Santorini flights: $235
- Cappadocia flight from Athens: $258
- Cappadocia to Istanbul: $48
- 11 nights of hotels = roughly $1100
- Day trip to Delphi or Sparta: $75
o $3176 of ‘hard costs’
Not included: Food costs, public transportation, museum entrance, airport shuttles.