Greece AND Turkey?

Without knowing what sort of traveller you are and where you want to go in each country it's not really going to be easy to advise you. In general, 2 weeks is the minimum amount of time you'd need to really delve into one country. But if you just want to scratch the surface and say, 'been there, done that' then I suppose you can do it. Flying is best (and ideal) and there are airfare sales that will take you from Athens to the Greek islands. Sign up for the Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air email newsletters and they'll inform you a couple of months in advance of the cheap fares for the dates in question. Think in terms of flying into Athens and home out of Istanbul. This is called an "open jaw" ticket. Fly from Athens to one of the Greek islands that's got ferry service to one of the Turkish coastal port towns, then proceed to wherever it is in Turkey you want to go, ending up in Istanbul for your flight home. The Greek islands with ferry service to Turkey include Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Rhodes. Study a map to get oriented. You will not find any plane or ferry schedules available now for next year. You'll have to wait several months for that.

Hi Ellen, Lee, I am planning for the same trip for me and my wife. I like to spend one week in Istanbul and two to three weeks in Greece. Three nights in Athens and rest in the islands. I plan on booking the flight with Expedia and buy the individual tour packet from Greeka.com for the Greece part of the tour. The individual tour packet include hotel rooms, airport or ferry transfer, ferry ticket. That will save me a lot of time for doing the research for transportation each island. Do you think it is a good idea? How about Greeka.com, room, prices, service? ( plan to buy 3 stars hotel)
Thank you for you advices, very appreciated!

I just spent time this summer in both and only had 13 days as I was taking my 10 year old grandson. We spent 5 days in Istanbul (loved it) then flew to Athens (Olympic Air for 2 $500 round trip) Spent two days in Athens, then took a bus to nafplio (per suggestions here) and fell in love with it, then bus back to Athens and flew back to Istanbul for one last day there. Open jaw would have been better, but not possible for us. We only did that small part of Greece, but it was really important to him that we go, so we now have a taste of both Turkey & Greece and may return someday.

Ellen,
Following Lee's advice, one possible scenario would be to fly into Athens and spend 4 or 5 nights, taking a day trip to Aegina or Hydra, and possibly another to Delphi, depending on your interests. From Athens, fly to Samos for 3 nights. Take the ferry to Ephesus, and then make your way through Turkey to Istanbul. Two weeks is not long, but this would give you a taste of both countries.

I vote for both Greece and Turkey. As was mentioned it depends upon what your goals are in traveling. If it is to go to a location and repose, pick one country. If it is to to see as much as possible, go to two countries. It will take some logistic planning for the two countries; bus quite do-able!