Turkey/Greece?

87911jon · 87911jon's Garage

We're just starting to plan a vacation, curious if anyone on this board has done what we'd like to do. We'd like to fly to Istambul, spend a week driving down the coast and then take a ferry to some beautiful semi-remote Greek island, stay for a week, ferry to Athens and fly home. I've started searching the web, but what we'd like to do is not standard.

MRM · 02-10-2008, 06:17 PM

My uncle was stationed in Turkey in the 70s and drove that route for family vacations regularly. He had an old VW bus and stopped by the side of the road if there wasn't anything better around. He loved it. He was in Greece during one of the coups. His main complaint was that the tanks tied up traffic until the second day when they learned to drive single file on the roads and let cars pass in the other lane.

Sounds like the trip of a lifetime. I think that's a pretty doable trip if you're a little adventurous and doesn't require much advance planning. I think if you got your air tickets in order, a rental van, and some gear, you could almost show up and drive where the wind took you and have a great time. If you wanted something a little more set, just set targets for how far you want to be each day and have a list of hotels in the area that you can go to when you get there. It's a pretty tourist friendly area, I don't think you need everything set in stone before you go.

Bill Douglas · 02-10-2008, 06:19 PM

The Greek islands are very easy to get around by ferry and public transport. Even the popular ones like Paros Naxos Mykinos Santorini (spelling) have quiet places to stay if you are looking for the semi-remote thing. Santorini is very lovey-dovey couples place, wheres Mykinos is perfect bodies on the beach and the other islands are anything in between. Food and accomodation are reasonably cheap too. I haven't been to Turkey but I believe it's the sort of place to be on your best behaviour.

evren · 02-11-2008, 01:35 AM

Hi there, I'd be happy to help out with any logistics or destination advice. I live in Istanbul, and my brother lives in Athens, so we have lots of contacts both in Turkey and Greece. Your trip is definitely doable - we try to get the families together every summer, and usually alternate between various Greek islands and Turkish coastal towns. My email address is evren (at) turkven (dot) com. best, Evren

RoninLB · 02-11-2008, 05:31 AM

I did 10 days on a tour group doing the Greek islands in a 150' boat. I've done a few different tours and the islands were worth it. The crowd was mostly England, Australia, and a few US.

Jim Garfield · 05:42 AM

I would suggest first going up to the Black Sea for a few days and then working your way down the coast to Kushadasi and taking the ferry to Samos. There is a lot to see between Istanbul and Kushadasi, everything from fortresses built by the crusaders, to the amazing Roman ruins at Ephesus. Samos used to be a sleepy little island where Pythagorus lived, and from there it's pretty easy to get to Athens or different islands. I haven't been back to this area for years and I'm sure that it is more developed now, but it's beautiful and I'm sure you would enjoy the trip. Hmmm, you've got me thinking about going back.

You'll be pleasantly surprised by the food in Turkey - by far the best I've ever eaten.

Palum6o · Palum6o's Garage

I travel to Bulgaria every year and spend at least a week along the eastern coast on the Black Sea. There is an airport in Bourgas you could fly into, there are several nice towns along the coast like Sunny Beach and Nesebar, you could work your way down from there. Bulgaria is nice because your money goes really far and the people are really nice. The women are absolutely beautiful too. I thought I heard something about a major oil spill near Turkey so you may want to look into that if you plan on visiting the coast.

pwd72s · 02-11-2008, 10:41 AM

I strongly suggest you accept Evren's kind offer of help. Should you visit his home in Istanbul? Please say hi to my old car...

72doug2,2S · 72doug2,2S's Garage

The best nude beaches are on Rhodes, does that help?

More seriously, I was in Turkey Ephesus for the day. I felt safe while on tour with our guide Gingus, but after our tour we were mobbed by every traveling salesman at Ephesus and at the port. The ruins are much more accessible than in Athens. My kids were climbing all over them and no one said boo. Not so in Greece, my wife got yelled at in Athens for sitting Indian style on a bench, not proper I guess. In Turkey, we bought a nice rug, but I have to say I was uneasy there, unlike Greece. Thoughts of Midnight Express were pretty vivid.

The Cretean ruins at Knossos were really cool, but visually Santorini is stunning.

pwd72s · 02-11-2008, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 72doug2,2S

The best nude beaches are on Rhodes, does that help?

More seriously, I was in Turkey Ephesus for the day. I felt safe while on tour with our guide Gingus, but after our tour we were mobbed by every traveling salesman at Ephesus and at the port. The ruins are much more accessible than in Athens. My kids were climbing all over them and no one said boo. Not so in Greece, my wife got yelled at in Athens for sitting Indian style on a bench, not proper I guess. In Turkey, we bought a nice rug, but I have to say I was uneasy there, unlike Greece. Thoughts of Midnight Express were pretty vivid.

The Cretean ruins at Knossos were really cool, but visually Santorini is stunning.

This is funny...when I was there, 1980, cruising aboard a friend's sailboat, I had the opposite impression. It was the greek merchants who tried to screw me on the exchange rate, the Turks were very honest. Midnight Express fears? I was nervous at first, but I wasn't into buying drugs...dig? When overseas we need to keep in mind that our USA constitutional rights do not apply.

Oh...we left Turkey on Sept. 12, 1980...they had a little coup going on. Once back in Rhodes, a Turkish Yachtsman explained to me why the coup was good for Turkey.