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Greece and Istanbul
DH and I have a strong travel itch for 2012 and currently Greece and Istanbul are the front runners (other options contained combos of Machu Picchu, Croatia, Budapest, or Paris-all over the place, I know).
Has anyone recently done a trip of the Greek Islands (plus Athens) and Istanbul? I've been researching online but most of what I found was mid 2000s before all the civil unrest and whatnot. Our current plan is to fly Chicago to Istanbul, then fly within Turkey to get to the coast and take a ferry to Greece, take ferries to a couple islands and then fly out of Athens back to Chicago. Thoughts? How much time does each city/island need? Any must-sees or must-dos? We aren't super beach people so I'm also looking for what there is to do on the Greek Islands other than cafes/beach/wander. We're open to any and all suggestions and opinions on this trip. Currently we're looking at early August or late June/early July (I know, high season but it's best for our work schedules).
Also, I saw some of the recent Istanbul posts but for those who went, where else did you go other than Istanbul? We're considering skipping Greece but don't want to do two weeks in Istanbul and it seems too far from the other places we want to visit (I've already been to Romania).
Thank you!!
Re: Greece and Istanbul
I was in Greece (Athens and Naxos) in July. First, it is HOT then. But we enjoyed it, and you can make do.
Athens: I had 2 full days, I think. Enough time to briefly see ruins, do a food tour, and wander randomly a bit. I also did a day trip to Delphi, which was neat. That was enough time for me in Athens. I didn't like it, aside from the ancient stuff which is very cool. The riots were VERY fresh when I was there. The day before I arrived was when they burned up a McDonalds right in the center of town.
Naxos: A few days, I don't remember how long. We did a drive around the island for a day. It's neat to stop at whatever beach you want, and explore all over. The beach was too hot to sit in the sun (for me, but not for all the bright pink Germans, apparently!)
Overall, Greece wasn't my favorite place. The food was fantastic, so that helped. I'm glad I saw the ancient stuff, but the rest was take or leave. And given the political uncertainty, I wouldn't rush there. The austerity measures are only going to get worse, and in Athens you'll see the worst of it. The island seemed relatively unaffected.
Have you looked into the Cappadocia area in Turkey? We loved it there. This might be a good add on if you want to spent the entire two weeks in Turkey. We also visited Selcuk/Ephesus in Turkey as well. I think we had about a week in Istanbul, 4 nights in Cappadocia, and 3 nights in Selcuk.
We also visited Greece on this trip. We were there in the off season and it was difficult to get to a lot of the islands. So, we stayed more on the mainland. 3 nights in Athens, 2 nights on Hydra (an island close to Athens), and then 4-5 nights in the Peloponnese. At first we were disappointed that we couldn't make the islands work, but we ended up loving the Peloponnese.
ETA: I forgot to say this was in Nov/Dec 2009.
When I went to Istanbul, it was a trip focused on Turkey. I only had 10 days, and I really, really, really, really wanted to go to Cappadocia, so it was just Istanbul, a day in Ankara, and Cappadocia. Ankara wasn't that exciting if you're not into Turkish history, but Cappadocia was every bit as cool as I had hoped.
If we'd had more time, I would have also visited Ephesus and spent some time on the coast around Bodrum. I'd still love to do a Blue Cruise at some point, and Pamukkale is on my travel bucket list. With even more time, I'd also like to visit Lake Van and Mount Nemrut.
We did Greece and Turkey in 2009. I loved it though I would avoid Greece in August (unbearably hot, unbearably crowded). We were there in early June and it was wonderful (though the weather in Santorini could have been better).
We spent four days in Istanbul - I think that was a good amount of time. Check out the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the Grand Bazaar, the Basilica Cistern, do a river cruise, and wander the neighborhoods.
We flew from Istabul to Athens, then flew out to the islands. Plane tickets weren't any more expensive than the ferry and the 25-30 minute flight versus the 6-hour ferry to Santorini was a no brainer. In Santorini we stayed at the Remezzo Villas and I can't recommend them enough! Amazing - great location, great rooms, gorgeous view, incredible host.
I'd give yourself 3-4 days in Santorini if you want to relax. Add 2-3 days for Mykonos if you want to go there (or go to Crete) and don't try to move too fast. Santorini is the must visit - the rest will be nice but don't cut yourself short on time there (IMO).
Athens needs 1 full day: see the Acropolis, go to the museum, and get out of town. I didn't like Athens at all - gross, dirty, crowded, hot... not my type of city at all.
I was in Istanbul in July '10. I liked it, but didn't love it (too big/dirty for me, and yes I live in Napoli, so the irony of my gripes is not lost on me).
Anyway, I very much enjoyed my time in Ephesus-- beautiful and very relaxing.
I go to Greece fairly often for work (Athens and Crete). While the strikes and protests can mess with mass transit, which is a hassle, I can't say I ever personally felt unsafe (I was in Athens for the violent (2 people died) riots in Jul '10 and less violent, but destructive, Dec '10 demonstrations).
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<a href="http://s582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/hzswanson/?action=view
We were in Greece (Athens, Mykonos and Santorini) in September 2011.
We flew into Athens and spent one night. Toured the Acropolis (picture in my sig), had a couple amazing meals and then walked around the city.
The next day we flew to Mykonos. It was so beautiful and relaxing. Spent time at the pool, went to Mykonos town and did some shopping. We were there for 3 days. (the picture of the windmills in my sig is from Mykonos)
Then we took a ferry from Mykonos to Santorini (which was easy and fun). We stayed in Santorini for 5 days. We toured the island via ATV. Visited many of the wineries. Went to the black sand beach (we stayed in Kamari), went to Oia (picture in my sig) to see the sunset, had a bunch of amazing meals.
Then we flew back to Athens for one night, did some more shopping, dinner, etc. We did run into the problem that the metra was on strike the day we returned, so we had to take a bus or cab to our hotel.
We started in Italy for the first week and then went to Greece for the second week of our trip and my H and I hands down thought that Greece was better. Not that Italy was bad, but comparing the 2 we enjoyed Greece much more.
This is all very helpful--thanks again! We may try to switch our plans to Sept after hearing some other comments about July/August.
@amys325--how was it while you were there?
I assume you are asking about the weather? It was actually unseasonably hot in both Italy and Greece this past September (all the locals were telling us). It was cooler on the Islands then on the mainland though. A beautiful 75-80 degrees with a nice breeze.
The whole experience in Greece was amazing and we didn't even really think about all the economic issues until we experienced the train being on strike. Besides that it seemed norma.. I would go back in a heartbeat if we didn't already have so many other places that we wanted to go visit.