Hello! I would like to travel to Greece on a budget, and I am wondering whether my plans are feasible. I would like to fly into Athens, leave a couple of days later, and spend at least a week near the beach in Arcadia or Argolida. During that time, I want to see the ruins at Mycenea and Tiryns. Will I be able to make day trips to those sites using public transportation, or should I plan to spend a couple of nights closer to those ruins? After that, I want to head down to see the ancient ruins near Pylos, and from there I want to travel by ferry to Crete. After about a week in Crete, I would like to again travel by sea up to the ancient ruins of Troy over in Turkey. Is it easy or difficult (or impossible) to travel between Greece and Turkey that way? If it is feasible, how much time should I allow for the sea voyage? I wouldn't mind a couple of stops in between Crete and Troy, but that's not mandatory. After that, I was thinking I could spend a day or two in Istanbul and fly home from there--or would it be cheaper to had back to Greece and fly back from Athens?
Travel within Greece and Turkey
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From Heraklion Crete you can fly or ferry to Rhodes, and from Rhodes there's a ferry across to Bodrum where you can take a bus to Izmir and then another that will get you to Canakkale where Troy is located. In between you should stop at Selcuk to see Ephesus, on the way to Izmir.
The ferry from Crete to Rhodes take about 13 hours. Cyprus Air flies direct in less than an hour. From Bodrum to Selcuk by bus will take the better part of a day. From Bodrum to Canakkale might mean an overnight somewhere, probably Izmir. You can probably take a domestic Turkish airlines from Bodrum to Izmir without having to go to Istanbul first.
You can take the KTEL Bus to Nafplio or Tolo from Athens.
Cheapest accommodation you will find in Tolo, which is 30 min away from Nafplio and has a nice sandy beach.
From Tolo via Nafplio ( or from Nafplio, should you decide to stay there) you can reach Mycenae, Epidaurus, Tiryns and even the island of Spetses with using the KTEL buses.
Going to Pylos will be a bit more complicated, you will have to take a bus to Tripolis, change to a bus to Kalamata and then take a local bus to Pylos.
From Pylos you will have to take a bus to Gythio( via Kalamata/Sparti), from where there is a ferry to Kisamos in Western Crete ( west of Chania). Check departure times, as i don't think that this ferry operates on daily basis.
Now from Crete best way to go to Turkey, is ferry from Heraklion to Rhodes, and from there to Turkey, and move all the way up to Troy.
From Istanbul, you can only fly to Athens, and flight isn't necessarily cheap, an open jaw, arriving in Athens and leaving to your country from Istanbul might be way cheaper.