kesnow

My friend and I (females 35 and 45 yrs) will be travelling to Greece in October 2009. We arrive in Greece on October 11 (I believe mid morning) and are thinking we would stay in Greece till the morning of the 20th. Being that the 11th is kind of a "lost" day settling in and laying low, we essentially have 8 full days in Greece. Any suggestions? Want to see all the main sites in Athens (Acropolis), and hear the island of Santorini is "most popular" as far as the islands go. For 8 full days should we just stick to those two places (Athens and Santorini)? Or, could we "fit" another island in and not feel like we're hopping around too much? Any suggestions on how many days to plan for in Athens and island(s)? Our interests are experiencing culture, main sites, we love souvenir/market shopping, not too big on "night life bars/clubs." On to next BIG question...we want to leave on the 20th to go either to Egypt or Turkey for the last 5 days before returning to the US. We will leave from either Turkey or Egypt to the US on the 25th. Any suggestions on which one is more of a "must." (I have already done the research on the dates of Ramadan in Egypt and it will well be over by the time we would be in Egypt, if that's where we end up going). I know this is such a crazy question which is going to probably vary greatly from one oerson to another based on personal preference, but any ideas would be great! We don't really know much about either place, at all...they are just close and we wanted a second destination that geographically "makes sense." We were initally leaning toward Egypt, but then heard some people say they have heard Turkey is beautiful. I have never even thought about Turkey as a wish list destination....any help appreciated! Thanks in advance!!!

brotherleelove2004

Turkey's a great choice, and you can reach it from the islands. From Santorini there's a ferry to Rhodes or Kos 3 days/week, and from Rhodes you can take another ferry into Turkey at Marmaris or Bodrum and from there make your way north to Istanbul by plane or bus. Another route would be Santorini to Paros to Samos to Kusadasi (Turkey). Santorini>Paros is daily, and Paros>Samos is 5 days/week. From Samos you can get to Kusadasi, which is very close to Ephesus. From that part of Turkey you're only a day out of Istanbul. "Old" Istanbul (Sultanahmet) is amazing. Be sure to go to the Grand Bazaar.

You'll need to look at a map of the Greek islands and Turkey to get a sense of the distances.

Bettina222

I think 9 nights is enough to do 3 different placs.
My husband and I went to Greece last April and we spent 4 nights on Crete, 2 on Santorini and 3 in Athens.
But after doing that, 2 nights in Athens would have been enough for me. I would have added a day to one of the islands.

kesnow

Great! Thanks Brotherleelove for the travel suggestions to Turkey from Santorini. I agree, need to get online to find a map. Bettina, doing it over again...do you feel 2 nights in Santorini was enough? Would you do it the same or split Crete and Santorini equally? Does Crete require more time in your opinion?
Thanks again for the information!

southeastern

Been to Egypt and Turkey and I would suggest Turkey over Egypt. Great sights, friendly people, good food, fun shopping. Both are great, but Turkey is more user friendly. Be sure and do a Turkish Bath....it's awesome!