hello ~ we are flying to Athens on April 14 (arrival on 15th) and leave Athens on April 27. We are trying to figure out an itinerary and was wondering if it is logical to spend a couple nights in Athens, then rent a car and drive up towards macedonia, then over through to Istanbul Turkey, then down to Ephesus, then over to Santoini for 2 nights, then back to Athens to fly out, staying in different places as we go obviously. Is that Realistic? Are there decent roads for travel? Does anyone have a different itinerary that might work? We just arent picky, but want to see whatever we can, and we really want to go to Santorini for 2 nights and stay our last night in Athens for airport travel convenience reasons. Thanks for your help!! gina
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3149 posts
As far as I know there are no car ferries from Ephesus/Kusadasi or any other Turkish port, for that matter, to the Greek islands. And if there were, there are no routes from those Greek islands with connections to and from Turkey other than from Rhodes and Kos, to Santorini. This means you'd have to drive all the way south past Ephesus to Marmaris or Bodrum to catch this "ghost" ferry to Rhodes. Sorry, it's just not possible.
With only 2 weeks it'll be difficult to accomplish, but consider flying to Istanbul, then taking a bus, plane (to Izmir) or one-way rental car south, then take the passenger ferry across from Kusadasi to Samos. From Samos you can make your way to Santorini by first going to either Mykonos or Paros, depending on the upcoming summer schedules, and then on to Santorini. From Santorini you can fly or ferry back to Athens for your flight home. Keep in mind that accomplishing this in a timely fashion in April will pose its own set of challenges since the ferry system is not yet operating at summer-schedule convenience. Alternatively you could fly from Samos to Athens and then go to Santorini, but ALSO keep in mind that reservations for planes, ferries, hotels and rental cars for the few days before Greek Easter, April 19, until a few days after, will be difficult to accomplish, so plan quickly and book asap.