not_enuf_vaca

So just realized my trip to Turkey and Greece is 4 months away and I haven't booked anything but my airfare to Europe.!

Taking a second look at my itinerary, I am worried I am shorting myself days in places.

I really want to spend 5 full days in Istanbul. The rest, I'm not so sure.

I had wanted to do Crete - but with only 4 days for Crete and the logistical issues I am wondering if I should skip it? The BF wants to do Santorini for sure. Is two full days okay there? Can we see the best of Athens in one full, action packed day? (we are pretty active so no worries there). If we skip Crete, what would be a suggested alternative on the mainland or island? A little pool time is nice for the BF, but we aren't looking for days of lounging on the beach - more interested in getting a "taste" of Greece and like history, charm and variety.

As for Turkey - is Ephesus doable as a day trip from Istanbul? Or maybe just an overnight leaving our stuff in Istanbul. I was assuming Cappadoccia would need 3 FULL days (no travel days). Want enough time for a balloon ride too. Would it be criminal to skip Ephesus to spend more time elsewhere?

We have about 19.5 days total for the whole trip. Im okay with spending a little extra flying if it makes the trip more efficient but BF will not fly on a small plane so that option is out.

I love the tips, opinions and ideas from the forum so appreciate any feedback even if it is negative . Thank you in advacne.

qwovadis

ferries.gr from Cesme through the islands santorini.com
ikies.com my fav to Athens. Kusadasi first then day trip to Ephesus if desired.Skip Crete you do not have time. goturkey.com greectravel.com greekislands.com Sceptretours.com good Turkey packageson sale via travelzoo.com.

Happy Planning!

MinnBeef

I did a week in Greece and 3 1/2 days in Istanbul in Sept. I'll try to answer your questions and am sure others will chime in.

1. 5 full days in Istanbul is terrific. I had 3 1/2 and still missed Chora Church, Topkapi, visiting a hamam, several other mosquest, etc. You'll be glad you've given this amazing city 5 full days.

2. I arrived in Santorini around 7:30 pm on a Wed. night and my departing flight left at 5:30 pm on Saturday. So that gave me 2 full days + part of Saturday. You should be fine with 2 full days.

3. I think one FULL jam packed day for Athens will cover, although 2 would be better. You'll want to climb the Acropolis and visit the New Acropolis Museum. I also LOVED the Byzantine & Christian Museum. It was also nice to have some time to discover little hole in the wall restaurants as well as have a wonderful meal at Spondi-a two star Michelin restaurant.

4. Can't comment on other islands other than Santorini. I'm sure others will chip in.

5. I would think 3 full days in Cappadocia with balloon ride should be sufficient. I hope to get back to Turkey this year and am budgeting almost two full days with a tour company, including balloon ride on day 2. The advantage to having a day 3 is in case weather requires a chance in balloon day.

6. From everything I've heard and read, skipping Ephesus WOULD be criminal. I've found tour companies that do it as a day trip from Istanbul. I have heard Ephesus is one of THE highlights of the entire country.

qwovadis

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bardo1

MinnBeef,

Istanbul to Ephesus is 10 hours one-way by bus. Can you link the company/tour you found that does this as a day trip?

not_enuf_vaca

I was just going to fly in the afternoon - maybe spend one night and fly back in the morning maybe...

not_enuf_vaca

MinnBeef,
Did you go to Delphi? Maybe I can do another day in Athens and squeeze in Delphi and then find an island that fits best logistically?

otherchelebi

You do not need to book a tour to do a day trip to Ephesus and environs. Just get on-line tickets for an early morning flight and return with an evening flight with Atlas Jet or onur air which are bthe very reasonably priced and both of which offer a free shuttle to and from Selcuk, the town close to Ephesus. You can also fly THY which will not have a frre shuttle and will be more expensive but has a large number of flights to Izmir airport.

If you rent a car at Izmir airport you can do Ephesus and a number of other sites easily during a good day.

If you take a shuttle, you can either take a cheap cab to Ephesus from Selcuk (top gate) and get a guide there or an audio guide. Can easily spend time at museum, basilica, castle and old mosque in the town also.

Ephesus is spectacular but so are a number of other locations in Turkey:

- Termessos
- Anamurium
- Hattusas/Yazilikaya
- Urfa/Harran/Gobeklitepe
- Arycanda/Myra/Kekova
- Patara/Letoon/Tlos
- Pergamon/Assos
- Aphrodisias/Pamukkale/Hieropolis
- Mardin/Hasankeyf
- Ani
- Olba/Heaven/Hell sinkholes/Adam rocks
- Nicea
- Nemrut
- Sumela
- Sardis

not_enuf_vaca

Thanx otherchelebi ,

I was indeed just planning on booking myself - not doing a tour. I like the idea of renting a car so we can maybe see something nearby as well and fly back the next morning. Is "Aphrodisias/Pamukkale/Hieropolis" doable if we have a full day for Ephesus and surrounding?

There is a direct flight from Athens to Izmir as well - so that might be an option depending on how I manage my Greek itinerary!

clausar

How many days have you calculated for Greece?
As for Greece, everything is depending on how much time you have available.
Visiting Islands, can be very time consuming, and if - as you mentioned- want to experience the charm of Greece, then you need to lay back and relax, rather than trying to squeeze in as much as possible.
You will definitely need 2 full days for Athens plus 1 for Delphi, and another 4 days for an island, and still you will only have scratched the surface...
Even with only 4 days, Crete is doable, under the condition that you will fly from/to Athens and rent a car there.
You will have time to see Western Crete, which is a beautiful part of the island.
The Mainland is another interesting part, that can be explored with a rental car. You could visit Delphi, Galaxidi, Nafpaktos,Olympia,Nafplio, Mycenae, Epidavros and back to Athens in 4 days.

not_enuf_vaca

I have 10 days for Greece but two or those are travel in/out days - so just 8. Promised BF we would go to Santorini so that is a must.

not_enuf_vaca

clausar,

After talking to my parents and friends, I am back to Crete for 4 plus days.

We would be flying in to Heraklion at about 10:30 in the morning and would rent a car at the airport. We then have that day plus (probably) 4 more days until taking a high-speed ferry to Santorini. If we focus on the highlights and don't try to do the whole island, what would you recommend as an itinerary for that time? Thank you!

MinnBeef

All, the same day tour company is Ephesus Tours. They are well reviewed on TripAdvisor. (no affiliation here to either). I'll probably use them just because as a solo traveler I don't want to have to deal with a rental car. But Otherchelebi is most definitely correct about the ease of booking your own flight to Izmir and doing Ephesus on your own with the car. Whichever method works better for you.

Not_enuf_vaca, hes I did also do a day tour from Athens to Delphi. I booked this before leaving Minneapolis with CHAT Tours. They are recommended in Froemmers and I was very pleased. Our guide was terrific and the ruins are lovely in a beautfiul mountainside setting. The Delphi museum was also very nice. They picked me up from a nearby hotel around 8:00 a.m. and had me back in Central Athens by about 8:00 that evening. All very doable, albeit a long day trip.

otherchelebi

Aphrodisias, Pamukkale, Hieropolis will take 3 hours to get to from selcuk and anothet 3 back, not considering the absolute minimum two hours you would be spending on these three sites. So that is a full day itself.

You might as well visit Priene, miletus and Herakeia from Selcuk. These will take about 4-5 hours all together and still give you time for Ephesus, Saint John's Basilica and the museum, if you rush through like a whirlwind.

clausar

Crete is a huge island, the distance from West to East is 350 km.
I think best it would be to fly to Chania, Crete's second largest city in the West, and move towards Heraklion to ferry to Santorini.
Here is an itinerary i would suggest :

Arrival in Chania - pick up of car

Chania 1 overnight ( see the Akrotiri Monasteries and Lake Kournas on the way to Rethymnon)

Rethymnon 1 overnight ( visit Roustika, Arkadi Monastery, Margarites village)

Agia Galini or Matala 1 overnight ( drive through Kourtaliotiko Gorge, swim in Plakias, Spili)

Heraklion 1 overnight ( Gortys and Phestos on your way to Heraklion)

In Heraklion visit Knossos and the Archeological Museum, otherwise there's not too much to see in the city.

If you will be in May in Crete, weather in the South will be warmer than in Northern Crete, it is possible that you can swim in the South, while the water in the North will still be cold....
As for accommodation, what is your budget, so that we can propose you suitable hotels too?

not_enuf_vaca

Clausar,
I'm actually planning on flying direct from Amsterdam so I dont have a choice - we fly into Heraklion. I don't particularly need help with lodging unless you have some special recomendation - I like to keep it $150.00 US or below.
It will be late May so maybe we will get lucky with the swimming. I would like to hike the Samarian Gorge but not sure with the limited time we have.
Any chance of high-speed ferries from Chania to Santorini? Then we could do your trip in reverse.

Thank you otherchelebi! Contemplated driving from Selcuk to Cappadocia but looks like it would take 2 full days with stops.

Thank you MinnBeef - by the way, just made my first trip to Minneapolis last year and we quite enjoyed it - especailly Manny's

otherchelebi

There are Sunexpress, Pegasus and possibly Sky flights from izmir airport to Kayseri near cappadocia.

The sea temperature at Kusadasi 15 K from Ephesus will be about 17-20 degrees C in late May. my wife enjoys swimming in seas of that temperature and I just enjoy watching her swim then.

Sassafrass

Unless you are big on hiking and want to do a lot of it there, two full days in Cappadocia would allow plenty of time for you to visit one or two of the valleys, the underground city, and do a balloon ride. We hired a car for one afternoon to visit the underground and timed it to be at one of the valleys for sunset for an hour or so. Evening we spent walking around in Urgup and having dinner. That was perfect. The next morning we had an early balloon ride and we were back at our hotel in time for a late breakfast. We took a short nap and did another car hire to visit the open air museum and more walking before dinner. Of course, you could always do a bit more, but I would not give up Ephesus for another day in Cappadocia.

I don't know about flying into Ephesus one evening and back the next morning. You need several hours for Ephesus. You might have to fly back late in the day or fly in very early the first day.

mariha2912

Athens to Delphi you can have a look on chat tours as suggested, go tours and key tours offer identical tours too. If you are not into tours, get a taxi from Athens city center to KTEL bus station B on Liossion street first thing in the morning, be there about 7ish, buy a ticket and jump on the 7.30 bus . You'll be in Delphi by 10.00 or so. Ask driver to drop you off by the museum/site, so you do not back track from/to modern Delphi. Visit sites first and try to be in museum around midd-day to avoid the heat. Maybe visit main site, then museum then lower site or v.v. It is a 10 minutes walk further away to reach modern town from museum's entrance. Have a lunch and a stroll, go to bus station on the other side of town, buy tickets either for 16.00 bus either for 18.00 bus back to Athens. Do not go to bus station last minute for your tickets back to Athens. Sometimes bus is nearly empty, but often it might be full as it originaly depart from an other town (Amfissa) and stops to collect passengers on two more towns(Itea,Chrisso) before passing by Delphi. Bus ticket costs about 15-16 euro/person one way.
Note this is a really long day trip though.

clausar

Samaria Gorge is a full day trip.... and depending on your physical condition you may need to relax the whole next day.....

Boat for Santorini departs only from Heraklion and as Heraklion is located in the middle of Crete, backtracking will be inevitable.( unless Heimdall who is an expert on Greek Ferries has a better information)
The distance between Chania and Heraklion is 150 km.