Help with Turkey and Greece Itinerary

Mitzi Knossos is probably the least interesting of all the Greek sites I've visited. The position isn't particularly dramatic and Sir Arthur Evan's restoration was pretty poor. I quite enjoy Heraklion as a city but it is nothing special. The main highlight is the museum. Overall I don't think I would give them the time you are on your trip. If you miss them out you would have more time for Athens itself, which is what I would do. You could also add a day trip to the Peloponnese and visit Mycenae and Epidavrus. Both, in my opinion, are better sites than Knossos. Alternatively you could replace your flight to Crete with a flight to Santorini and take in the volcano and the newly reopened site of Aktotiri. As I say I would give the extra time to Athens but I speak as someone who spends at least a couple of weeks there every year, and loves it. (I'm also in a minority on this board in not particularly liking Santorini. It is undeniably beautiful though, and I'm glad that I've seen it once. Alan

You should also know, if you don't already, that Knossos is not in original, untouched condition. It was re-discovered by Sir Arthur Evans in 1894. He made changes and 'rebuilt' it to represent his own ideas of what it must have looked like when it was intact. Most archaeologists are appalled by what he did and would NEVER do such damage to an important archaeological site.

Wow! Great feedback. I had received comments about the timeline, but nothing about the integrity of the site or the relative experience compared to other sites. Now leaning more toward excluding Crete and including a trip to mycenae & epidaurus. Not planning to rent a car so will investigate doing as part of a tour from Athens rather than overnight in Napflio.

Mitzi Both Chat and Go Tours do a one day tour of the Peloponnese http://www.gotours.com.gr/en/tour/show/05 http://www.chatours.gr/tours.php?exc=5&exccat=1 I'd advise not taking the lunch included option. You can easily pick up a sandwich in Nafplio and it will give you more time to wander around. The included lunches tend to be fairly mediocre. Alan

Commenting on the Turkish part of your itinerary - I think it looks OK. Five days is enough to get a real feel for Istanbul and to see the key sites. With a day trip to Ephesus, you're pretty much only going to be able to see that site. It takes about a half-day for a complete visit. I like your idea for a tour since in my mind it is pretty much to only way to easily handle the logistics for such a quick visit. There is plenty to see in and around Selcuk if you get an opportunity to go back sometime, including some nice Greek and Roman era ruins to the south (e.g. Priene) and a museum, temple of Artemis, and ruins of the St. John cathedral in town. One and half days in Cappadocia will be enough for a quick visit. I suggest renting a car and self touring if you're able. There are lots of great sites within short drives of each other. The major sites will have guides available for hire and the guidebooks are pretty good for the smaller sites. Try to see some cave churches, an underground city, some fairy chimney sites and a caravansary. From Goreme the obvious choice for churches is the open air museum and the chuches right outside of it (Buckle and El Nazar). There are some nice fairy chimnies near Goreme, Uchisar and in the Deverent Valley. For underground cities I like Derikyu and Kamakli; both are close to Goreme. Sarihan near Avanos is the easiest caravanisary to visit and has been fully reconstructed. Avanos itself is a nice village to visit for lunch. Good luck.