home brewer Loc: Fort Wayne, Indiana

My wife and I are planning a fall trip to Greece and am not finding much to see other than Crete, a few places near Thessaoniki, a few of monasteries and some places southwest of Athens . That said we are not sure there is 4 to 5 weeks of sightseeing.
We were thinking or flying to Izmir Turkiye and renting a car to see some of the near by history.
What are the best things you have visited in Turkiye?

Jbat Loc: Charleston, SC

We have been to various places in Turkey a number of times. Istanbul is one of our favorite cities in the world. You can easily spend 5 days there and if you do, i suggest you book a hotel in the downtown area, not the area out where the primary American hotels are located. If you stay out, it takes a trip to town each time you want to go roam around and no reason we found to do that. One of our favorite trips ever was to fly from Istanbul to Cappadocia. We had read about some cave hotels in that area and I contacted one and we booked 3 nights in a cave hotel. The hotel's owner set us up with a guide to pick us up at the small airport and take us everywhere we went each day. We had a 10 passenger Mercedes van with the guide plus a driver. I like photography and we could stop any time I wanted and let me shoot. We also booked an early morning balloon ride over the countryside which was something we had never done and it was a wonderful trip. The pricing for everything was reasonable and we learned a lot about that area of Turkey. I know there are probably other places to go but these are a few we have been in and been happy for the opportunity.

Real Nikon Lover Loc: Simi Valley, CA

My former boss just got back from Turkey. He got hair implants there. He said it is the number one destination for hair implant surgery. Who knew? You might get some before and after shots there. LOL On a serious note, he did mention Istanbul was a target rich environment for photography.

RightOnPhotography Loc: Quebec,QC

I have never visited Turkey, but I am questioning your assessment of places to see in Greece. Beside Athens, I visited several islands that I strongly recommend. Rhodos, Santorini, Mikonos, Lesbos. Also, not to forget Crete and Cyprus. Very rich history and lots to see there. I brought home a lot of photographs.

home brewer Loc: Fort Wayne, Indiana

RightOnPhotography what are the best things to see in Athens?

jbk224 Loc: Long Island, NY

I'll reply only to the Turkey part....as Greece has so much to offer...but 5 weeks is a lot of time.
Jbat gave you some great info.
We spent two weeks in Turkey. Our trip centered around Istanbul with 'side trips' to Izmir and Cappadocia. We did not stay in the historic district, but slightly outside in Besiktas area. Public transportation easy to 'downtown' and all districts. We found a guide that met us for 3 days in Istanbul and showed us the ropes....we were able to travel anywhere, whether by trolly, bus, or ferry without any issues. Then one day to Izmir. Same guide traveled with us and worked out great. Back to Istanbul...on our own. Traveled, by air, to Cappadocia, and stayed in a B&B--unbelievably peaceful, local, home cooking, and spent 3 days traveling with same guide! He was from Cappadocia and had a car and friends with owners of B&B. Jbat's suggestion for balloon trip is great. Caves not our thing. Local towns and people can't be beat. Back to Istanbul, on our own. It was as though we were 'home', as we were so comfortable in the area. Three more days revisiting areas and actually relaxing.
Whatever you choose to do, it will pay to plan out where and what you want to do. I do suggest that you find a guide(s) instead of going with groups. Also, try to avoid renting a car as taxis and public transport in Istanbul is fine. Also depends how much time you plan on spending out in the 'country'. There are many other areas, coastal 'resorts' that may be of interest to you. Whatever...enjoy!

rcarol

You may want to consider the ruins of Ephesus. This is where Paul spoke to the Ephesians. Spectacular!

philo Loc: philo, ca

In all of the cities in the world to visit .......... I would return to Istanbul.

Robeng Loc: California

Hi,

There is so much to see in Turkey. There is Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, ride the ballons in Cappadocia, Troy and Ephesus.

The food is wonderful. So much to do there. If you want go to my site at www.robeng.smugmug.com go to the travel section and look up Turkey.

home brewer Loc: Fort Wayne, Indiana

Robeng thanks, great photos. We were thinking of flying into Izmir and renting a car to go to Ephesus, Pamukkala and Ankara

Robeng Loc: California

Home Brewer,
You really have to check out Istanbul, there are two sides of it European and Asia.
There’s the spice barzzar and so many others.

jbk224 Loc: Long Island, NY

That is located in Izmir.

rcarol

Location of Ephesus in Turkey, Ephesus ruins in Turkey, is located near the historical city of Selcuk, in Izmir district near Kusadasi - Turkey.

jbk224 Loc: Long Island, NY

Ok. Isn't that what I said? Unless you wanted longitude and latitude.

SyracuseOrange Loc: Manlius,NY

Other than Turkey, I would consider three places that my wife and I enjoyed in that area of the Mediterranean:

(1) Santorini - We spent a week there staying on a cliff-side hotel (Astra Suites) near Oia. we rented a car and toured the whole island and found it fascinating. There were beaches to visit, new architectural digs to explore, restaurants to visit and the people were friendly. The views were unbelievable and the sunsets spectacular.

(2) Rhodes - We flew from Athens to Rhodes and then stayed in a hotel in Lindos. Although it required a car it was easy to navigate as Rhodes is not that large. There were many unique sites to see along the coast. Staying outside the main city was refreshing and meeting the locals was fun. Day tripping into Rhodes itself was easy and we located some architectural digs on the west coast. Where else could you take a donkey ride from the front door of your hotel to a local Acropolis?

(3) Cyprus - We visited Cyprus a few years before the others when we found cheap airfare and took the trip. Not knowing what to expect without planning we rented a car and spent two weeks on the island. We were limited to the southern part of Cyprus because my wife's passport had a Greek last name (from her former husband ) and we couldn't get into the Turkish part from the southern part because of the name. The photo ops ranged from little fishing villages along the coast, ancient churches in the mountains and architectural remains from when St. Peter and St. Paul walked the island. We picked various hotels from websites and they all were beautiful and the staffs, although staffed by Russians, spoke excellent English. We are thinking about going back again but covid has gotten in the way.