arh615

Hey! Thanks in advance for and help and advice!!

After 2 weeks in Spain, I'll be meeting my companion in Athens in late March. We'll have 10 days to make it to Istanbul, for our return flight home. This will be my first time in ANY of these places!

We pretty much have two options: Do Athens for a few days, then Santorini for a few, and then Istanbul. Finding information on traveling from Santorini to Istanbul (other than by air) is seemingly difficult. For me, the idea of getting around via ferry in between 2 major, historical and vivid cities, sounds delightful, however it sounds like we'll be on those ferries a lot.

The other option is renting a car while in Athens, and taking our time road tripping to Istanbul as we please. Is it an issue to rent a car in Greece, and return in Turkey? It doesn't seem like it on the interwebs, but I'm still curious. I still get my two awesome cities, and the coastline of Greece, mixed in with some of the other sites northbound, but will I be stuck in the car the whole time? We've also considered adding Mikonos, to give me some island flare.

Thoughts? Ideas? Wisdom!? I feel like option 1 doesn't require a car, option 2 definitely does but saves significantly on ferry costs.

Thanks again!!

brotherleelove2004

It is not allowed to drive a car from Greece and drop it off in Turkey. It's best if you fly back to Athens from Santorini for a connecting flight to Istanbul. There is no direct ferry between Santorini and Istanbul, and if you go by ferry you will first have to get from Santorini to an island that has access to Turkey by ferry (Kos, Rhodes, Samos, Chios, Lesvos), and from that island you'll take another ferry across to a Turkish port town, and then you'll have to make your way the rest of the way to Istanbul by plane or bus. At the very least this will take 2 full days out of your precious 10, perhaps 3, depending on the route you take. Santorini > Rhodes > Bodrum or Marmaris is the shortest/fastest route.

Greek ferries: www.gtp.gr

suec1

You might want to consider taking a ferry back and forth to an island from Athens, then flying to Istanbul. But the car option is no go and taking ferries for the entire trip, I think would eat up time you would want in Istanbul. Not sure, but I wouldn't count on beach weather in March unless you go to a very southern island but it should be a great time to sight see in Istanbul and Athens.

Heimdall

Forget the ferry option — you simply don't have enough time! The ferry between Athens (Piraeus) and Santorini takes about 8 hours each way, so flying both ways is best, especially in March when seas are sometimes rough.

You would need more than one ferry to get you to Turkey, some of which run only 2-3 times per week. Even then you would get only part way to Istanbul, so would have to continue through Turkey overland or by air.

If you decide to visit an island, remember that late March is still winter in Greece. There will be little in the way of nightlife, and it will still be jacket/coat weather. Santorini has its views 12 months of the year (provided it's not raining), but I can't think why I would want to go to Mykonos in March unless to see the archaeological site at Delos.

kja

I'm having trouble envisioning a way to manage your time with this proposal, especially because you will probably want at least 6 nights (if not more) for Istanbul, assuming that you want to see its highlights....

mariha2912

I do not know your interests, but I think Athens deserves at least 3-4 full days. I am sure Istanbul ditto. If you want to add an other place, you should think about either a)An easy day trip from either area b)To spena couple of nights on a place that makes logistic sense, aka say Meteora or Thessaloniki or Alexandroupoli or similar.

You do not have to hire a car to travel overland, you could as well use buses and trains.

Croesus

It seems that the 3-times-a-week Blue Star ferries from Santorini to Kos start on 3rd April - http://www.bluestarferries.com/site/...?sel=624&loc=2

There are daily boats from Kos to Bodrum.

Cheap Pegasus flights from Bodrum to İstanbul - http://www.flypgs.com/en/

If everything runs smoothly, it could be as little as 13 hours from Santorini to İstanbul - 00:35 Santorini departure, 09:00 Kos departure, 11:50 flight.

But probably better for you to fly from Athens to İstanbul.

PetrosB3

Spend 5 days in each city. Both cities are ridiculously rich in sites and museums. Athens also has some very interesting day-trips like Delphi, Nauplion or Hydra.