Travel from Bodrum Turkey to Athens Greece

Look at a map of the Aegean Sea. Find Bodrum at the southern tip of Turkey. It doesn't make sense to to take a ferry from So. Turkey to anywhere in Greece to catch a train to Athens. From Bodrum you can catch a ferry to either Rhodes or Kos (Greece), then from there you can catch a ferry to one of several Greek islands in the area. You can then fly back to Athens, or if you want to island hop you can then catch another ferry from Rhodes or Kos to either Crete or Santorini, and from these islands you can make your way back to Athens by another ferry or by plane. Both Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air fly to all these Greek islands.

I am also taking the Village Tour . I have looked at the option of taking a boat from Bodrum to Kos for a couple of days - then to Rhodes for a few more days with a side trip to Symi. Thomas Cook puts out an excellent Greek Island Hopping Guide. It lists routes and boats for almost every imaginable route on the Greek Islands The book shows that you can book an overnight boat to Athens. There are a number of daily flights you can book from Rhodes to Athens via Olympia or Agean Airlines
I am also ending up in Athens for 2 days.

The other option I was looking at was taking a bus from Bodrum to Fethiye and spending more time on the Turkish Coast. Good luck!

I am also taking the Village Turkey tour in the summer of 2010. I want to go from Bodrum to Athens and it is a challenge. I have found a direct flight on Pegasas Airlines from Izmir to Athens that only costs $70.15. Problem is it does not fly every day and my understanding is that I would need to take a 5 hour bus ride from Bodrum. Our tour ends July 21 and there is a flight on the 21st at 11:30 AM. So if anyone would like to share a van or taxi early that morning to the Izmir airport, it might be financially worth it. Flights leaving from Bodrum go through Istanbul and seem much more expensive. Other option is to leave tour on the 20th and take the bus and spend the night in Izmir. Any thoughts??

Ronnie, You'll waste a lot of time and money taking that route.

Spend the night in Bodrum, then take the 9:30am morning shuttle ferry from Bodrum to Kos, then catch a one-hour flight or spend the day exploring Kos then take the overnight ferry to Athens. Aegean Airlines has good airfare pricing and Blue Star Ferries is the ferry company involved on that route.

http://en.aegeanair.com/default.aspx

http://www.bluestarferries.com/site/content.asp?sel=624&loc=2

Aegean Airlines has a sale on right now, so it's easy and cheap to get from the Greek Islands to Athens. From Bodrum there are are quick hydrofoils that cross over to Kos in about a half hour--2009 schedule was leaving Bodrum around 9am for 28 Euro. 2010 ferry schedules and prices aren't out yet but should be similar. On Aegean Air, there are 3 flights on July 21 for 39 Euro, including all taxes, Kos to Athens and 5 flights from Rhodes to Athens. July 22 has 3 direct flights from Kos, only one still has the cheapest 39 Euro seats. I would jump on those prices very quickly. I would recommend, if at all possible, to stay in the area after your tour and not be in a hurry to leave. There is so much to explore here. Karen, I really like Fethiye and Rhodes (more than Kos and Symi, although they are both nice) and they are linked by the fast hyrofoils. Fethiye/Rhodes takes about an hour and a half. You can head down the Turkish coast, end up in Fethiye, and then take the boat to Rhodes for a few days, then fly onward to Athens. Here's a good link to the ferries crossing between Turkey and the Greek Islands: http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/trans/Ship/GreekIslandFerries.html