Santorini to Rhodes -- How?!
 

We are traveling to Greece in Sept /07. We arrive in Athens, see a couple of islands, and (somehow?!) end up in Istanbul.

Right now we are thinking:
Athens
Santorini
Rhodes
??
Istanbul

- What is the best way to get from Santorini to Rhodes? it looks like there is limited ferry service but it's rediculously long? Is it unreasonable to try to do these two islands together?
- If we end up on Rhodes, anyone know the best way to get to Istanbul? I see there are ferries to port cities in Turkey, though then it's a matter of figuring out how to get to Istanbul from there (we're willing to throw in an overnight somewhere else in Turkey). Other option to travel back to athens and fly over? Other options?

Thanks in advance, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of these timetables!

Sky Express has direct flights between Santorini and Rhodes, but they also have very strict and limited baggage allowances.

www.skyexpress.gr

The ferries are few and far between, no more than two per week. Check with Blue Star Ferries and Lane Lines. Also check with
http://www.openseas.gr/OPENSEAS/index_en.vm.

There is hydrofoil and, I think, regular ferry service between Rhodes and Marmaris, Turkey. The hydrofoil runs twice a day- once in the early morning and once in the late afternoon. From Marmaris, you can take a cab to an airport about 30 minutes away, and fly from there to Istanbul. Just so you know, the hydrofoil takes about an hour. We just took this trip- very easy!

Why don't you just check Aegean Airlines' website and see if they have a flight from Rodos to Istanbul? If not, just fly from Rodos to Athina then hop on a plane to Istanbul.

It only takes one hour to fly from Rodos to Athina.

Ferries are a waste of time in my opinion. And you have to carry your own luggage around. Blech.

Where are you staying on Rodos? The Old Town? New Town? Lindos? Faliraki?

Thingorjus

Thanks for the insights everyone! I'll check on the flights, although maybe a little more $$, it may save us time. I also wasn't aware of the airport 30 min. from Marmaris, this is helpful to know.

I am not sure where to stay on Rhodes (I've been pretty pre-ocuppied trying to figure out the logistics hopping between islands). Although we will want to check out the beaches while we're there, any hiking, general sight-seeing, people watching at cafes are all of interest too. Any suggestions on favorite places??

I think Marginal is right. It might be easier and shorter timewise to fly back to Athens then connect through to Istanbul.

In Rhodes, we stayed at RODOS PARK HOTEL AND SUITES, just outside the gates of the Old Town. We loved the hotel and found it very convenient to most of the sightseeing we wanted to do. The hotel is also within walking distance of a long ( though not very beautiful) public beach.

We flew from Santorini to Athens to Rhodes. Sounds complicated but was not and the flights were very short.
We had been warned about the strict baggage requirements and although I got a few "looks" from the agents they overlooked a few excess pounds "extra wine bottles". We stayed at Apollo Guest House on Rhodes which was lovely, reasonable and very hospitable and inside the Old Town. I found that many of the larger places would not let for less than a week which was very annoying.
http://www.apollo-touristhouse.com/

Not only does Aegean Airlines NOT have a flight from Rhodes to Istanbul they don't even have a flight from Athens to Istanbul. You would have to fly back to Athens and then fly with either Turkish Airlines or Greece's Olympic Airlines.

But from Rhodes, as has been suggested, you can take a Turkish ferry to Bodrum, Marmaris or Fethiye and proceed from there to Istanbul by bus or plane.

www.ankertravel.net/ferry.asp

After reading all of your responses (thank you!!) and doing a little more research, it looks like we'll resort to flying...alot.

Athens > Santorini [fly/ferry TBD but both are options]
Santorini > Rhodes [SkyExpress direct flight - 1 hour]
Rhodes > Istanbul [Aegean to Athens, Olympic to Istanbul - 5 hours at best]

I am still trying to understand the details of taking the ferry from Rhodes to Turkey. Once we get to the port cities there, we could either take a bus (12 hours!) or fly from Izmar, however, I don't know how we'd get to Izmar and don't understand yet if this would save us any more time than flying back to Athens?

I apologize if I was unclear before. From Rhodes you would take the ferry to Marmaris, Fethiye or Bodrum, and from these you don't have to take a bus to Izmir, you can fly right to Istanbul on one of several Turkish airline companies: http://www.itravelnet.com/airlines/a...of-turkey.html

Unfortunately, the ferry/hydrofoil schedules from Rhodes to port cities in Turkey are a little complicated. The ferries to Bodrum only run on certain days of the week, and may stop in Kos ( Greek Island) before reaching Bodrum.

The hydrfoil that we took this July runs twice a day, as I posted before- once in the AM and once in the late afternoon.

All of these schedules vary according to time of year, but this is what I found for this past summer's summer service.

There are airports near Marmaris ( I think it's called Dalkan?) and Bodrum, from which I think you can fly to Istanbul. No need to go to Izmir, which is about a 4-hour drive from Marmaris, 2.5 hour drive from Bodrum.

We made some of our travel arrangements with ANKER TRAVEL, a Turkish travel agency based in Kusadisi. I would highly recommend them, or you can check out other reputable agents on: Turkishtravelplanner.com, a wonderful resource for all kinds of info about Turkey. Any of these agents should be able to provide you with ferry/hydrofoil schedules, as well as available flights to Istanbul. Good luck!

Sorry for the typos! Just wanted to clarify that the twice-daily hydrofoil service I mentioned is from Rhodes to Marmaris.

I honestly don't understand why you just can't fly from Athina to Istanbul. So what if you have to fly Turkish Airlines. I have flown with them and they are fine. Why waste time trying to figure out ferry and bus schedules? (I would rather drink hemlock than spend 12 hours on a bus.)

Who cares about the cost?? You are on holiday. 10 years from now you won't remember the cost, but you will remember the extra time you had to see the Harem at the Topkapi Palace.

PS You should read my trip reports on Istanbul. They are entitled <Turkey in the Straw: Thingorjus Sleeps in
Istanbul> and <Move Over Zagat's: Thingorjus Eats Turkey>. Do a search on this forum to find them.

The Great and Powerful THingorjus

Is your itinerary flexible? If it is, you could:

Fly to Istanbul
Fly to the airport near Marmaris ( which is something like Dalkan)
Taxi straight to the port for the late afternoon hydrofoil, thereby avoiding a night in one of the most charmless ports I've ever visited, aka Marmaris)
Hydrofoil to Rhodes
Fly Rhodes-Santorini on SKYEXPRESS
Fly Santorini-Athens on AEGEAN

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. We have decided to fly from Rhodes to Athens on Agean, then connect to an Olympic flight to Istanbul.

Our connection time is one hour. We will need to pick up our Olympic ticket at the counter. I am assuming this will be enough time, but i'd love to hear thoughts if anyone thinks different.

Thanks again!

Aegean is the most on-time airline I have ever flown. Athens Airport is also extremely easy to navigate. It is NOTHING like JFK/Heathrow/O'Hare. Luggage comes out fast.

The weather should be great all of September, so you have that in your favor.

Oh, wait. I just saw that you are flying Olympic to Istanbul. Don't worry you will have plenty of time because the Olympic flight won't take off on time. Expect at least an hour delay. Maybe 7 because they won't have a flight crew available.

I would have chosen Turkish Air.

Marginal is absolutely right! We've had nightmarish delays with Olympic. Any chance you can change the ticket to Turkish or is it too late?