Greece/Turkey 3 week itinerary - is this doable?
 

My husband and I will be traveling to Greece and Turkey for our honeymoon and i was hoping to get some feedback on the itinerary I've created. I tent to overschedule our time when we travel and since we've never been to either Greece or Turkey I still want to make sure we have somewhat a relaxing time.

1 Get to Athens - 4pm
2 Athens
3 Athens
4 Naxos (AM)
5 Naxos
6 Naxos
7 Naxos
8 Santorini (AM)
9 Santorini
10 Santorini
11 Santorini
12 Santorini -> Athens -> IST
13 IST
14 IST
15 IST -> Bodrum
16 Bodrum
17 Bodrum
18 Bodrum -> Permukkale early AM, spend the day then board an overnight bus to Coppadocia
19 Coppadocia
20 Coppadocia
21 Coppadocia -> IST -> Home

I would have loved to fit Ephesus in there too, but not sure how doable that is.

Anyway, thoughts? Critiques? I would love to get some feedback.

Thanks in advance!

Tanya

It really depends on what you want to see and do but, FWIW...
I thought Istanbul deserved at least 6 full days.
Two days is very little time for Cappadocia.
I haven't been to Greece yet, but can't imagine giving Athens only 2 days.

Athens depends on your interests, but due to jet lag I'd add 1 more day. You could spend the last few days in Istanbul since you'd be flying out from there. Either fly to Izmir via Athens and go to Bodrum first or take a ferry/flight to Kos and then to Bodrum.

We spent a week in Istanbul and four days in Cappadocia and it wasn't enough. Bodrum is more of a tourist area.
And every time you move you lose a minimum of 1/2 day.

If you go Ephesus go early, it is extremely popular and if you race through Pemukkale, you can see it in a 1/2 day.

If you give the month of your travels, it will help the responders.

Period of daylight, weather, availability of flights and ferries (some flights and ferries are on only during certain seasons)
, the romance of certain areas, the night life are all different at different times.

Which one is you ?

- walking in the rain
- searching for an oasis in sweltering heat
- Indiana Jones
- Blue Lagoon
- Company of Paris Hilton and ilk
- Curse of the Mummy
- The yellow brick road
- The company of Japanese first timers with cameras for selfies
- Glorious hangovers
- Tarzan and Jane without the wild animals and violent tribes
- seaside cafes and short scenic boat cruises
- driving safaris
- Curiosity
- Comfort
- To read or to be told

- Budget
B&B to 7 Star lodging and Fast food to Michelin Star

Don't skip Ephesus! If you fly to Izmir from Athens, Ephesus is very close to the airport. I think it took us less than an hour. You could overnight in the area at a Kusadisi hotel.

About Bodrum: It was a huge disappointment to us, but we're not jet setters. The water is very pretty, but I don't think you need four days to see that and the castle at the waterfront.

I would take a day or two away from Bodrum and add it to Istanbul and Athens, which both deserve more time.

It really depends on what you're looking for. I agree that you should spend more time in Istanbul - there's so much to see and do. I didn't enjoy Santorini as much but I'm not an beach/island person.

I just posted a trip report about my Greece and Turkey trip (Santorini, Mykonos, Capaddocia, and Istanbul) that you might find helpful:
http://fanofblank.blogspot.com/2014/...i-mykonos.html

I would definitely take a day from Santorini and add it to Istanbul. Istanbul is one of the most beautiful and exciting cities anywhere.

I would also take a day from Bodrum and see Ephesus - an incredible archeological site.

You give Santorini much more time than Istanbul which doesn't make sense at all.

Thanks for your feedback, everyone!

The reason for so many days in Santorini is that this was our honeymoon, so in addition to sight-seeing etc we also wanted some time to relax, de-stress and, well, not move for a few days. So while it may not make a lot of sense to many of you, it made perfect sense for us :) That being said, we ended up reallocating one of those days to Istanbul.

We also ended up canning the idea of Bodrum and just headed to Kusadasi for a day and a half just so we could see Ephesus (amazing!).

Below is the itinerary we actually ended up doing. Aside from that one really crappy day when we had to travel from Santorini to Kusadasi (so many transfers! ugh!), it actually worked out pretty great. We would have loved to spend a day or two more in Cappadocia, but even with 3 days we got to see quite a bit. Also, 2.5 days in Athens was actually perfect for us. I heard people being split about it being awesome and overrated but it just wasn't our cup of tea. Istanbul was awesome though, and wish we had a few more days.

1 Athens
2 Athens
3 Athens
4 Naxos
5 Naxos
6 Naxos
7 Naxos
8 Santorini
9 Santorini
10 Santorini
11 Santorini
12 Kusadasi/Ephesus
13 Kusadasi/Ephesus
14 Cappadocia
15 Cappadocia
16 Cappadocia
17 Istanbul
18 Istanbul
19 Istanbul
20 Istanbul
21 Istanbul -> Home

Anyway, hope this helps someone who's planning a similar trip.

Thanks for reporting back - glad you found a plan that worked for you!

You ended up with a much better itinerary! Thanks for posting it.