Istanbul to Greece
 

We are wanting to travel to Greece after a tour of Turkey in late April 2014 . The tour finishes in Istanbul . We don't want to hire a car or fly. We are not experienced solo travellers, but would like to try local transport. We would appreciate your suggestions on what city to arrive at.

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/g...st_athens.html



You're welcome :D

Thanks sparkchaser our travel agent said that we could only get there by plane. I thought there would be a bus or ferry. The sight looks like it will be very helpful Win and Bill

Where in Greece do you want to go? for how long? where you will go after Greece?

These buses are not considered to be local transfer, and the whole trip might not be as attractive as you thought it would be.

The most comfortable way to get to Greece ( especially Athens ) is to fly in my opinion :)

You can get to Greece from Turkey by ferry, but not from Istanbul. That would involve travelling to Çesme or another port further south for a ferry to a Greek island. Once on an island you can use the Greek ferry system.

I have to say, though, you would need a lot of time to take that route, and it would only be practical if you wanted to visit islands in the NE Aegean and Dodecanese. The bus route mentioned by sparkchaser might be okay if you want to visit northern Greece. The best way to get from Istanbul to Athens is by air.

If you are not used to being solo travelers, i.e. not on tours, then fly. The bus ride is 22 hours, a flight about 1 hour and a half.

Where in Greece do you want to go first? This information will determine which advice you get will be the most appropriate.

Thanks everyone . At this stage we are open for any ideas the travel agent said to do 4 days in Athens only because of all the trouble. Is it safe to travel Greece-moving somewhere else for about 4 we would be happy to move for a couple of times Is it safe to travel to travel in Eastern Europe using local transport and cheap hotels or hotel We are in our 50 fit and used to cheap Australian hotels and street wise We are meeting our friends in London in the middle of June.

Greece is where I felt the safest of any place I have traveled. There are many very reasonable hotels throughout Greece. Check the website www.fantasy.gr, a Greek travel agency, for help.
Are you also going to Eastern Europe? I am confused by your last post.

You really should have taken the time to explore the possibilities yourselves before posting here, but it seems as if you're wanting someone else to do it for you. So here's a suggestion. Domestic flights in Turkey are cheap. Fly to Bodrum in the south and take a ferry across to Rhodes. From Rhodes you can go to Crete or Santorini or any number of Greek islands.

For Turkish flights check Turkish Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, Onur Air and Atlasjet. There are more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airlines_of_Turkey

One of the best sites for Greece is: http://greecetravel.com/

THE best site for train travel in Europe is: http://www.seat61.com/

You need to decide whether you want to fly to Athens, or island hop by ferry. Sounds like you have six weeks between Istanbul and London? Plenty of time for Greece plus some of Eastern Europe. You might find my tour of Greece and points north in 2006 of interest: http://wilhelmswords.com/eur2006/index.html or click on my name for my TR for the Balkans.

<i>...the travel agent said to do 4 days in Athens only because of all the trouble.</i>

What on earth is your agent talking about? There is no trouble in Athens or anywhere in Greece, nor has there been any time in the recent past. It is ironic your agent would say that, because the only troubles I have heard about this year in your planned travel area were in Istanbul and a few other cities in Turkey.

Please don't misinterpret this as a warning against travelling to Turkey, because that is a safe destination as well. You can get accurate information at http://travel.state.gov/travel/travel_1744.html or your own country's website if you aren't American. The US State Dept website tends to err on the side of caution.

Okay, I see you are Australian. Your country's equivalent website is http://smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/ :-)