We are scheduled to visit both Athens and Istanbul in early November. Travel company, of course, says "no problem!" Has anyone been to either or both since the quakes?

I have friends visiting Turkey now.It's <BR>Ok.I don't think Istanbul was badly hit.

Crowds are probably minimal, and the countries could use the tourism. Americans are notoriously squeamish, but both cities are ok according to what I've read--up and running. You never know in that part of the world, ever, but risk gets reward. Do what's comfortable, based on information, not others' perception. I'm the type that goes for it.

My husband and I landed in Athens an hour after the quake. My brother was standing in the Agora (under the Acropolis) during the quake, and, being a Californian, he guessed it was a 6.0. (It was a 5.9 -- not a bad guess!) The damage appeared to be fairly minor to us, so we were surprised to hear about the news coverage. I would say it's no problem to go there. I've never been to Istanbul, so I can't really advise you on that. <BR>

I just got back from Greece and Turkey. I was in Athens during the earthquake and most of the damange was in the northern suburbs at a factory that was destroyed with some masonry falling in the downtown area off of old buildings too. I was in Istanbul before the last big aftershock (about 2 weeks ago) and saw no damage whatsoever. I did hear from other tourists that took a bus tour south near Yalova that you could see damaage off the roadside in that area. I would definitely visit Istanbul - - it was the highlight of our trip! I you want the name of a great pension there near to the Blue Mosque, let me know.

We arrived in Athens on Sept 16 and only on a bus tour outside the city did we see one factory damaged. <BR> <BR>We left Istanbul on Sept 29th. Early that morning they had a 4.8 aftershock which woke us up to the swaying but nothing else. We're from California and didn't get worried. <BR> <BR>We were told by natives that all of the Europeans cancelled their trips to Turkey and so it was wonderfully uncrowded. <BR> <BR>Fodor's recommended Yesil Ev in Istanbul and it was wonderful. I believe our room was 36 and from our bed we looked out at the Blue Mosque all lite up...it was a fairly land. Even though there are Internet Cafes all over Greece and Turkey, we accessed our E-mail from the hotel. There are only 19 rooms but out back there is a wonderful garden which also had a restaurant. A breakfast buffet was included with the price of a hotel. They told us about 80% of the guests are Americans but it has an absolutely wonderful location between the Blue Mosque and Aga Sophia on a street that does not allow cars. <BR> <BR>Around the corner is a bazaar where unlike any other shopping area, they leave you alone to window shop without pestering you to annoyance. We found a shop that had antiques pictures framed from old books. The bazaar had rugs and jewelry but no hassle. <BR> <BR>Right there also was the Blue House - with a wonderful restaurant 4 or 5 stories up on their upstairs terrace. We arrived at about 7 and could choose any table because people eat lunch about 2 and dinner about 8 or 8:30. We had a view of both the Blue Mosque and the Aga Sophia and at 7:30 started the Sound and Light performance at the Blue Mosque. It also has a view of the Bosphorus.....a really grand experience for us but go dressed for eating outside.