I don't think you'll have enough time in Istanbul or Dubrovnik. Istanbul is filled with amazing sites. We had three full days and that was definitely not enough time. And I'm assuming that part of day 12 will be spent traveling to Istanbul? That would probably leave you with a day and a half in Istanbul. Where will you base yourself on the coast in Turkey? Do you plan on staying near each location or choosing a base or two and traveling from there?

Same thing with Dubrovnik. You have only one day alloted for Dubrovnik, but you have to travel from Mostar to Dubrovnik so that would eat up quite a bit of time. You will be left with half a day in Dubrovnik at the most. It's small but lovely. You'll want more time there.

Are you flying back from Zagreb?

Thanks for the suggestions!

For Istanbul, I was hoping to see the Gallipoli battlefields on Day 11, then travel to Istanbul the same day. However, I now see it is a 5.5 hr bus ride to Istanbul. On the coast, the plan was see a sight, take the bus to the next site, etc. Am I correct that the distances between are to far to stay in one place and do day trips?

Dubrovnik--train from Mostar to Ploce ar 2206 on Day 17. Bus in AM 1.5-2 hr to Dubrovnik. I read busses travel frequently, every hour, so planned to get to Dubrovnik around 10 or 11. Could not find a direct route from Mostar to Dubrovnik in the late afternoon/evening. Anyone know one?

The last part of my trip, not explained above, it to go to Germany. I've been there many times, so do not want to sight see, just visit some friends. So Day 22 is travel to Dresden, Day 23 is visit a friend in Dresden, day 24, visit relatives to the south of Dresden, day 25 Munich, day 26 fly home.

should I decrease my time in Athens or Rhodes?

Not being a Greek or Roman History major makes it hard for me to be objective, but I would spend less time in Athens and more time in Istanbul.

I don't think you should shorten your time in Athens or Rhodes. There are so many important sites to see. However, I can't speak for the rest of your itinerary yet it does look very ambitious to me. Will you enjoy being on the road so much or do you want to get a sense of the place before you move on? You know best what kind of pace you enjoy. Good luck.

I would definitely spend more time in Istanbul, especially if you need to go to the battlefields and will lose 5 hours traveling there. Is there a particular reason why you are staying in Sarajevo? Maybe you can take that night and tack it on to Istanbul? It's a tough call. I know all of the locations must be important to your son, and I do understand that. But I do feel like it's a pretty ambitious itinerary with a lot of traveling around and not enough time in several locations.

Tracy

Unless you have family reasons to visit gallipoli battlefields, i would advise that you give them a miss. Troy has very little remaining, and I would also miss pergamom, because you will have similar antique sites within easier reach when you are at Selcuk/Ephesus. In fact that area, which includes the lovely Assos ruins can only be done in at least three days. Better leave it to next time.

Aphrodisias near pamukkale/hieropolis is terrific, some of the smaller sites near ephesus such as herakleia and Prienne are wortwhile and Sardis is also good. Therefore one day in Pamukkale and one day in Ephesus is also too little.

Will you be taking a ferry from Rhodes to marmaris and bus to pamukkale or flying Rhodes to athens to istanbul to Izmir, which means you should probably reconsider your itinerary.

Consider days 7,8,9 for Ephesus and Pamukkale region with rental car. You can read the signs and driving is simple.

This will give you the extra days you need in istanbul and elsewhere.

If you want to see more ruins, Hattusa not too far from Cappadocia is also recommended although it is Hittite and not roman or Greek.

On the other hand the whole of western and Southwestern Antolia ate chock full of Lydian, Lycian, Karian, Greek, Roman, Phrygian remains that even two months will not be sufficient.

There are definitely more ruins in Asia Minor than there are in italy and Greece combined, especially if you include the neolithic finds and cave drawings, etc.

For ancient Greek art and ruins in turkey your son should check the books by George Bean (born 1903, not the musician) and John Freely.