jubileefd

I know I've posted a few times, but I'm still working on this (it's more complicated than I imagined .
In short we will be in Santorini for our honeymoon (flying in from US via Athens-2 nights in Athens). We only have 10 days total so not a lot of extra time. We are flying out Istanbul and would like to somehow see Ephesus.

Through help from this board and research, I now realize I can either fly via Athens or take ferries from Santorini. As this will be the first week of October, there are no high season flights (Sky etc). Ferries do not seem like a viable option for us based on time. It seems that getting from Santorini to Ephesus would take us a full day on several ferries.

So I've returned to the flight option and trying to find away to do this without going roundabout too much. Does this look viable:

Fly Santorin to Athens
Athens to Samos (ferry to Kusadasi )

Fly out of Izmir to Istanbul

Is this crazy? Are there alteranates or should I just realize Ephesus is out of the question? Would my above itinerary require an overnight stay somewhere near ephesus?

thanks so much

brotherleelove2004

You also have the option of flying from Santorini to Samos on SkyExpress, a small Greek (Cretan) airlines. Be advised of limited baggage allowances. Then from Samos you can take the ferry across to Kusadasi with the intention of seeing Ephesus with a flight from Izmir to Istanbul to follow.

http://www.skyexpress.gr/schedule.as...=Peak%20Summer

jubileefd

thanks brotherlee. only problem is sky doesn't fly that route in october. hoping they might add some, but so far isn't the case.
have you flown sky?

Mathieu

I'll let Murat comment/confirm your connections for you - he booked mine last year and did them very well, might I add - but to me its seems like what you're proposing is correct, as I did part of this route, but in reverse (from Istanbul to Ephesus) so can vouch for it.

From Kusadasi, you'd take a bus or cab ride (its about 19 KMs or less than 30 mins driving) to Ephesus. Then from Ephesus, you'd drive (bus or car) 60- 70 Kms to Izmir airport, from where you'd take a flight to Istanbul (1 hr flight).

The adjacent town to Ephesus (3 kms away) is Selcuk and you can stay the night there if you like. Theres a really nice Inn called the Kalehan Hotel which is right on the main road. Roses and Jasmine everywhere and beautiful gardens. There are other accommodations as well, but it is a small town.

I suppose that if you started your day early enough (say 7.00 am from Kusadasi) and were driving yourself everywhere, you could do 4 - 5 hours in Ephesus covering the ruins, the museum and a leisurly lunch, then drive on to Izmir in time for an evening or night flight to Istanbul. Murat can advise you on what the flight schedules are for the days you want. I'd recommend not rushing it if youd odn;t have to, and spending a night in Selcuk and then giving yourself more time to see other sights in the area.

Good luck.

jubileefd

ttt

ekscrunchy

When visiting Ephesus (Efes) two years ago, we used Sirince as our base. This mountain town is about a 20-minute drive to the ruins. Much of our delight was in the choice of hotel; highly recommended:

http://www.nisanyan.com/

We, too, arrived din Turkey from Santorini, flying first to Athens on Aegean and then on to Istanbul via Turkish Airlines.

EAFofNY

This may be a little backward ass for you, but we are travelling from Bodrum to Santorini next week. After flying from Istanbul on Turkish Air to Bodrum for a few days, we're taking the Bodrum Express ferry to Kos, flying on Olympic Air from Kos to Athens and then to Santorini. It was either that, or fly from Bodrum, to Istanbul, to Athens to Santorini.

brotherleelove2004

You could also take the ferry from Bodrum to Rhodes and then fly directly to Santorini on SkyExpress, Crete's small airlines.

propertravel

Hi Jubileefd,
I have not realized I am called sorry, just saw the post.
If anything else I can do so far I believe you done a lot of study and itinerary is complete?

Happy travelling,
Murat

jubileefd

yes, thank you murat!

since you're here , do you know of the best hotels in Samos?

brotherleelove2004

Merhaba, Murat!

propertravel

Hi Jubileefd;
Unfortunately I have not been to Samos Island. So, sorry I can not make any comment on this question.
Maybe Brotherleelove can comment!

Hi Brotherleelove, Merhaba......
Good to see you, and Mathieu...I liked the last joke ;-)

Regards,
Murat

mzani

As for Samos I consider the best resort - awarded for the service and quality -is the Arion hotel in Kokkari:
www.arion-hotel.gr
an other excellent option is the resort www.glicorisa.com
both resorts remaining open until the end of October