We will be ending our tour on a Saturday and are trying to figure out if we should just fly home or spend either an extra night in Kusadasi (recommendations on what to do that we didn't with the tour are welcome) or a night in Izmir before flying home on Sunday. We already have 4 nights ahead of our tour start in Istanbul. Thanks!
Posted by
11147 posts
Stay in Izmir and visit ancient Pergamon.
Posted by
Atlanta
2469 posts
We flew back to Istanbul for our flight home the next day. But several of our tour mates stayed in Izmir because of the interesting sites there.
Posted by
Reno, NV, USA
2427 posts
Some in our group flew to one of the Greek Islands and spent some time there.
Posted by
OP
1219 posts
I will look into Izmir and sites there before we make our decision. Thanks! Greek islands aren't going to happen. We have to be at work on Monday. I'd really love to do Bodrum but I don't think that would work unfortunately.
Posted by
2 posts
We too are doing the tour in September but end on a Thursday. We were thinking of taking the ferry from Kusadasi to Samos and then flying to Athens for a few days before a cruise. There are several flights mid to late afternoon at inexpensive prices. We saw the ferry times on Meander.com. We want to fly the same day as the ferry. Is this doable? I have noticed similar posts but it appears folks are staying a day or two on Samos and then flying out. We would prefer to spend more time in Athens before our cruise since it does not return there (it ends in Rome).
If we fly out of Izmir for the later flight, allowing time for the bus, it appears we gave to fly to Istanbul and then to Athens. At a much higher price. Thoughts?
Thanks!
Posted by
Washington, DC
207 posts
Izmir is worth at least a day. There is a good, if small museum, in a beautiful park, a large market and a beautiful walk along the shore. They don’t seem to get many tourists so not many crowds except in the market. At dinner we were asked where we worked. They didn’t consider that we might be tourists.
Posted by
Oregon
230 posts
donnisrb - sound's like you're talking about flying to Athens the same day as the ferry from Turkey. If your ferry goes to Pythagorio, it is close to the airport so you'll have some time to visit that area. If your ferry goes to Vathy, it is at least 40 minutes by bus to the airport. So you need to research how you'll accomplish this and will have less time for a visit.
We're planning on staying 3 nights on Samos after our RS Turkey tour this year.