Thread: Turkey and/or Greece.. questions!

I've just booked a flight to Istanbul!

So excited, but now I have questions.

I was hoping to catch a cheap flight from there to Greece for part of my trip, but no such cheap flight exists. Trains have been cancelled, the bus takes 16 hours, and there are ferries to the Greek isles, which sounds delightful, but I'll be there in November and apparently most of them don't run after September.

Question One: Can anyone advise me on getting from Turkey to Greece? How hard is it to drive, I wonder?

Question Two: If I can't get to Greece, where else should I go besides Istanbul? Turkey seems to have so much to offer, I don't know where to begin! I've only got two weeks, I wanted to spend one in an apartment in Istanbul and spend the other in a Greek coastal village or island.

Help!

In Turkey, you do NOT want to miss Ephesus!

Getting from Turkey to Greece can be problematic as they don't really get along very well (Bad history on Turkey's part). It can be done, but it may be easier to go through a neutral port to get there. I "think" getting to Turkey from Greece is somewhat easier (?) - you might look at reversing the order of your trip.

Actually, on several occastions when I was in Istanbul, the town was FLOODED with Greeks!
History or not, they seem to like it there :-)
I think many of them travel by bus.
There are tons of things to see in Turkey, maybe you just browse through a guide book to get an idea. It also depends on what you are interested in: culture, nature, shopping...

Have a good trip!

MEISSOUN

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Question Two: If I can't get to Greece, where else should I go besides Istanbul? Turkey seems to have so much to offer, I don't know where to begin! I've only got two weeks, I wanted to spend one in an apartment in Istanbul and spend the other in a Greek coastal village or island.

Ankara has an amazing museum of antiquities from the Hittite era.

Cappadocia has a LOT to see - spectacular rock formations, underground cities, cave dwellings, and ancient Christian churches built into caves.

Konya is where Rumi is buried and where his Mevlevi order began.

Pammukkule has gorgeous hot springs forming pools. it kind of reminded me of the pools at Hana in Hawaii.

If you like Christian history, Ephesus is a very interesting set of ruins to visit. It's where the "Ephesians" of the Bible book (Paul's letter) were. On the hillside above it is a house that is claimed to have been a residence of the Virgin Mary.

And of course, there are coastal resorts such as Kuşadası. I haven't spent any time in those so I can't give recommendations.

Originally Posted by meissoun

Actually, on several occastions when I was in Istanbul, the town was FLOODED with Greeks!
History or not, they seem to like it there :-)

That's because it will always be Constantinople to them.

Thank you so much! Transport is actually easy to find during the summer months, but everything shuts down in winter....

I think I've solved the problem... found a ferry that runs between Bodrum and Kos, even in winter, and a cheap flight to Bodrum. The resort areas will be quiet in November, but the scenery will be just as lovely.

Now I'm trying to arrange an island hopping service to get us from Kos to Athens, and maybe around some other islands as well.

SQUEEEEE!!!

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Now I'm trying to arrange an island hopping service to get us from Kos to Athens, and maybe around some other islands as well.

SQUEEEEE!!!

The Greek ferry system is quite good and cheap. If you like, I can recommend some Hotels in both Athens and Kos - PM me.

Lauren, keep us posted on your trip - I will most probably go to Istanbul in the autumn, but I haven't figured out the dates yet... Maybe we could meet up. I don't know much about outside Istanbul, but I do know some cool places inside the city

Originally Posted by Safran

Lauren, keep us posted on your trip - I will most probably go to Istanbul in the autumn, but I haven't figured out the dates yet... Maybe we could meet up. I don't know much about outside Istanbul, but I do know some cool places inside the city

Oh, Safran, that would be wonderful! I'm going the first 2 weeks in November. I'll probably be in Istanbul the first week and Greece the second.

Cool, I'll mark that into my calendar and will get in touch with you if I know my plans for sure. I'll probably be figuring it out some time in August though, so don't think I'm ignoring you

Wish I could go too...

Originally Posted by Safran

Cool, I'll mark that into my calendar and will get in touch with you if I know my plans for sure. I'll probably be figuring it out some time in August though, so don't think I'm ignoring you