Greece or Turkey or BOTH?
 

We're planning a trip in late May or early June for about 12 days. When we travel to Europe, we always just visit 1 country but this time we thought since NYC-Greece is about 11 hrs., it might be a good idea to sidetrip to Turkey. We would consider ourselves as independent travelers i.e., we do everything ourselves and would love to experience the place as against do the "must sees". May we have your valued opinions? Thanks.

We spent 2 full weeks in Greece and felt shortchanged. On my must see list (besides the obvious Acropolis and Plaka and Athens - about 2 or 3 days) are Meteora and Delphi. Take the 2 night tour staying overnight in Delphi and Kalambaka. It's great to be in Delphi after the daytrippers go home and the town has really lovely views.<BR><BR>We also chartered a sailboat and skipper for 5 days (could easily have been two weeks) and sailed to the close to Athens islands of Poros, Hydra and Aegina. It was a fantastic experience. Check out www.gpsc.com<BR><BR>If you haven't already visited Matt Barret's Greek website, do so...www.greektravel.com

Cheryl,<BR><BR>Just about every country warrants at least 2 week trip; however, we found your ourselves with the same choice a couple years ago and this is what we did. Yes, me missed a lot in both countries, but we were very happy with our choices:<BR><BR>Athens: 2 nights - Enough to see the Acropolis, Plaka and the Archeological Musem<BR>Istanbul: 4 nights - Fantasitic - Stay in Sultanhamet (sp?) where you will find most of the sites.<BR>Cappadoccia: 2 - nights - Incredible - houses and churches carved into the living rock.<BR>Ephesus: 1 night - Great Roman ruins<BR>Mykonos: 4 nights - our relaxing part of the trip, but still beautiful and interesting<BR><BR>You could add another week in either country and still miss a lot. We flew between each city (Athens was a stopover on the way to Istabul, intra-Turkey flights about $60 each.); but we took the ferry from Turkey to Mykonos.<BR><BR>Whatever you do, have fun!

I would recommend focusing on 1 country if you only have 12 hours. Many years ago, I spent 4 weeks in Greece (back in the 70's). 2 years ago, I went back and we spent 2 weeks there and 1 week in Turkey. We weren't sure whether we'd go to Turkey or not - we were in Rhodes and since it's so close to Marmaris (a short ferry or so) we went for a week. In that time, we only went down the Mediterranean coast from Marmaris to Kalkan. We loved Turkey and definitely will be going back. I was glad I went back to Greece - it's a beautiful country, but Turkey was so amazing. We hadn't booked anything in advance and had no trouble finding inexpensive hotels. We took the bus which was comfortable and easy. Next time I will go to Istanbul and Cappodocia and probably 1 other place likely on the coast (if we only have 2 weeks). That seems like plenty to see. But we don't like to be rushed - we definitely like to take our time when we travel.<BR><BR>In Greece, in our 2 weeks, we visited Athens (which I actually liked - we only had 2 nights and I wish we had 3), Naxos, Rhodes and Santorini. We had the longest time on Santorini and IMO, 4 days was too much. It's beautiful, but overrated. I was familiar with Naxos and really enjoyed it, also Rhodes. On my previous trip, I had also spent a week on the Peloponnesus - very worthwhile. <BR><BR>I agree with you about the long flight times. We live in Toronto and Greece was a long flight. Turkey will be the same. But I would advise only 1 country!

All the suggestions have been pretty good so far, but you also have to remember that you are on vacation. History and sites are great, I love them, and Greece and Turkey have some of the best history in the world. But I like to mix a little relaxation and partying in with my culturing. Enter the Greek islands and Bodrum. Spend some time at both. If you are under 30 or so Ios is an incredible party on the 21st of june (The Swedish Mid-sommers). <BR><BR>Istanbul is a must, I have spent at least 3 months there over the past three years and I am still learning and enjoying every moment of it. Every trip I plan ends in Istanbul I disagree with the person who said to stay near the sultanahmet, I think it is too touristy there. Maybe instead stay near Bebek or Taksim, where there are actually Turks going about their daily business. Plus transportation is kind of exciting there and very cheep. Think about it.<BR><BR><BR>Tolga

Thank you all so much for the info. Right now, we are leaning more on spending time in Greece and Turkey, knowing we'll miss a lot. We'll do the shopping/historical/"must see" in Turkey and relaxation in Greek Islands (we don't know yet where, too hard to choose!). I know, you were all thinking about security but we thought about this also and we said, you just can't be safe anywhere, anymore. We will be careful, but I'll rather die doing what I want to do--that's life! Anyway, will appreciate it again if you can advise of good buys in Greece and Turkey as we always do our gifts shopping in the country where we last travel. Thanks a lot!