Itinerary and Islands
 

Just booked my tickets for May-June 2012 for a trip to Greece and Turkey (using miles - always a challenge!! and why I booked so far in advance).

We have about 9 days for the Greek part to to split between Athens and an Island or two with the ultimate goal of ending up in Ephesus.

General plan is spend twoish days in Athens and then head out on an overnight ferry to our next destination. Was hoping to do Santorini and Crete but that makes it challenging to get to Turkey. If we did try, it would be an overnight ferry to Santorini (2 days) , fast ferry to Crete (4 days in Crete), waste a day traveling and spending $$ flying to get to Samos, spend a whole day in Samos the next day, then the next morning ferry to Turkey and straight to Ephesus for one quick day (heading to Cappadocia from there the next morning).

Or, we could save the $$$ and travel headaches by overnighting to Crete (4days), ferry to Rhodes (2/3 days), waste a day traveling to Ephesus, next day to tour Ephesus, then fly out next morning two Cappadocia.

I had more interest in Rhodes. BF really wants to see Santorini. Crete I think is for sure.
Based on that and the travel challenges what is some feedback or other suggestions? Obviously I have lots of time to mull this over!

Oh - and with one whole day in Athens and then a partial day (needed to get to the ferry port by 20:00 or so) - can we do a day trip to Delphi or should we skip it? Is it worth trying?

Thanx!

I think I made up my own mind :) I think we will do Athens - overnight to Santorini - Crete - Samos to Turkey. Now, instead of trying to spend a day on Samos before taking the ferry the next morning, should we just use it as an overnight and stay and extra day in Crete (for 5 days total)?

You need to plan the Greek portion of your trip a with ferry and flight routes in mind. With only 7 days for the islands, two islands on a more or less direct route to Ephesus is the max practical.

Plan A: there are no overnight ferries to Santorini, because the route takes only 5-7 hours. An evening ferry (approx. 3X/week) arrives at Santorini around midnight. The only way you can fly from Crete to Samos is via Athens, so you will be paying for two flights instead of one.

Plan B: You could fly to Crete, then fly to Rhodes with either Olympic Air or Sky Express. From Rhodes you could ferry to Bodrum, then travel overland through Turkey to reach Ephesus. Flights and ferries between Crete and Rhodes aren't necessarily daily, so you may have to adjust your itinerary accordingly. Crete is a very large island, so you can only scratch the surface in 4 days, half of which will be taken up in travel.

My recommendation would be: spend your two days in Athens, then fly to Santorini. From Santorini take a fast ferry to Mykonos for 2/3 days, taking in Delos while there. Travel from Mykonos to Vathi on Samos by Nissos Mykonos ferry, then ferry from there to Kusadasi for your visit to Ephesus. Save Crete for another trip when you have more time to enjoy it. :-)

Have you worked out how you will get from Crete to Samos?

I was just going to suck it up and pay to fly from Crete or Santorini to Samos :)

We could do the overnight ferry to Crete and spend five days there - then just Samos as an overnight stop. The only "disappointment" would be arriving in Santorini via fast ferry and not getting to enojoy the view as much.

You are aware that flying from Crete or Santorini to Samos means flying via Athens and paying for 2 tickets?
Staying in Samos just for an overnight does really unjustice to this very beautiful island, with lots to do and see....

Yup - I am aware I have to fly via Athens. It will cost 400-600 for the two of us :(
I have time to think through this still. I really want to see Crete and my BF really wants to see Santorini - although I know this doesn't make the best sense travel wise...

combining Crete and Santorini is not a problem.... adding Turkey and having to go to Samos etc makes the whole trip more complicated.
Do check also flights from Athens to Izmir ...( only via IST possible), might be the same price as Athens- Samos and then boat to Turkey...

Thanx Clausar!

Yeah - I know the Turkey part adds to the complexity:) I looked at the flights to both Izmir and Kayseri (thinking I could mix it up and just do Cappadocaia and then Ephesus) but they were ugly. I also thought about going straight to Crete from the states, then doing Santorini, then doing Athens, then going to Samos for the night and ferry the next day. Im a pretty good planner so that doesn't scare me - but wasting time and making bad decisions do. Never having been to Greece it is hard to decide where to go and for how long - everyone has opinions, everyone is different and all the information out there almost makes it harder!
If I take a fast boat to Santorini - thereby missing on the awesome view I understand - can we just take a boat trip once we are in Santorini? Due to our limited time in Crete, we would just focus on one part of the island and not try to see it all.

Ohhhh Clausar,

I did not realize that Pegasus flies from Athens to Izmir!

So maybe I suck it up on the first travel day and go straight to Crete, then Santorini, then Athens - then straight to Izmir!

Check www.skyexpress.gr for direct flights between Crete and Samos. Take note of the strict baggage allowances and know that these are small planes.

Thanx Brotherleelove2004 - BF WILL NOT get on a little plane! And knowing my shopping habit, our bags wont be allowed :)