Two Week Holiday in Turkey and Greece
Santorini was the place ,my wife wanted to visit from decades ago and I did not want to visit only that. So, we included its neighboring country in our itinerary. It made sense, it was intuitive, it hit up some incredible sites of interest, and it was totally worthwhile. When I look back, I think I made a good call. It has a bit of everything. We backpacked from April 10,2017 to April 23,2017
Once the place was decided, I got the ball rolling. Contacted my best friend Google, wrote to quite a few travel bloggers and made flight bookings through skyscanner. Best site I would say for the flight booking. Got really good deals.We flew in to Istanbul,Turkey and flew out from Athens, Greece
Enjoy reading over a steaming hot cuppa :)
Turkey
Istanbul
We started our adventure in the pulse of modern day Turkey, Istanbul. It is brimming with life and there are no shortages of exciting things to do and see! Home to scrumptious food, breathtaking architecture, and legendary tales. It is in the Bosphorus that Jason and the Argonauts sailed when they searched for the Golden Fleece. It is in the Golden Horn that Hera passed through and gave birth to Keroessa. Istanbul used to be the capital of three great empires - Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman. These empires left astonishing marks all over the city! There are over a dozen at Sultanahmet District alone
How to Get Visa
Its a breeze to get e-visa by entering details at Turkey Visa . But there is a catch for Indians. If we are not holding valid US visa or Schengen Visa or Permit, we cant apply directly for e-visa as there is check condition for them. Instead can visit VFS Center
For e-visa we paid 43 USD per person.
Number of Days needed: We spent 2 and half days at Istanbul and managed to scratch the cities important sights. The more the better, but at minimum 2 days are needed
Stay : We used Airbnb accommodation and stayed at Savas's place . The stay was average and its close vicinity to the citi center made us book this.
To read more about our sightseeing, check the below posts,
Cappadocia
If there is a plan to visit Turkey, Cappadocia should be included in the itinerary. Its a magical land and resembles like Flintstones cartoon. Its in the center of Turkey and getting there is not difficult.
Getting to Cappadocia:
a)Overnight bus : From Istanbul can take an overnight bus which might take areound 12 hours
b)Flight : Flight to Kayseri and Taxi from Kayseri Airport to Hotel
Cappadocia is a region, not a city. You'll want to fly to Kayseri, and then stay in the town of Goreme, Uchisar, or others that you may find in your research. Your hotel will arrange to pick you up at the airport, and they will drive you the hour into Goreme. We stayed in Gorome , 2 full days, and the second full day, caught an overnight bus to Pamukkale. We thought second option is feasible and if booked in advance, flight prices are low-priced
Days Needed: We spent 2 and half days here and to do justice to the place, you need so many days here to atleast see the important places.
Stay: We decided to have Gorome as our home base and stayed in the charming Arch Palace Hotel, and it was phenomenal. Economical, nicely decorated, and extremely hospitable and welcoming! We felt like family! Wherever you book, always look for a cave hotel as the place is known for it
To read more about our sightseeing, check the below posts,
Gorome Day 1 {Town Walkthrough}
Gorome Day 2 {Green City Tour}
Gorome Day 3 {Red City Tour}
Hot Air Balloon Ride
Pamukkale
Pamukkale was supposed to be one of the highlight of the trip,as it one of the most unique sites we ever seen or experienced. But due to less water or more tourists exploiting it, the place did not look as we had imagined.
Pamukkale is a hill of calcium deposited travertine pools bubbling with hot springs For a fee, you can explore these pools, even swim and lounge in them all day if you so desire
Getting to Pamukkale: From Cappadocia, we took a night bus to Pamukkale. More details here
Days Needed: One day is totally fine. Some people do day trips from Selcuk/Izmir.
Stay: Melrose View point hotel. It had a stunning patio, pool, lounge chairs, and restaurant. We loved the ambiance and the family that ran it was so delightful. Moreover it was pay at hotel.
More details here
Selcuk - Ephesus
Blogs and people in Turkey said, you can't go to Turkey without seeing Ephesus as its a crown jewel and the most well persevered ancient city in the world gives breathtaking insight into the lives of the ancient Ephesians. If you are a Bible history lover, this place is for you. Since our bus journey took more time than usual, we were exhausted and lost interest.
Getting to Ephesus: From Pamukkale, we went to Denzili and from there took 9 am bus to Selcuk. We were supposed to reach Selcuk at 12 PM, but the bus took longer route and instead reached at 2 PM. The bus was pretty cheap though. Other option is to take a train from Denzili to Selcuk.
Days Needed: Few hours to a day is more than sufficient. We spent 5 hours and did not stay here. The stay was in Izmir Airport as we had an early morning flight next day
More Details here
Greece
Santroini
Santorini has always been high on out travel bucket list,and it did not disappoint. The magical white buildings and blue domes on the cliff beckoned us to another era, as did the donkey rides up the cobblestone streets. The whole time we were there, we felt within a dream! Absolutely worth going to.
How to get Visa:
Getting Schengen Visa involved lot of documentation. We applied through Greece Embassy and paid 5600 INR per person.
Getting to Santorini: Santorini is an easy place to get to. You could either take a ferry from any of the ports in Turkey like Bodrum, Kusadasi or fly from Izmir. The ferry timing was odd for us and so was the journey time. So, we flew from Imzir {Turkey} to Santorini {Greece} via Athens. The flight duration was less.
Days Needed: We stayed here for 2 days and it was sufficient to cover all place. Unless you are not a party animal and/or fantasize drinking wine in one of the upscale restaurants beside the cliff visualizing caldera and sunset views, 2 days are good to go.
Stay: We stayed at Loizos Apartments in Fira. It was close to citi center and was on the way to old port. It was economical, and had a really great view from the terrace. On the negative side, it consisted of 4 white walls, a bed, and a bathroom that was pretty much barren unlike hotels in Oia which has private Jacuzzi, stunning caldera and sunset views. But who cares when you can get outside and be amazed at the outdoors!!
To read more about Santorini, click here
Athens
From the time we read about civilization in school days, Greek civilization and architecture resonated together. Athens was the intellectual beacon of the ancient world and Greek civilisation was admired for its preeminent philosophers, scientists and politicians . Taking its name from the most benevolent goddess of Greek mythology, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, inspiration and civilisation, the city’s role in history proudly justifies her patronage, even if its recent history is more troubled.
Getting to Athens:Can take either a ferry or flight to Athens. Ferry is time consuming. We took flight and duration was less than an hour
Days needed: We stayed for 3 days and it was just enough to see the important places. If planning to visit Metero and/or other islands, may need more days.
Stay : We used Airbnb accommodation and stayed at Georgiana place. The room was average and it was like crashing in one of our friend's place. Small rooms, tiny common bathrooms and chaotic kitchen. Host was friendly, accomodative and allowed us to sleep in her room due to errand from both the host and guest :)
To know about Athens sightseeing, click here,
I hope this was helpful! A few tips when traveling in Turkey and Greece:
1) Turkey has a Great transportation system! In Istanbul, they have metro, tram, funicular that run all around town that are cheap and fast! The whole country has the best bus and train transport system . It is both cheap and comfy. Even the domestic flights are economical when booked in advance.
2)For hard core vegetarians, its difficult to get food in all places in Turkey. Best is to carry some home food.
3)We didn find many Indians in Turkey. So, it may be overwhelming at some places. Fret not. People are friendly and eager to help
4)Always buy a sim with Data connection. Google Translate and Maps were our partners most of the time. It helps in connecting with the locals too. We bought Matrix sim which was valid for both in Turkey and Greece
5)Reserve stay and travel in advance and make sure the PNR number is same across the flight journey. Else may need a transit visa.
6)Athens is filled with homeless people. Seeing couples, they lure them by offering rose for free, but may exploit later seeking money. We also found people tying friendship bands and asking huge sum of money. Best is to ignore and move on.
7)We missed our travel group folks at many place. The more, the merrier :) If there is group, more fun it will be.
8) The ferry system in Greece is nuts. The ferries run at the most random of times and at our time of visit, the ferry schedule was not open until a week before.
For our complete itinerary, must have food, rated restaurants, expenditure and budget, click here
Thats it folks. Happy reading and I hope its useful to those who are willing to visit. If you are looking for tips on planning a trip, reach out to me. More than happy to assist.
Fantastic.
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