We are considering taking the Turkey in 13 day tour . Could someone who has taken it tell us about the end of the tour ending in Kusadasi and how convenient or otherwise it is to catch a flight back to the US. What are our transportation options and does the guide help you with the options?
Also is mid September a good choice as to timing? TIA
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
In Kusadasi you can see Greek island Samos. That's where we went by ferry and then to other islands: Mykonos and Santorini. Then to Athens. If you want to fly to US you probably have to go to at least Izmir then fly to Istanbul then to US if I still remember it correctly. Guide was very helpful and knowledgeable and I am sure he/she (in our case he) will find the best option for you. We went at the end of October and it was still warm. I think mid September will be warm maybe even hot.
Posted by
SF Bay Area, CA, USA
508 posts
Pat - We're going on the Turkey tour in September. I have found that you can easily get to Istanbul, London, Amsterdam, Athens and some German airports on direct flights from Izmir. On the last morning of the tour, the tour bus will take people to the Izmir airport and they suggest to schedule a flight after 11am. When I called Rick's office they said to book flights in advance, but if going to Samos, the guide would coordinate and the ferry company would pick you up at the hotel.
We also considered taking the bus to Bodrum (about 2 hours) and then visit Bodrum. From there, there are flights to Istanbul and all over Europe.
We decided to take the Turkish Air flight nonstop from Izmir to Athens to spend a few days. From there we fly back to London for another two day stopover.
It was a little time consuming, but we researched the flight options out of Izmir and Bodrum airports by looking for the flight information on the airport websites. We checked Kayak.com for the fares as well as the individual airline websites. We then coordinated our stopovers and researched every available flight option - round trip, multi-city, open jaw, and separate tickets. In researching fares, it came out much cheaper for us to do a round trip to London and then purchase our European flights on British Airways and Turkish Air directly from the airline. We're waiting to book our nonstop London flight and the prices just came down $200 this week. We usually book our London flights about 3 months in advance if not using miles. We will end up with a 4.5 hour layover in London, but we did that to have enough time - for the money we are each saving it wasn't an issue.
Posted by
OP
cochranville, pa, usa
322 posts
Thank you so much Julie. You have been so helpful . I feel I can now get on with our plans. We were stumped and afraid the return home would be very complicated and exhausting. Who knows maybe we'll be on the same tour. We're leaning towards the Sept. 11 tour but need to get our ducks in a row. Thanks again.
Thanks for your input also Ilja.