Two travelers in their 60s seeking Recommendations

Munich is easy to reach from Istanbul.

Have they been to Europe before? If so, where?

Given their interests a stay in Crete would be perfect for them. The weather should be pleasant and not to hot for hiking in the gorges for which Crete is known. Their other interests are well catered for with the ancient Minoan sites of Knossos and Phaestos (and many others), and the Roman city of Gortys. Modern and military history is covered by the battle of Crete in WWII; the small but excellent exhibit in the Martime Museum in Chania covers this very well. Aptera, close to Chania, provides glimpses of Cretan history from the Minoans and Mycenians, the Romans, the Venetians, the Ottomans, and WWII to the post-war upheavals when a Venetian fortress was used to house political prisoners. Chania would be a good base for them with a couple of days in Heraklion to visit the wonderful archaeological museum and Knossos.

All of Europe is just a series of historical events, artistic or scientific creations, military exploits, naval battles and wars, for hundreds of years.

Greece is one of them and not only with the ancient periods or its philosophers. For your dad, Greece has the advantage of mixing naval history with ancient and modern history.

If you choose Greece you will have to avoid some islands since you do not like large crowds of tourists, but that's another story...

Thank you Lesley for the recommendations- Will pass them along!

They have been to Europe many times before- all over. They have done Italy several times but love it there so would be open to going back. They have been to Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, and Montenegro. They have not yet made it to Greece or Albania and I know those two destinations hold some interest.

I was thinking a trip through Greece, to Albania for a few days and then a ferry to the south of Italy?

Lesley’s suggestion of Crete was my first thought, too. We visited Crete in October 2019, and spent two whole weeks just on Crete. We hiked several places, including the famous Samaria Gorge, but note that that gorge gets closed for the season sometime in early October. Depending on exactly when the rain season hits in a year, and flood danger rises exponentially for the Samaria Gorge, rangers shut it down. Other gorges, like the Gorge of the Dead by Kato Zakros, remain open. Crete wasn’t nearly as busy as mainland Greece when we visited.

Albania, haven’t been. Italy in October is wonderful - have gone twice in the past three years, but not by ferry. Like Crete, we’ve had incredibly fierce thunderstorms in Italy in October.