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Itinerary Help

Posted by on

I have thrown together a rough itinerary for a trip to Greece and Turkey in September. I think I will be traveling by myself. I am a 26 year old male.

  • 17th of September (Saturday). Arriving in Athens early afternoon.
  • 18th. Full day touring Athens.
  • 19th. Half day Athens. Fly to Santorini in afternoon.
  • 20th. Full day relaxing in Santorini.
  • 21st. Fly back to Athens around noon. Then fly to Samos.
  • 22nd. Ferry to Patmos in the morning. Ferry back to Samos and on to Kusadasi, Turkey in evening. Not sure where to spend the night this evening.
  • 23rd. Tour Ephesus. Fly to Istanbul in evening. (Or stay at same place I stay evening of 22nd and head to Istanbul in morning)
  • 24th. Full day Istanbul.
  • 25th. Full day Istanbul.
  • 26th Fly home in morning.

I may take one of the full days in Istanbul away and spend an extra day in Athens at the beginning of the trip.

Will this be too much moving around? Should I skip Patmos? Spend more time in Greece or Turkey?

Posted by
1924 posts

I haven't been to any of the places on your itinerary, so I can't comment on them. But I've made a number of solo trips to Europe, so I can offer some thoughts in general.

First, it sounds amazing! What a great trip!

Personally, though, I would not want to sleep in 5 or 6 different places on a nine-night trip. Also, of your ten days, 6 of them are travel days; only four days of staying put!

If you have the stamina and aren't concerned about spending so much of your vacation on the go, then don't change anything. But don't be surprised if you wish for more days like the 20th and fewer like the 22nd.

It would be hard for anyone, even if they've been to these places, to offer much advice on how to streamline your itinerary without knowing more about what you want to see and do in all these places. Why did you decide on the specific places on this itinerary? You have three Aegean islands -- what is the distinct allure of each of them?

Posted by
28057 posts

I wouldn't want to move that fast, but you are young. I will say that I wouldn't do 3 such very quick island stops. I like to have time to see more than the touristy port towns, which means hopping on a bus and going cross-island. Your schedule isn't going to permit you to see much more than the port and a beach on each island.

As for time in Athens vs. time in Istanbul: I wouldn't increase the Athens time at the expense of Istanbul. Athens has the classical sites and some worthwhile museums if you're interested in antiquities, but it's not the sort of city many people really want to linger in. It's crowded, noisy, and mostly very modern. I found Istanbul, as a city, far more interesting.

Posted by
4 posts

Thanks for the advice. It is a lot of moving around. I think I'm ok with that much travel. However, I don't like packing and unpacking and carrying luggage around.

The trip to Patmos is to see the cave where John wrote Revelations. I would be going to Samos only as a way to get to Patmos. I don't know of any other way of getting to Patmos. I only need to spend a few hours on Patmos but it does take a few days of travel to arrive there.

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