I'm planning a trip to Greece that will include about 5-6 days in the Dodecanese. I'm planning on flying from Athens since Aegean air is so cheap--probably to Kos, then flying back to Athens from Samos. Somewhere during this time, I'd like to make it to Patmos. Can anyone advise me as to feasiblity of this with ferry schedules, etc. as well as whether it is possible to do Samos-Ephesus-Samos in a day? Any other advice about this region would be much appreciated. I've done mainland Greece, Crete and Santorini but this will be my first experience island hopping in a short amount of time.
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3141 posts
Go to this website:
http://www.openseas.gr/OPENSEAS/index_en.vm
Choose Kos in the "from" and Patmos in the "to" dropdown menu and then enter your travel dates to see what will be available. Be advised that summer schedules for 2009 won't be available until at least April or May, but if you use the calendar function to backtrack to this last summer's schedule on your travel date you will get an idea of what to expect next year.
Samos>Ephesus>Samos is a common daily organized excursion you can arrange once you've reached Samos. More than likely it will mean spending at least one night on Samos to catch the morning ferry across to Turkey. If you want to do it all on your own you will take a morning ferry across to Kusadasi, then either a taxi or bus to Ephesus and then a return to Kusadasi for the ferry back to Samos. These ferries are limited so you will need to plan carefully so you don't miss the return ferry.
Posted by
OP
Atlanta, GA, USA
87 posts
Lee,
Thanks very much. About how many hours would you recommend allowing for Ephesus (I'm a latin teacher so obviously this is the kind of thing that interests me; err on the side of too much :))? Thanks!
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3141 posts
I think I spent a total of about 5 hours wandering around over two different days (stayed nearby for some days). I don't think I covered it all but I certainly saw a lot. That was several year ago. I believe there might be more open to public view now. It's possible that your time will be limited by the return ferry schedule. I hope you enjoy it, Ephesus is amazing!