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Splitting Time Between Athens and Istanbul

Posted by (Buffalo, NY, USA) on

Hi All.

I'll be flying into Athens on the morning of Nov 21 at 9AM. I'll be flying home from Istanbul at noon on Nov 30. Sometime in there I am taking an Aagean Airlines flight from Athens to Istanbul. The flight leaves at 1PM, so that day is unfortunately mostly a waste.

I'm unsure of how many days to spend in each city. I was thinking 2 in Athens and 6 in Istanbul with the 1 travel day in between. I'm quite excited about Istanbul.

Do you think that's enough time to do the main Athens sights? Would you personally change it to 3 in Athens and 5 in Istanbul?

-Matt

Posted by
3149 posts

If you do give yourself another day in Athens you can possibly take a daytrip to an outlying area such as Sounion Bay or Corinth, or even to one of the islands close to Athens that can be reached in just a couple of hours such as Hydra. Hydra is quaint because no cars are allowed there.

Posted by
47 posts

I'm assuming a "full day" means you both wake up and go to sleep in that city (or arrive very early, by 9 AM).

Athens in 2 days is doable. Istanbul is certainly worth 6, though if you find a lot to do in Athens (such as a side trip to Delphi or the Peloponnese) you can cut Istanbul down to 5.

You should understand that after you've been to Istanbul you will want to return. So another way to look at it is to make sure you see everything you want in Athens this time, and when you go back to Istanbul you can pick up where you left off.

I spent 2 days in Athens with a 3rd sidetripping to Delphi and 5 days in Istanbul (on a separate trip). While I'd enjoy a return to Athens, it's not really penciled in on my list, whereas Istanbul is in my top 3 to return to.

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