syl

Please advise which islands (middle aged couple),best value hotels, and suggested sea travel from isle to isle considering that we would like to end in Istanbul.Max time of trip to be 2 weeks. Any great cruises suggested that aren't too pricey.Thanks.

elaine

Hi<BR>You might want to take a look at www.greektravel.com<BR>It has a lot of info regarding pros and cons of each island, and suggests some itineraries.<BR>Beyond that, do a search here on<BR>Greece or Greek Islands--you will find many suggestions and tips.<BR>There is a separate message board on Fodor's.com for cruises.<BR>good luck

amy

I just did a bunch of the same research for our trip in June. Two major things I learned: most of the American cruise ships (even short-term ones) pulled out of the Greece/Turkey area right after 9/11-don't know when they may be re-entering. The second issue goes hand in hand, because of this, the only major cruise ships sailing these areas are Greek ships which, according to posters on the cruise boards and folks I have spoken to, are not even as nice as a floating Motel 6. There is one sailing charter, I think called GPSC, out of Philly that is still there, but they are a little pricier.<BR><BR>Good luck.

Wayne

You can't really go to the "best" 3 Greek islands and still get to Istanbul on the same cruise, to the best of my knowledge. You can certainly take boat trips, ticketed one at a time, and work your way from Athens, island by island, visiting some interesting islands on the way, but not necessarily the 3 "best" as considered by most travelers. For a day trip from Athens, go to the little-known but most charming of all the islands, Idra. It is a short cruise, less than an hour, just outside the bay from Athens. But to work your way toward Istanbul, I would suggest you select your islands and then take a boat to get there, rather than a cruise. My choice of the 3 islands more or less on the way to Istanbul would be: Andros, Skyros, and Limnos.

Sandy

Hi - We are going on a 10-nt yacht charter in September. We have a pre and post night in Athens, and then fly to Samos....sail to Kusadasi, Kos, Nysirros, Simi (my favorite), Rhodes, Santorini, Paros, Naxos, Mykonos and end in Tinos. Air is included from the East Coast, as are most meals, etc. We paid $2600 and feel this is a wonderful deal to a great selection of islands. Yacht is quite nice with all cabins having their own bath and shower plus an internet cafe!! You could probably catch a flight to Istanbul from Rhodes or another island (via Athens)to Istanbul if you didn't want to do all 10-nts. Email me if you are interested, and I'll give you more info.<BR>I booked it with a travel agent in Florida.

Jerald

Check Viking Cruises or Royal Olympic, they both have a web site.