In our 2 previous trips to Europe (Italy, France, Switzerland) we have traveled on our own but we're thinking of doing Rick's Turkey in 13 Days Tour next May. We will have about another 2 weeks travel time that we could take before, after, or sandwich around our tour. Greece seems like a natural but we've been told by several experienced travelers that eveything we think we'll like about Greece, we'll like better in Turkey. Besides spending some extra time in Istanbul does anyone have any "don't miss"suggestions for expanding our itinerary?
Posted by
Camarillo, California
3149 posts
Turkey doesn't have any islands, so how can you compare what you'll find in Turkey to what you'll find in the Greek islands? Don't make that mistake. If your itinerary includes Ephesus you'll be a short boatride from Samos and a few other Greek islands just off the Turkish coast. Take advantage of this.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
"but we've been told by several experienced travelers that eveything we think we'll like about Greece, we'll like better in Turkey." I don't agree with what you've been told. Take Lee's advice, he's our most experienced Greece traveler.
Posted by
2545 posts
Greece is a natural extension to a Rick's tour of Turkey. In fact, that's exactly what we did by taking a ferry from Ku?adas? to Samos and then a plane to Athens. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Greece. and surely you will too. While certainly challenging to compare/contrast the two countries, our experiences just seemed more rewarding in Turkey and we look forward to visiting Turkey again perhaps using Rick's Village Turkey itinerary as a starting point in identifying cities and sights to visit.
Posted by
Bellevue, WA, USA
811 posts
I think these words you heard are somewhat accurate if you're only interested in seeing roman/greek ruins. So if you're into archeology, then Turkey has more to see. The acropolis in Athens is amazing, but Turkey has some pretty cool roman theaters and ruined cities, etc seems bigger in scale than Greece. But for general tourism, the Greek islands are very unique you can't find anything similar in Turkey. So I think a couple of nice islands and Athens will be a good finish.
Posted by
Honolulu/Seattle, HI/WA, USA
2787 posts
We took RS 14 day Turkey Tour in May and June of this year. We had a limited amount of time to spend in Europe so we spent 2 days in Istanbul before the tour and decided to return to Istanbul after the tour for another 5 days for a total of 9 days in Istanbul and still did not see everything we would have liked to see there. Several of our tour group did go on to Greece but we choose not to since we plan on taking the RS Greece tour in 2012 (Germany/Austria/Swit. in 2011).
We have taken 8 RS tours and found the Turkey tour to be more challenging physically than any of the other ones that we have taken. It was warm to hot when we were there and we were real glad we did not go later into the summer. I really enjoyed the tour - certainly different than any of the other ones we have taken. Found the people friendly and helpful. Lost 10 pounds in 22 days and I am not really overweight - combination of different food and LOTS of exercise (walking) on the tour. PM me if you have any additional questions. Happy travels.