suggested order for itinerary for mid-to late october travel in Greece (and Ephesus guide ?)

Posted by marmorboys on 06/03/26 06:42 PM

We're arriving mid-October in Greece and plan to see Athens/ Rhodes and Samos - with a a one day side trip to Ephesus.

Since we land in Athens I was going to spend 3 days there first before moving on, but I heard some of the Islands start to close up in October. Should we head out to the Islands first?

Does it matter which order Samos or Rhodes?

And, does anyone know a good tour guide for Ephesus?
Someone who could meet us at Kusadasi and take us to see the ruins and hopefully guide us through quick tour of the port city before we headed back for the day.

I know that we'll lose an hour of daylight towards the end of our trip as the clocks fall back on October 25th.

thanks for the feedback

Posted by JoLui

France Southwest - Occitanie

06/03/26 08:38 PM

4058 posts

Rhodes is one of the most touristy islands in Greec, there’s barely an off-season.

In October 2025, Rhodes Airport saw 320,000 international arrivals and 40,000 domestic passengers. Over 60,000 cruise passengers are expected in Rhodes in October 2026 ...and that’s not even counting ferry arrivals.

Samos is also a very popular tourist island.

The islands don't just shut down, people live there, and normal life goes on year-round. People go to work, kids go to school, and families go out to restaurants, tourists or not. So you have absolutely nothing to worry about, on the contrary, you should be glad you're going in October when you'll get to enjoy fewer crowds.

In my opinion, whether you visit Samos or Rhodes first doesn't really matter.

Note that the Greek airline Sky Express operates direct flights between Samos and Rhodes (both ways) on Mondays and Wednesdays. On other days, you’ll need to take a ferry. Most of the time, this involves a connection on an intermediate island like Kos, Kalymnos, or somewhere else. It’s at least a 6-hour crossing.

Posted by Slate

Virginia

06/05/26 11:40 AM

903 posts

I don't know about day trip travel between Greece and Ephesus, as my day trip there was by air from Istanbul, and it's worthwhile of course however you get there, but that will be a long day. By "quick tour of the port city" do you mean Kusadasi? I haven't been there but for something in addition to the ruins themselves if you have time, I would suggest prioritizing Selcuk, the very pleasant town near the ruins, which has the interesting museum of artifacts from the site as well as a market. Be careful of replies recommending a guide as there is at least one operating in that area who regularly posts fake reviews enthusiastically recommending himself on this forum.

Posted by CharleneB

Colorado

06/05/26 02:29 PM

2394 posts

It has been years since we visited Ephesus from Samos, but I remember it being an amazing day. We purchased tickets at one of the travel agencies near the port — which included ferry tickets to Kusadasi, where our little group (10 people?) were met by a guide and taken by small bus to Ephesus (maybe 30 minutes away), and guided through the site. We had some time on our own to wander, then returned to the bus, back to Kusadasi where we visited a carpet shop, wandered a bit more and then ferried back to Samos late that afternoon.

If you can find a private guide to meet you at the dock in Kusadasi, you might be able to avoid the carpet stop, although some people found it interesting.