Samos Hotel & getting to Ephesus Sept 9-11
 

We will be in Samos from Sept 9 - Sept 11 - we would like to stay at a nice place off the beaten track but also book our ferry to Turkey for the following day to see Ephesus
Any suggestions>>

Do you want to stay convenient to the port?? If so, Hotel Pythagoras in Samos Town (Vathy), about 400 yards to the left of the pier as u face inland... in town but right on the water, a tiny beach below your balcony ... small family hotel, VERY reasonable, google it, tell Stelios that Jant from PHiladelphia sent you...

If you want to stay "off the beaten track" you should consider car rental the bus system mainly covers the main tourist places. You could check Limniona Beach area in S.W. Crete very low key -- Studios Joanna is VERY highly spoken of, google it. If no car & you just want to stay put you could get there by bus ... goes a roundabout way, takes about an hour.

Thanks Travelerjan! How do we book the boat and tour of Ephesus? Also, should we do a day tour of Patmos or should we stay there? Also, what islands can you go to from Patmos?
Thank you in advance

We were in Samos two years ago and had a wonderful stay at the Kerveli Village Hotel. You would need a car for the pretty drive to Kerveli Bay. We had a suite with a balcony overlooking a garden with bougainvillea, the bay, and Turkey in the distance. From the hotel we walked down to the water where there were two tavernas with wonderful food. This brings back very pleasant memories. Our room was only 80 Euros a night.....probably more now. Check their reviews on tripadvisor. You will love Samos. It was our favorite Greek island we went to.....very laid back and non-touristy. We only saw one tour bus when we were there. We'd love to go back.

BOOKING -- The ISTA Travel Agency just at the Vathy (Samos Town) pier is EXCELLENT, handles all the excursions explains Everything!

Not clear exactly y our timetable; do you have Sept 9-10-11, and THEN the day tour to Ephesus? If so, Day 9 can be exploring around Samos Town (GREAT little museum) & maybe a swim, at the wee beach I mentioned. And wlk up above town to Ano Vathy, magical views of the whole bay, and nobody around, no sounds but occsional donkey or rooster. day 10 can be Patmos, Day 11, rent a little car and swoop all over western Samos. Day 12 - Ephesus.

EPHESUS --Day tour to Ephesus is OK -- the only drawback is that the tour guide/bus wants to pull you away from the site & take you to a Rug Merchant, and a Mall full of Trinkets. You can bring along water & a packed lunch and REFUSE, and make the bus pick u up at the Ephesus site AFTER the above commercial detour... this will give you much more time on site, so you can see such things as the ancient theatres. (Don't bother with the purported "house of The Virgin" it's a scam on the devout). If you want toge the most out of Ephesus, read up before, print out from INternet on sites such as this
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/ephesus
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/t...ite-layout.htm

PATMOS -- a day excursion is also worthwhile, I did it ... you should know that you can see the Monastery etc up high in about an hour.... and then you have about 4 hours for lunch and hanging out before the excursion boat leaves... I'd suggest u wear your swimsuit under your clothes & get a taxi to a local beach to eat & bathe, rather than sitting in the port as we did (one of our party was low-energy).

MOVING ON -- you ask, what Islands can you go to from Patmos? You are not clear my dear, are you planning to return to Athens after being in this area, or do you plan to keep on going to additional Island groups?? If that is the case, then you should do the Ephesus day tour as Day 2, and do Patmos when you are able to move on. Why?? Because the "hop" to Patmos -- either by the daily excursion boat, or by regular ferry (tho not daily) enables you to jump from on Island Group (N.E. Aegean) to the next big group - the Dodecanse. From Patmos you can ferry all dow the line to Tilos, Kos and of Course the biggie Rhodes. But you do not share fully enough to enable advising. If you want more, you have to tell your plans in full. We are good at this stuff but mind-reading is not among our skills! :-)

Thanks Travelerjan

We did the same trip earlier this summer. We stayed in Ireon for 2 nights, which we LOVED. Nice little port and beach that was really charming. You can walk to the archeological site there as well. Sounds like something you may like as "off the beaten path" which was exactly what we we looking for. We stayed at Pension Galini. www.galini-samos-ireon.com Small rooms, but highly recommended. Great hosts.

The morning bus got us to Samos Town in time for the ferry to Turkey in the morning. We booked tickets beforehand online at http://www.feribot.net/index.php and picked them up in the morning right before boarding the ferry. I would not bother with a tour. If you have a good tour book (photocopy the relevant sections from your library's copy), you'll be fine. Do NOT miss the Terrace Houses, which may of the tours skip. They were phenomenal and a nice respite from the crowds. Well worth the extra money. We took a bus from the port to Ephesus directly. Well worth the little extra time as the taxis were a total rip off--even with haggling.