Traveling Europe
 

I am planning to travel to Europe at the very beginning of 2003, if not sooner, and am looking for information. I was thinking about starting my trip in Ankara, Turkey or ending it there. (I have freinds there.) Does anyone know what the best travel routes to take through Europe are, how much it would cost to travel for a few months, and where I could find information about these things and more. I am a US citizen living in the USA. Any help would be appreciated.<BR> Sincerely,<BR> Tom Fox<BR> USA

Hi Tom, you didn't give us very much information to be able to help you. What are your interests, museums, major cities, countryside etc. What countries do you want to visit?. Narrow down your question a little bit so we can better help you. I suggest hitting the library and check out some books on the countries you are interested. I've been to over 20 countries and they all have something to offer.

I'm glad you asked. I'm thinking of buying a house. Could you tell me how you buy one or find out about them? How much does one cost? What is the best one to buy? Where should it be?<BR>Now ask yourself if your question is even as specific as this one.

I am often a critic of badly asked questions - - and this one is not really all that badly asked. I have never been to Turkey - - and I suspect that few people on this board have done much OVERland travel between Turkey and other parts of Europe. But it seems to me that the question is not at all unreasonable when viewed in the context of "what are the pros and cons of the various routes into/out of Turkey to other parts of Europe?"<BR><BR>Just off the top of my head, there are four obvious routes:<BR><BR>by train - - there are two basic routes to the rest of Europe - - to Thessaloniki (and then onward to other points in Greece), or to Sofia (Bulgaria); from there, there are choices to Belgrade and Bucharest (quite indirectly). I never see anyone talk about traveling in nor through Belgrade, but it does connect to Zagreb or Budapest.<BR><BR>by car - - I can't begin to speak about this; presumably the roads offer the same choices as the rails.<BR><BR>by sea - - there is ferry service from Cesme (near Izmir) to Venice and Brindisi, and there must be various routes to Greece.<BR><BR>by air - - not sure about low cost choices; www.go-fly.co.uk does not fly to Greece nor Turkey; the closest you can get on www.europebyair.com is to various points in Greece - - including Mytilene (on the island of Lesvos) - - but I'm not sure how get from there to Turkey.<BR><BR>Hope this contains some info you can use in some way.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

To me, Tom's post makes complete sense. Don't forget that what he is willing to do is the original Orient Express route ( well, not quite, since Tom is thinking of Ankara and not Istanbul..). What a great trip, from London to Venice, and from there to Istanbul or vice -versa...<BR><BR>Regards,<BR><BR>S

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