After completing the 13 day Rick Steves tour of Turkey and a week of sailing on the southwest coast we would like a short 6 day tour of a couple of Greek Islands before heading to Venice. We are thinking that Rhodes, Santorini and/or Crete might be possibilities. This travel would be in early October. Any thoughts on islands, ferry connections and a final connection by air to Venice would be appreciated.
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3122 posts
Rhodes and Kos are the closest points of entry to the Greek islands from the southwest coast of Turkey, so if you start with one of these you can then continue on to Santorini. That will take all of your 6 days. From Rhodes you can also make your way to Crete, but Crete is huge and takes a minimum of a week with a rental car just to scratch the surface.
Posted by
Pacific NW
116 posts
Aegean Airlines can get you from the islands back to Athens and then onward to Venice. Their ticket prices are usually very reasonable, especially if you book early.
Posted by
Langley, B.C., Canada
59 posts
The other option is to take the ferry from Kusadasi to Samos - have a great apartment in Pythagoran to recommend if you are interested. From Samos you can easily go south to Kos and then on to Rhodes by ferry or you can go west to Mykonos, Naxos, Paros and Santorini. But with 6 days, getting to Santorini is a bit of a distance if you want to spend time on the other islands. I would pick 2 close to Turkey and then fly from there to Athens/Venice.
We spent 5 days in Pythagoran in early October and swam in the Aegean.
Posted by
Vancouver, BC, Canada
175 posts
Check to make sure the island(s) you choose are all up and
running in October. We spent two weeks on Samos in October and the whole island was closing down for the winter. And yes, we swam in the Aegean too - the weather was windy but warm.