<BR>I'm thinking about flying from NYC to Athens next year, traveling by ferry through the Greek islands, and then entering Turkey by ferry from a nearby Greek island (maybe Kos?).<BR><BR>The plan would be to then travel within Turkey, and end up in Istanbul, with a flight back to New York from Istanbul.<BR><BR>I know there used to be problems traveling between Greece and Turkey. Anyone know if things have improved? Does this trip sound feasible?<BR><BR>Any advice will be appreciated.

You can get to Bodrum from Kos ($25), Kusadasi from Samos ($50), and Cesme from Chios all on a ferry, but you will need an Entrance Visa to enter Turkey if it is not just a daytrip. It is best to return to NYC from Turkey.

Not sure about Greece to Turkey, but when we arrived in Greece (Samos) coming by boat from Kusadasi, I couldn't believe the Greek customs officers. We stood in line for an hour while they tore apart everyone's luggage. They completely emptied out things like one grandmotherly type's body powder as if they were looking for drugs. At our hotel, they told us that it is always that way with customs between Greece and Turkey -- a sort of feud they seem to have going.<BR><BR>By the way, most people recommend getting that Turkish entry visa when you get there, but we did ours in advance by sending to the Turkish embassy in the US. Cost the same, and we didn't have to worry about having the proper currency upon entrance to Turkey, or getting stuck in some line.

I took the ferry from Rhodes to Marmaris. There was a greek ferry strike that day but they told me to return late in the day and turkish ferry would be running. It was but it was quite late. The visa process was easy. The entire process was actually a breeze, it was just the strike that created some annoyance.

There are boats from Lesvos to Ayvalik, Hios to Cesme, Samos to Kasadasi, Kos to Bodrum and Rodos to Marmaris. They are small ships and services in winter are very limited. In peak season, they run daily, with Greek vessels leaving Greece in the morning and returning in the afternoon, and Turkish boats working the opposite way. The trips take one or two hours, but fares are high because of taxes, etc.

I have flown into Athens, taken the hydrofoil from Samos to Kusadasi, bought my visa on arrival, traveled in Turkey for 2 weeks before going back from Kusadasi to Samos and later flying out of Athens. I did not have any problems with immigration at all in either country, coming or going. The one problem was we were told there would be customs in Kusadasi to stamp our duty slips and there wasn't. Not sure if this is true all the time, but we waited and waited as they said the customs officiers would be coming and finally had to go or get left behind... Have a great trip, Turkey is amazing.