We plan to go to these locations next October. This will be the first time we will use a tour company and would like recommendations - a friend really likes Grand Circle. I have not been able to find a tour that also include Dubrovnik. What is the easiest way of doing it on our own if there is no tour that includes all three - might some have extensions?. We have often traveled in Europe on our own, but we are now ready for the service a tour company offers. We want to travel almost exclusively by boat. Grand Circle is in our price range. Thanks.

Hi

One option of doing this is a cruise eg. http://tinyurl.com/yctlk67. The cruise ships offer guided excursions as options.

Hi,
We have done an Agean cruise that included Ephesus and the Greek Isles. It began in Istanbul and ended in Athens. Dubrovnik is on the Adriatic Sea across from Italy (guess you know that) so I think the best way unless you just get lucky on some tour is to do a similar cruise and then do Dubrovnik on your own. I went to Dubrovnik this summer and it is very nice, very small and we had to connect in several places to get there. I believe Vienna is a main connection for Dubrovnik. The Croatian coastline is beautiful.
I don't know if Tauck does a Greek Isle tour but they are a really good company and I think they are a good value for what you get. We were very pleased with them as have been our family and friends.
Happy travels!!!

Adding Dubrovnik to a trip through the Greek Isles and Ephesus turns a fairly straightforward journey into a very complicated one. You may be able to find a cruise that hits all those stops, and that would be your answer.

Now, for doing it on your own:

Getting from Athens to Ephesus by boat is the easy part - ferries from Piraeus through the Greek Isles to Samos, a ferry from Samos to Kusadasi for Ephesus, then ferries back to Athens for your onward journey.

The hard part is going on from there to Dubrovnik. Unfortunately, connections between Greece and Croatia are poor. To get to Dubrovnik by boat from Greece you would probably first have to take a ferry to Italy, then a ferry from Italy to Croatia. That would take up an inordinate amount of time.

The alternative would be a flight. Checking the booking websites, I couldn't find any airline that has direct flights between Athens and Dubrovnik. The best you could do is a one or two stop flight via a third country.

Perhaps someone else has a better answer. Otherwise, it would be far easier to stick with Greece/Ephesus and save Dubrovnik for another trip. Good luck!

Doing a little Googling, I found cruises departing from Venice that stop at Dubrovnik, Ephesus, and Greek Islands both in the Aegean and Ionian. Check out http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/ and other websites for possibilities.

In May we did an Oceania cruise that went to these places - they change up their itineraries all the time but you could check and see if they have an upcoming one for 2010. It was probably a little pricier than GCT (we have done a couple river cruises with that company) but it was wonderful. If you can't string the places you want to go together, I guess you will just have to take two separate trips!

Hi Suec1,
We are booked on an Oceania cruise sailing 10/28/09 with an awesome itinerary which includes all the places you mentioned. The ship's excursions are really pricey, so I've made contact through Cruise Critic with many people on the same cruise, and we've planned activities together for fewer people and less $. I also just learned that some acquaintances took the same cruise last year and loved it! Don't let the advertised prices scare you. We jumped on a cheap internet offer, so look for a bargain!