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Need Dodecanese & Turkish day trip suggestions

Need Dodecanese & Turkish day trip suggestions

Old Jun 13th, 2005, 01:10 PM
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Need Dodecanese & Turkish day trip suggestions

This sounds a bit like jumping the gun since I have just barely gotten the laudry done returning from Greece, but I'm working on mileage flights for a trip next May since I've found it's necessary to do that as early as allowable in order to get business class.

I have booked a departure for May 2 and will start sliding my [current May 10] return to the following week, 16th-18th, as the days become bookable. Want to be sure I manage to have long enough to do what I want - and the right days - to get ferries.

After a Tues. arrival, we plan to rent a car and spend a few days in Thessaly - get to Meteora after a cancelled tour this year, for one thing. Then we'll fly to Rhodes, which had to be sacrificed in lieu of Santorini and Crete last month. I thought Rhodes would be a good departure point for at least one other Dodecanese island and I was leaning toward Kos because I could take a day trip to Bodrum, Turkey from there. Beaches are of little interest except to admire briefly since I live in FL and am only interested in snorkeling when I travel, which isn't prime in Greece as far as I can tell. Looking for antiquities, scenery, good food, and maybe some interesting shopping.

On further investigation, I read that Kos is something of a party island. I assume in May it will not be as crowded or noisy or whatever as in July and August, but I'm wondering if that's a correct assumption. And is it worth visiting if partying isn't your objective?

What islands close to Rhodes would any of you suggest? Simi? Tilos? And what about Marmais or Bodrum for a day trip? Which do you prefer?

I am having some difficulty finding out for certain whether ferries and hydrofoils that supposedly run daily in "summer" or April - Oct., actually do operate daily in May. (Had some misinformation this year about May schedules.) It's too late to check for this May, of course, and too early for next May. Do any of you have information on which days the ferries described as scheduled for one or two days a week have run in the past?

Thanks,
Polly
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Old Jun 14th, 2005, 01:25 AM
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This is cut and paste from a report on my holiday in Kos last September. We had 2 centre holiday, the first week in Kalymnos, which can be visited by ferry from Mastahari. We stayed in Kefalos, a reasonable seaside resort but I also liked Mastahari, which was smaller and more Greek or you could stay in Kos town, if you prefer somewhere more lively.

We had wanted to visit Kos after seeing all the mosaics from the island in the castle in Rhodes town but had been put off at the thought that it might be too touristy for us. Kos does have some rather busy resorts, like Kardamena, I wouldn’t want to visit in main season but there is another side to the island too.

Kefalos (or more correctly Kamari bay, as Kefalos is actually the old town on the hill above the bay) sprawls along a long sandy beach, probably over a mile in length. It is however all low-rise and low density and doesn’t spread too far back from the sea. There were lots of restaurants and bars and a few shops. The tavernas served mainly traditional Greek fare, though we did see an odd one serving “roast beef and Yorkshire pudding” and I have to admit, we tried the Chinese place. We didn’t have a bad meal and paid 30 to 35 euros, for the 2 of us.

We decided to hire a car and got one for the entire week at the bargain price of 132 euros, fully insured with no excess. The roads were good and generally quiet and nowhere is too far away.

Kos town was well worth a visit – we spent 2 half days and an evening there. For anyone who enjoys wandering round ruins, there were plenty, from 2000 year old Greek and Roman remains, to a huge Crusader castle. There was a good pedestrian area with shops, restaurants and bars and a little market hall where I bought loads of cheap herbs and spices.

Other places to visit were the Asklipion, the ruins associated with Hippocrates, the mountain villages – watched the sunset and had a good meal in Zia. Loads of beaches – found some uncrowded ones on the stretch past Paradise Beach (which itself had too many sun-beds for my liking) and also at Mastihari. The trip to the volcanic island of Nisyros was interesting, you get some time in the little village and get to go right down into the volcanic core and see bubbling, steaming holes surrounded by sulphur crystals, it does pong a bit and health and safety would have a field day! There are walks in the mountains and on the headland beyond Kefalos.

Water parks, discos, night clubs, crowded resorts? Yes, they exist but we didn’t go looking for them. We spent a perfectly pleasant week with plenty to explore, good beaches to relax on and good food too - it is still possible to find all the things that attracted people to the island in the first place.
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Old Jun 15th, 2005, 05:59 PM
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Thanks, Maria. Your message gives me some good ideas for other places to stay than Kos town. Many times I plan to use public transportation and opt for the city with the most stuff to see so I can get good dinners without having to go someplace at night. But since I think we'll get a car, Kefalos or Mastahari sound worth investigating. And on doing further reading after your message, I see that there is enough I'd like to do on Kos that I'd be willing to put up with some of the less desirable aspects (as long as they're not going on outside my window when I'm trying to sleep). Hadn't read anything about Nysros but I have a "thing" for volcanos and geysers, so I'd probably go to Kos just for that day trip. (Your post didn't come up in a search for Kos, not much did. Maybe I'll try again in case I made a typo - though how I could spell a 3 letter word wrong beats me.)
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Old Jun 17th, 2005, 08:59 AM
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Just got back from Turkey with 2 trips by ferry over to Greek Island. Day trip from Marmaris to Rhodos Ferry was going back and forth once daily. Leave around 9 am and return at 4:30 pm. It was expensive. $70.00 Cdn return for 1 person. 5 days on Chios Island - ferry from Cesme went at 6 pm, ferry stayed on the island overnight and returned at 9:30 am to Cesme. There were 3 ferries to choose from ranging from $43. Cdn to $70. Cdn.
I would consider the islands of Nysiros, Chios and Karpathos.
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Old Jun 17th, 2005, 03:38 PM
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Do you recommend the day trip to Marmaris? What did you do there?
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