This is John Madden from the US. I will be in Kos for a meeting in September & would like to go to Ephesus before going on to Istanbul. Is there any way to do this by ferry or plane without first flying to Athens and Istanbul?? Thank you!
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3149 posts
There's no direct way to get there, but the fastest way would probably be to go from Kos to Bodrum in Turkey by ferry and catch a bus north to Selcuk, which is the town nearest to Ephesus. Then from Selcuk you can catch a bus north to Istanbul (with a possible change of bus in Izmir). I don't know if there is a direct flight from Bodrum to Izmir, but that would even be faster. And you can fly from Izmir to Istanbul. http://www.feribot.net/feribot If you don't mind a connecting flight in Istanbul, Turkish Airlines offers some very cheap fares from Bodrum to Izmir. I found one for less than $60 USD, the complete flight taking a total of around 3.5 hours, and it would still be a whole lot faster to fly this route than it would be to take a bus. Ephesus is close to Izmir so you can rent a car or hire a taxi to get there.
Posted by
Ottawa
1446 posts
The only thing about flying from Bodrum is that the airport is a long, long way from town and the transfer isn't cheap! The best option really is the bus to Selcuk, after the ferry from Kos to Bodrum. It's a short walk straight up from the ferry dock to the bus station in Bodrum. It's even worth an overnight, just to visit the underwater archeology museum that opened in the old crusader castle. My link to the Kos-Bodrum ferry is no longer current... but I stayed at these two last year and can highly recommend them: http://www.hotelgulec.com/
http://www.homerospension.com/index.htm To Istanbul, it would definitely be better to fly from Izmir. Even if that airport is also far out, it's much easier to get to from Selcuk, as the train "Aydin Ekspresi" connects to the airport directly.
Posted by
Langley, B.C., Canada
59 posts
Another option from the ones already suggested would be to take a ferry from Kos to Samos - our favorite Greek island. The ferry from Kos arrives in Pythagorio - a sweet little town and we would definitely say worth staying a night or two (or more) if your schedule allows. Taxi from there to Samos Town (Vathy) is inexpensive. Then take ferry from Samos Town to Kusadasi, Turkey. From there it is easy to connect to Ephesus either on local bus or with a tour bus. From Samos, we had booked a tour from Kusadasi to Ephesus. After touring Ephesus, we then returned to Samos so can not offer info re connecting on to Istanbul but others have already provided you with this. If you are interested, we stayed in a great apartment hotel in Pythagorio that we would highly recommend.
Happy travels.