kc2117

Hi everyone, my husband and I are visiting Greece & Turkey for our honeymoon in late Sept-early Oct. All flights, hotels and ferry tickets are booked! We want a trip with the perfect balance of exploring and relaxation. We spent 3 weeks in Europe last summer and visited 9 cities in 5 countries. It was go-go-go the entire time and we had a blast. But since it is our honeymoon this time, we want some R&R time.

To be honest, I am a little bit worried about the situation in Athens (strikes, riots, demonstrations, etc) but most blogs and forums I've read says strikes and protests are generally quite peaceful and to just stay away from government buildings and large crowds. What does everybody think of the situation there? Any concerns we should be aware of? I am worried about the air transport strike that may cause delays/cancellations of flights & ferries.

As well, my husband really wanted to visit Turkey and we've heard wonderful things about this country. Is Istanbul generally quite safe for tourists? I've read a few articles on a bombing at Topaki Palace last year..

I am doing a lot of research on each place we are visiting and would like some feedback on my itinerary. Are we missing any must-do's on the list or is there something we shouldn't bother with?

ITINERARY:

Day 1: Athens - visit Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, and surrounding sites
Day 2: Athens - visit Syntagma Square and Plaka District
Day 3: Flight to Mykonos
Day 4: relax in Mykonos, see windmills
Day 5: relax in Mykonos, beach time
Day 6: relax in Mykonos, beach/pool time
Day 7: Ferry to Santorini
Day 8: explore Santorini, watch sunset over volcano
Day 9: relax in Santorini, beach time
Day 10: explore Santorini - visit Oia Village and Ammoudi Island
Day 11: relax in Santorini, beach/pool time
Day 12: Flight to Istanbul
Day 13: explore Istanbul- Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, Basilica Cistern
Day 14: explore Istanbul - visit Suleymaniye Hamam (Turkish Bath) in the morning then shop at Grand Bazaar & Spice Bazaar
Day 15: explore Istanbul - Topaki Palace, Harem and over to Jennifer's Hamam to buy towels
Day 16: Flight to Athens, stay over one night
Day 17: Fly home

Thank you in advance for any advice and feedback

yorkshire

Your flights are booked, so why worry? Yes I am being somewhat flippant, but your comfort level is a completely personal thing. Plenty of people here have been to Istanbul so will of course say no problem. I live in Washington DC area and thinking nothing of visiting NYC, London, Madrid, and any other large city where anything could happen. I place Istanbul firmly in the category of those cities. It is basically just a matter of philosophy but also common sense. My philosophy determines that I will not worry about such things, and common sense determines that I will not travel to certain border regions of far eastern Turkey.
I hope some of that is encouraging as you embark on a lifetime of travel with your spouse--and your plan looks great to me!
ps there was a shooting at Topkapi, and security has been increased since then. It is not even listed on the State Dept warning page.
I'd honestly be more worried about a strike disrupting my travel plans in Athens, but just make sure you have travel insurance and have fun!

Mantalena

Hi

The economic situation in my country (Greece) is realy difficult. Strikes are a usual phenomenon. All strikes are peaceful without serious episodes..
If you want to be sure, avoid Syntagma square.Parliament is there and greek citizens complained there when there is a strike... This is the worst scenario. There is a better solution. Just ask the day you want to visit Syntagma, a police officer or an information center if there is a protest on that day.

clausar

Mantalena....
Thousands of Athenians are passing every day through Syntagma, without asking anyone....
You really think that a policeman will have information on a demonstration at Syntagma Square?
Strikes and demonstrations are two different things..

A tourist in Athens will stay most probably at a hotel somewhere near Syntagma Square, so passing through it will be unavoidable.

There is no reason of worries though, as even if a demonstration should take place, it wouldn't affect foreign visitors at all.

The riots that were shown in the media last year, took place not more than 2-3 times... it is not a part of our ( i am Athenian) every day's life

kc2117

Thanks all! We are so excited for our trip - September can't come soon enough

geetika

Agree with Clausar, we were in the Syntagma Square and Plaka area last June when strikes were going on, with absolutely nor problems at all. There were several groups of demonstrators holding banners, etc, and chanting slogans, but in a peaceful manner, in no way did they come in the way of the traffic or pedestrians. Not once did we feel in the least bit threatened. I think the media overplays the situation.

otherchelebi

Regarding Istanbul, You can actually reduce the historic sightseeing and shopping to two or two and a half days and use at least half of one day of your time on the Bosphorus.

I can guarantee that it can be more romantic than most of the other parts of your trip to, for example, have an early dinner, at about sunset, at Kandilli boat landing, when the Rumeli fortress starts lighting up and then taking a sea taxi to Anjelik, Ortakoy for drinks on the European side.

I am 67, my wife 52, married 33 years and we still find it extremely romantic to repeat this while acting like tourists and taking photographs also.

(You should be smartly dressed for Anjelik as it is an "in" upscale club with its own boat landing.) If you prefer to go as you are, you may wish to take the sea taxi to Bebek, walk in the area and pick any cafe or bar you prefer and feel less out of place if you are not smartly dressed. (they may say, "well...tourists...")

There will be no tourists at any of these places, which means that you will be mingling with the real population of istanbul and not those who cater for the tourist trade.

For some of your other evenings, I recommend Cihangir area for the much less touristy, more bohemian and fun part of the city, or the more upscale and titally non-touristy Nisantasi restaurants and bars. You would again need to be dressed smartly in Nisantasi even if you are just wandering around.

not_enuf_vaca

otherchelebi

Would you recommend taking the ferry up the Bosphorus or taking a tour instead ? - wasn't sure I wanted to devote 8 hours to the ferry ride.
Anjelik sounds nice - maybe we'll see you and your wife there

Sassafrass

Only a few months ago, we were in Istanbul for the first time - could not believe how safe we felt. It is now probably one of our favorite cities and we would love to return. Fantastic food. Beautiful things to see. Enjoy.

otherchelebi

There are frequent short tours by Turyol and dentur boats starting from Eminonu, Kadikoy, Kabatas, Besiktas and Ortakoy, lasting 60-90 minutes.

You can also take standard commuter ferries in the evening from Eminonu up the Bosphorus to various piers. This is a good del when the days are long and you get good lighting for photography after 5PM.

Or you can take a bus or taxi to Arnavutkoy or Bebek and then take a criss-cross ring ferry between four stops each on European and Asian sides. This is something we enjoy doing. The time schedules for this one and the commuter ferries are at sehirhatlari.com.

If you are here before mid September, we may meet at one of the top supper clubs, Sortie or Reina, rather than Anjelik, since we find Anjelik somewhat too young for us (slightly) whereas Sortie and Reina, being very large with 4 bars and 6-8 restaurants, allows you to mingle better. If I lose some weight, it will be even easier for me not to stand out, although my wife's charm will always shine through any crowd.

not_enuf_vaca

Thank you Otherchelebi for the ferry tips!
We will be there the second week of June might be fun to meet for a drink if it works out - my curly red her and unintentionally loud voice usually causes me to stand out - so we will easily find each other
Nothing worse than being the oldest person in a bar - I had that happen to me recently when a friend's younger sister dragged me to a dance club
I was thinking of signing up for the "Kebab Krawl" with Istanbul Eats - any thoughts on that? I need to scour through your forum posts and print out all your suggestions before we go! So excited!

changemaven

My hub and I will be in Istanbul early September (5 - 8th) and again at the end of our trip (24 - 26th). In between we will be all over. After first hesitating to book this trip for fear of safety, we went for it! Otherchelebi - I appreciate your suggestions. Perhaps we will find you there. Only hitch is we pack only casual clothes so we can manage a 3=week trip with carry-on luggage only. We will have to opt for your casual locations.

Keep the ideas flowing, and thanks...

MinnBeef

I spent 11 days this past September in Greece and Istanbul and had a fantastic time. I loved Greece and was so blown away by Istanbul that I will now be spending 15 days in Turkey the last week of August and 1st week of September. I cannot wait! A few thoughts on your itinerary:

1. 2 days in Athens is PLENTY. However, there isn't much to see in Syntagma Sq. other than the changing of the guard, and I didn't find that Plaka was anything more than cheap restaurants and souvenir shops. I'd recommend using that extra day to either visit a cool museum (I really liked the Byzantine and Christian Museum)and walk through the Ancient Agora, or take a day trip to Delphi.

2. Santorini is absolutely breathtaking, but you might be able to cut out one of your 4 days here and allocate it somewhere else. Santorini is not a white sand beach island, so for sun time, you may want to just relax at your hotel pool. Better yet, I took a catamaran cruise around the caldera. It was wonderful lying on deck soaking up rays. If you're a swimmer, the cruises stopped 3 or 4 times for people to jump off for a swim. They also did a great grill onboard the catamaran. If you and your husband enjoy wine, I'd also recommend visiting one of the island's wineries. I went to Boutari. If you stay in Oia as I did, be sure to choose a hotel with a view of the caldera. You'll thank me and yourself!

3. Your day 12 right now is just to fly to Istanbul. You'll probably be flying back through Athens from Santorini so not sure how much time is chewed up with connections. But as OC suggested, you should have plenty of time to do a Bosphorus cruise. And I did not have time last Sept. to visit the Chora Church Museum and some of the cool neighborhoods along the Golden Horn, so I'm adding that back into my itinerary this time around.

Anyway, my 2 cents. Have a wonderful trip!

kc2117

Hi MinnBeef, thanks for your tips! I am researching a catamaran cruise now because that sounds just wonderful! Do you remember the name of the company you booked with? On TripAdvisor, a lot of travelers recommend "Santorini Sailing" with Captain Ted. http://www.santorinisailing.com/redboat.htm

As well, does anyone know where "Marina Vlihada" is located? Their tours start there and I just want to find out how far that is from our hotel.

Thanks all!

clausar

Athens is worth more than 1 day....
Syntagma Square is close to Zappeion, the National garden, the Temple of Zeus,and the Olympic Stadium, where the Olympics in 1896 took place.
In Athens you can also visit the following great museums :
National Archeological ( biggest of it's kind in the world), Benaki Museum, Goulandris Museum and the Byzantine Museum.
( there are many more museums...).
I won't mention the Acropolis and the New Acropolis Museum, that are must sees, but i would add Lycabettus Hill, with an amazing view of Athens, and the southern suburb of Athens : Glyfada, full of life, shops and great restaurants, or Kifisia, a northern suburb.
The Plaka is the oldest part of modern Athens, full of
neoclassical houses and not just a place with souvenir shops and cheap restaurants ( they are concentrated in a few streets).
I would recommend in Plaka the Cafe Melina, a Cafe dedicated to the famous actress Melina Merkouri.
From there you could walk up to Anafiotika, a part of the Plaka, that looks like a small Cycladic village, as it was build by islanders from Anafi, who came to Athens searching for work.
There is also a pedestrianized street starting from the New Acropolis Museum, taking you to Thission, which i would absolutely recommend.
In the evening you can take the metro to Keramikos station ( blue line) a great place with restaurants and cafes where Athenians gather.

The Marina of Vlyhada is located in the very South of the island, next to Vlyhada beach and near Perissa.

MinnBeef

Hi kc2117. I don't recall the name of the company but they are all pretty much the same. A gal I worked with gave me the name of her catamaran company before I left and I couldn't find them, but the one I took was almost identical to hers. I booked the day before with a travel agent in Oia. Just ask how long you are actually cruising for and how many stops they typically make for swimming. You'll have a blast.