Yes, and I found links to both lines. There seem to be a lot of choices from the eastern side of Italy to Greece.

Ok, so instead of driving all the way down to Bari, is there any point to see some of Venice, drive through San Marino, and then catch the ferry from Ancona, to Greece?

 

Why not. Ancona seems a very good choice and allows you to see Eastern part of Italy too. Sure, if you haven't seen ti before it is a must to pass by Venice on the way down or on the way back to Finland.

Photos of Titansilver E61 with cf diffuser

 

Well, it sounds like you have been making the most of the travel opportunities! Very good. And your location truly does allow you to be creative!

If you ever go completely mad and decide to head north and east, let us know. I am sure that those of us up here in Finland could arrange a meeting.

 

Ok, I will adjust some of the driving schedule on the way down. I will also look into Venice hotels - the original idea was to spend nights in Hamburg, Munich, Verona and Pescara, then drive to Bari for the ferry to Greece.

Building this schedule (in reverse, based on ferries schedules) is a work in progress! I appreciate the help!

 

We certainly have, and north-eastern Europe is currently in our sights indeed! When we do get it planned, I'll be sure to reach out to the Scandinavian members.

 

There are some breathtaking options for driving from the outskirts of Munich in the direction of Italy. We went through the Brenner Pass on the main motorway because we were pushed for time, but iirc there are a number of delightful trunk and back roads that will get you from Innsbruck to Bolzano (and back to the motorway onwards to Verona).

Getting from Munich to Innsbruck has more than its fair share of trans-alpine back road too. It's a bit of a detour, but I'd recommend going from Munich to Fussen, checking out Ludwig's castles there, and then heading over the mountains to Reutte, Lermoos and Nassereith into Innssbruck. This takes you through the Fernpass, which is just gorgeous.

 

Honestly, part of the problem/fun with this, is that there are TOO MANY places to see! That is why the idea is to get to Crete as quick as possible, have the vacation time there, and then slowly make our way back north.

My wife has chosen a small area of northern Italy to hang out for her time, and I have chosen an area (with driving) of Austria and Germany near Munich, for us. My 7 year old just wants to see fast cars everywhere...

For this trip, I get the feeling like we will be missing out on a lot of sights, but thinking about it that way seems rather silly. This isn't going to be so easy after all! So we will have to do it again, with different maps and ideas.

 

You're spot on ... there is tons out there and the real difficulty is deciding what to pass up on. The bottom line is, you will always see lots and lots of sights, so just focus on what you can get. Mrs. MacSid and I tend to do repeat trips using different routes over a period of time - fortunately our current home base makes that feasible for the most part.

All that said, I'm with your 7 year-old and his plan

 

I have done a trip to Crete some years ago. Did the ferry from Bari to Patras (minoan lines) and then from Athens to Heraklion.
Be sure not to miss the canal, you can easily miss it, but it is an impressive sight to see the cruise ships that seem to be stuck between the walls.