We are looking at flying into Istanbul from USA. We will spend some days in Turkey either on the front end or the back end or maybe both. Is it possible to travel into Greece from Turkey from the Island of Samos and ferry into the Islands of Paxos & Naxos? Is there another point of entry into the Greek Ferry network besides Samos? Any ideas for easily touring Greek Islands without having to fly to Athens......
Posted by
Istanbul
13 posts
You can check ferryhopper.com for ferries, it seems there are no direct ferries to Paros / Naxos, only to Mykonos / Syros. You could spend a few days in Syros and then head to Paros / Naxos if it's okay for you to island hop a bit. Haven't been there myself but I've heard only positive things about Syros from friends who have been there. They liked it more than Paros, being slightly cheaper and less crowded.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thanks for your reply. I am hoping to hear from others who might have travelled into Greece from Turkey. Interested to hear about the best parts of the Turkish Mediterranean.
Posted by
Centennial, CO, US
2129 posts
Take a look at the Ferry hopper website and you will see many places you can ferry from Turkey to Greece, and enter the Greek ferry network.
And then you'll need to search the Greek ferry system to figure out how/if you can get from the Greek island you initially landed at, to your island of choice. It can take a bit of research.
Kusadasi>Samos is one option that I've used. Samos is worth a few days, and you can easily ferry from there to Ikaria (the Blue Zone island) and/or Patmos. From Ikaria you could fly back to Athens. From Patmos you could ferry to tiny Lipsi or to Leros, and perhaps fly back to Athens from Leros.
Or you could use Marmaris>Rhodes. After Rhodes you could visit some of the islands of the Dodecanese by ferry (Symi, Tilos, Nisyros) , flying back to Athens from your final island (perhaps Kos or Leros). Nisyros is a fascinating tiny island, with an active (but not erupting) volcano that you can actually hike into. It's like walking on the moon, with the smell of sulfur and the steam coming from fumaroles. Symi has a gorgeous waterfront. Tilos is a haven for bird watchers.
Both of these options would be fairly easy, and would take you to some lovely, off-the-beaten-track islands. One thing I have learned in my years of visiting Greece is that every island has something beautiful, and memorable. Rather than designing a complicated itinerary to get to a specific island, visit those that are easily in reach.