Greece and Turkey tour packages put the Greek islands and the Turkish coast into one trip, with a sea crossing or a short flight between the two countries. They add the cities and ruins of Turkey to the wider set of tours in Greece.
This page covers the kinds and lengths of the plans, the sea and air links, the Greek and Turkish stops, the seasons, the documents and the packing, and each plan has its own page on this site: the combination turkey and greece tours, the turkey rhodes santorini tour, the turkey and greece tour 12 nights 13 days, the greece turkey egypt combination tour and the greece turkey egypt travel package.
What are greece and turkey tour packages, and why do travellers join the two countries?
Greece and Turkey tour packages are trips that join the two countries in one bundled plan. The bundle holds the nights, the sea or air legs and the sightseeing from Athens to the Turkish coast. Wikipedia files such multi-stop bundles under the combination trip. Here it is a route, not a product.
Wikipedia’s example of a combination trip is a multi-city tour of Europe. Greece and Turkey tour packages apply that idea to two countries and one sea. The same article adds that such trips offer structured routes with room for personal choice.
The shared sea explains the pairing. Wikipedia lists six Turkish provinces on the eastern side of the Aegean, among them Canakkale, Izmir and Mugla. Greece and Turkey tour packages therefore cross a sea that touches both countries. The crossing is a leg of the plan, not a detour.
Greek tourism rests on a long coastline, islands and beaches, as Wikipedia describes it. The article names Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Corfu and Crete among the major destinations. Greece and Turkey tour packages draw on that list for the Greek half, then turn east to the Turkish shore.
On the Turkish side, Wikipedia ties tourism to historical sites and to seaside resorts on the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. Ephesus, Troy, Pergamon, Pamukkale, Hierapolis and Cappadocia all appear in its list of attractions. The Turkish half of greece and turkey tour packages is built from that list.
Greek peoples lived on this shore long before any tour. Wikipedia states that Aeolians settled the Kusadasi coast in the eleventh century BC and Ionians in the ninth. It calls Pergamon an ancient Greek city in Aeolis. Greece and Turkey tour packages follow that older map of the Aegean.
So the pairing rests on one shared sea, one shared list of ruins and one set of transfers. A traveller follows one route instead of two. This page treats greece and turkey tour packages as routes. It names no seller and lists only the stops and the legs between them.
Which kinds of greece and turkey tour packages exist?
Greece and Turkey tour packages come in five route shapes. They are the city pair, islands with the coast, the coast with Cappadocia, the ferry loop and the cruise leg. A sixth shape adds Egypt as a third country. Each shape changes the stops and the legs.
The city pair joins Athens and Istanbul with one flight between them. Athens, says Wikipedia, ranks eighth among the urban areas of the European Union by size. Istanbul has a population of over 15 million. Greece and Turkey tour packages built as a city pair skip the islands, the Aegean coast and Cappadocia.
Islands and coast joins Mykonos, Santorini, Samos and Rhodes to the Turkish shore by a sea crossing. Ephesus and the Aegean coast follow. Wikipedia lists Kusadasi and Marmaris among the major Turkish resort towns. In this kind of greece and turkey tour packages, Cappadocia and Istanbul stay outside the route.
The coast and Cappadocia plan strings together Kusadasi, Pamukkale, Cappadocia and Istanbul. A long road leg and a domestic flight link the coast, the highlands and Istanbul. Wikivoyage places Cappadocia in the central highlands and Ephesus on the west coast. The southern resorts and the Dodecanese stay outside greece and turkey tour packages of this shape.
The land and ferry loop starts in Athens. A ferry takes it to the islands, a second ferry crosses to Turkey, and a coach loop follows. Wikivoyage describes Greece as a mountainous and coastal country, with islands spread over the Ionian and Aegean seas. No flight joins the two countries in greece and turkey tour packages of this loop.
A cruise leg puts days of greece and turkey tour packages on a ship between Greek islands and Turkish ports. Wikipedia calls Blue Cruises and beach holidays central to the Turkish tourism industry. A ship stops at ports, so inland sights such as Pamukkale and Cappadocia fall outside this kind.
The sixth shape adds Egypt. It grows from a two-country plan by one flight from Istanbul to Cairo. A later section of this page explains the step. Each kind sets the nights differently, so length comes next.
How long do greece and turkey tour packages run?
Greece and Turkey tour packages run from five days for a pair of cities to 22 days with Egypt. The nights always equal the days minus one. Seven days hold six nights, fourteen days hold thirteen, and 22 days hold 21. Each extra leg adds a travel day.
A pair of cities fits into five days and four nights. Wikipedia names two UNESCO sites in Athens and one in the historic centre of Istanbul. The Acropolis and the Daphni Monastery are the two in Athens. In greece and turkey tour packages of this length, one flight is the only long leg.
A one-week coast plan has seven days and six nights. Wikipedia names Ephesus, Pergamon and Klazomenai as ancient cities of the Izmir area. A week on that shore holds a cluster of ruins beside beach time. Such a week keeps greece and turkey tour packages on one coast.
A two-week island and coast plan has fourteen days and thirteen nights. Wikivoyage splits the Greek Islands into eight groups, from the Saronic Gulf Islands to the Ionian Islands. Each island stop adds a sea leg. Two weeks fit the islands, one sea crossing to Turkey and the coast.
A three-week plan with Egypt runs 22 days and 21 nights. It adds a third country, one flight from Istanbul to Cairo and a stretch on the Nile. Greece and Turkey tour packages reach this length when Egypt joins. A later section treats the Egypt step on its own.
- Pair of cities: five days, four nights.
- One-week coast plan: seven days, six nights.
- Two-week island and coast plan: fourteen days, thirteen nights.
- Three-week plan with Egypt: 22 days, 21 nights.
Days and nights count differently. A plan lists days for the sights and nights for the places to sleep. In the three-country plan, a ferry cabin and two sleeper trains add nights on top of the hotel nights. A clear plan states both numbers.
Legs take time too. A sea crossing, a flight or a long road each uses part of a day. A plan with more legs needs more days. Greece and Turkey tour packages with one sea crossing fit a week, while the three-country plan takes 22 days.
How do greece and turkey tour packages cross the Aegean Sea?
A crossing of the Aegean Sea in greece and turkey tour packages means a ferry or a ship. The sea lies between the Greek mainland and Anatolia. Wikipedia calls it an arm of the Mediterranean that reaches between Europe and Asia. The sea crossing is the leg that joins the two countries in one trip.
The sea is about 670 kilometres long and 390 kilometres wide, according to Wikipedia. In the north, the Dardanelles link it to the Marmara Sea. Its deepest point, west of Karpathos, reaches 2,639 metres. A crossing in greece and turkey tour packages spans only the gap between one island and the Turkish coast.
More than 150 islands lie inside the sea, says Wikipedia. The Dodecanese lie in the south-east and hold Rhodes, Kos and Patmos. Six Turkish provinces touch its eastern side, among them Izmir, Aydin and Mugla. These coasts and islands are the stepping stones of greece and turkey tour packages.
The Turkish name for the sea, Ege Denizi, comes from the Greek name, as Wikipedia gives it. Turkish also calls it Adalar Denizi, the Sea of Islands. The islands helped people on both shores to meet, and they linked Europe with Asia. Each sea crossing in greece and turkey tour packages uses the same water.
Wikipedia traces three island chains back to the mountains of the mainland. One chain reaches Chios. A second runs through Euboea to Samos. A third passes the Peloponnese and Crete on its way to Rhodes. The land-and-ferry plan of greece and turkey tour packages joins such islands to Turkey.
Wikivoyage names the hydrofoil as the quickest boat. It takes foot passengers only, and rough weather can cancel it. Conventional ships carry vehicles and run all year at a slower pace. Overnight ships add restaurants, bars and cabins. Every sea link of greece and turkey tour packages names its boat type.
Two more points shape a sea leg. Wikipedia counts the Etesian winds as a leading weather force around the Aegean. Wikivoyage Greece adds that Greek ferries leave on time. Greece and turkey tour packages therefore start each sea leg with an early arrival at the port.
Which island-to-coast sea links appear in greece and turkey tour packages?
Five island-to-coast sea links can serve greece and turkey tour packages. They run from Samos to Kusadasi, Rhodes to Marmaris, Kos to Bodrum, Chios to Cesme and Lesbos to Ayvalik. Wikivoyage lists the first four as routes between Turkey and Greece and describes the Lesbos link on its own pages.
Greece and turkey tour packages of the islands-and-coast kind use the link from Samos to Kusadasi. Samos lies about 16 km offshore from Kusadasi, and Wikipedia lists daily ferry services. Wikivoyage describes foot-passenger ferries only, with no cars carried. Morning sailings leave Kusadasi from April to October.
Samos has two docks at Vathy, about 3 km apart, says Wikivoyage. The port on the east side holds the customs controls, and ferries to and from Turkey dock there. Domestic ferries use the west side. Wikivoyage also calls Samos a stopping point for travellers going between Athens and Izmir.
Rhodes to Marmaris is the second link of greece and turkey tour packages. Wikivoyage gives one hour for the ferry. It carries foot passengers only and sails from April to October. A morning and an afternoon sailing allow a day trip in either direction, with six hours on the other side.
Marmaris is a port city and resort on the Turkish Riviera, according to Wikipedia. Its two major marinas make it a base for sailing and diving. Wikivoyage places the ferry terminal east of the marina, within a one-kilometre walk of the castle and town. Dalaman Airport lies an hour’s drive to the east.
Kos to Bodrum is the third link, and the crossing takes 25 minutes. Two sailings a day run all year. The boat is a small catamaran, so cars stay behind. The Bodrum pier lies in the marina by the castle. Wikivoyage notes that no direct ferry links Bodrum with Rhodes any more, so that trip goes via Kos.
Chios to Cesme is the fourth link of greece and turkey tour packages. Cesme faces Chios across a strait, and Wikipedia lists regular ferry connections. Wikivoyage names fast catamarans that take 20 minutes and standard vessels that take 45 minutes. Winter brings fewer sailings, and the standard vessel then copes better with rough seas than the catamarans.
Lesbos to Ayvalik is the northern link, and Wikivoyage gives 90 minutes for the car ferry to Mytilene. Daily ferries run in summer, and the service shrinks in winter, according to Wikipedia. Bergama lies east of Ayvalik and holds the ruins of ancient Pergamon. So a route through this port can reach Pergamon in greece and turkey tour packages.
How do flights fit into greece and turkey tour packages?
Flights fit into greece and turkey tour packages at the start, at the end and on the long legs inland. A destination open-jaw ticket lets a traveller land in one city and fly home from another. That suits a plan that lands in Athens and leaves from Istanbul.
Wikipedia explains why travellers choose such a ticket. They explore between two points by other transport, such as a bus, a train or a ferry. A flight on a separate ticket counts too. Cruises that end in another city are a second reason. The Athens-and-Istanbul pair of greece and turkey tour packages fits the first reason.
Spata, east of Athens, is the home of Athens International Airport, 27 km from the centre, says Wikivoyage. The page calls it a hub for the Aegean region, the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean. Metro trains and suburban trains leave from the same platform at the airport. The city pair of greece and turkey tour packages starts here.
Istanbul has two airports. The bigger one, Istanbul Airport, stands in Arnavutkoy on the European side, as Wikipedia states. Sabiha Gokcen Airport serves the Asian part of the city. Wikivoyage adds that Istanbul Airport runs domestic flights at least daily to each major Turkish city. It lists domestic flights at Sabiha Gokcen too.
Greece and turkey tour packages that pair the coast with Cappadocia end the inland leg at an airport. Nevsehir Kapadokya Airport has flights from Istanbul, up to six a day when the season peaks, says Wikivoyage. Kayseri Erkilet Airport also has flights from Istanbul. Regional airports such as Nevsehir have small car rental fleets.
Wikivoyage gives the road alternative for that leg. Buses from Izmir to Nevsehir run three times a day and take 12 hours, going via Konya. A ride that long shows why greece and turkey tour packages swap the leg for a flight.
Flights also join the mainland and the islands, notes Wikivoyage Greece. Limited rail routes and long bus and ferry times make that choice worth a look. Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport serves the city and its province, according to Wikipedia. Baggage limits vary by airline, class and ticket, and two flights on one ticket can differ, Wikipedia notes.
Which Greek stops appear in greece and turkey tour packages?
Five Greek stops appear in greece and turkey tour packages: Athens, Samos, Mykonos, Santorini and Rhodes. Athens starts the city pair and the land-and-ferry plan, and the islands follow by sea or air. Each stop below gets one place fact, so the reader sees what it brings.
Athens is the first Greek stop of the city pair and the land-and-ferry plan in greece and turkey tour packages. Wikivoyage retells the myth of its name. Poseidon and Athena each offered a gift, and the people voted. Athena gave the olive tree and won by a single vote.
Piraeus is the sea gate of the Athens stop in greece and turkey tour packages. In prehistoric times it was an island. A low strip tied it to the mainland. Sea water covered that strip for much of the year. Mount Aigaleo bounds the city to the northwest. A ferry plan from Athens uses this harbour for the islands.
Two near neighbours of the capital need one clause each in greece and turkey tour packages. Wikipedia reports the Acropolis once bore the name Cecropia, after Cecrops, the legendary first Athenian king. The Saronic islands sit in the gulf south of Athens. Wikivoyage names them first among the Greek island groups.
Samos is the Greek stop that faces Turkey in greece and turkey tour packages. Wikipedia describes its mountains as a continuation of the Mycale range on the Anatolian mainland. The same range therefore runs on both sides of the strait. That ties Samos to Kusadasi, the first sea link of the island-and-coast plan.
Three more islands carry the rest of the Greek leg of greece and turkey tour packages. Granite makes up Mykonos, volcanic rock forms Santorini, and limestone is the main bedrock of Rhodes. The rock shapes what each island offers. The next two answers take the three islands in turn.
What do Santorini and Mykonos add to greece and turkey tour packages?
Santorini adds a flooded crater and Mykonos adds a town of windmills to greece and turkey tour packages. Each island works as a rest after the long Turkish sights, and each sits in the Cyclades. A ferry reaches both, and Mykonos also receives summer flights.
The caldera is the first sight where greece and turkey tour packages reach Santorini. At the centre of the lagoon, the Kameni islands form the youngest cone of the volcano. Water hides much of it. Wikipedia counts at least twelve large explosive eruptions here, and calderas followed at least four of them.
Akrotiri shows the older side of Santorini. Wikipedia states that the Bronze Age town had running water in pipes, plus water closets. It calls them the oldest utilities of that kind found. The pipes ran in twin systems, so the Therans had hot and cold water. It is a sight for a rest day.
Fear of pirates shaped the old villages. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries islanders built them on the highest points. The houses stood close together, and the outer walls had no openings. Houses also grew inward: rooms dug into the pumice, called hyposkapha, were prized because the air-filled stone insulates.
Mykonos suits a different kind of rest in greece and turkey tour packages. The Kato Mili windmills stand on a seaside hill, Venetian work of the sixteenth century. Higher up, at Ano Myloi, the Bonis Mill holds an agricultural museum of old tools and machines. It offers views of the area.
Chora has quieter corners. Tria Pigadia has three wells of one design, set side by side. Each is only five to six metres deep, since the diggers struck water in sand. Panagia Paraportiani, whose name means next to the door, stands by the old castle gate. Artists paint Little Venice, Wikipedia notes.
Delos lies a short boat trip from Mykonos in greece and turkey tour packages. The Delian League kept its treasury there until Pericles moved it to Athens. A terrace on the Sacred Way once held nine to twelve marble lions, a gift of the people of Naxos. Seven remain.
Santorini keeps two ports: Athinios takes the ferries, and Skala is the old harbour. Tour boats sail from Skala to Nea Kameni. Mykonos receives international flights in summer, and small boats link its beaches. So greece and turkey tour packages join either island to the Athens days by sea or air.
What do Rhodes and the Dodecanese add to greece and turkey tour packages?
Rhodes and the Dodecanese add a walled medieval town and a chain of islands to greece and turkey tour packages. International traffic only uses the Central Port of Rhodes city, Wikipedia says. Its scheduled sailings connect with Turkey. That makes the chain the natural gateway to the Turkish coast.
The Knights rebuilt Rhodes city as a model of the medieval European ideal, Wikipedia reports. The Palace of the Grand Master belongs to that period. Italian engineers with knowledge of ballistics designed the defences. UNESCO lists the Old Town, so greece and turkey tour packages enter a World Heritage site.
On the east coast of Rhodes, Lindos crowns a hill with an acropolis. A Hellenistic stoa there ran 87 metres and held 42 columns. Danish archaeologists dug the hill to bedrock, and no building foundation stayed hidden. Lindos gives greece and turkey tour packages a second acropolis.
The Dodecanese tie Greek and Anatolian history together. In antiquity six Dorian cities formed the Hexapolis. Lindos, Ialysos and Kamiros stood on Rhodes, and Kos was a fourth member. Cnidus and Halicarnassus lay on the mainland. The old league fits the way greece and turkey tour packages cross this sea.
Kos adds old geology to greece and turkey tour packages. Wikipedia says the island belonged to a mountain chain until ancient earthquakes and subsidence broke it away. Fossils of horses, hippopotami and elephants come from its Quaternary layers. The group page puts Kos and Patmos next to Rhodes in historical weight.
Symi has a place in Homer. Wikipedia says the Iliad places the island under King Nireus, who fought at Troy on the Greek side. Troy is a Turkish stop of the same plans, so greece and turkey tour packages meet the poem twice. The harbour town is Yialos, and the upper town is Ano Symi.
Marmaris is the Turkish end of the Rhodes link in greece and turkey tour packages. In antiquity Rhodes held sway over the coast across the water, which Wikipedia calls the Rhodian Peraia. In summer the Marmaris page lists day trips to Rhodes and Symi, besides the ferries.
Which Turkish stops appear in greece and turkey tour packages?
Greece and turkey tour packages draw Turkish stops from a country of just over 750,000 square kilometres. Wikivoyage sets that at more than double the size of Germany. The common picks are Istanbul, Kusadasi with Ephesus, Pergamon, Pamukkale, Cappadocia, and Canakkale with Troy and Gallipoli.
Istanbul is the Turkish half of the city pair in greece and turkey tour packages. Its name has a Greek root, as Wikivoyage notes, and can be read as “to the city”. It became the official name only when the Republic of Turkey was founded. Before that, the city was Byzantium in ancient times and then Constantinople.
Kusadasi is the first Turkish port of the island-and-coast plan in greece and turkey tour packages. Wikipedia explains that its name means Bird Island. The ruins of Ephesus lie at Selcuk, in Izmir Province. When Croesus besieged the city, its people tied the walls to the temple of Artemis with a rope. The city was spared.
Pergamon stands 26 kilometres from the Aegean, behind a mountain mass that closes the plain to the sea. Wikipedia describes the setting as strongly inland. In greece and turkey tour packages, Pergamon is a hill city set back from the shore. UNESCO inscribed it as a multi-layered cultural landscape.
Pamukkale means cotton castle in Turkish. It belongs to Denizli Province, in the south-west of the country. The UNESCO listing of Hierapolis-Pamukkale rests on cultural and natural grounds. The ancient Greek city of Hierapolis stands on top of it. Visitors have come for the thermal springs since classical antiquity.
Cappadocia is a historical region of Central Anatolia, largely in six provinces. The tourist part lies in Nevsehir province, as Wikipedia notes. Wind and rain wore soft volcanic stone into the landscape over centuries. In greece and turkey tour packages, this stop needs a long road leg or a domestic flight.
Canakkale is the base for the last group of stops in greece and turkey tour packages. Wikipedia calls the city the main base for visiting Troy and the Gallipoli cemeteries of the First World War. Troy has nine layers of settlement, each built on the last. Turkey calls the Gallipoli campaign the Battle of Canakkale.
What does Istanbul add to greece and turkey tour packages?
For greece and turkey tour packages, Istanbul is one city on two continents. Palaces and imperial mosques still line its hills as reminders of its central role, as Wikipedia states. The Bosphorus runs through the city, and the two continents face each other across it.
Hagia Sophia gives greece and turkey tour packages a Greek link inside Istanbul. Isidore of Miletus with Anthemius of Tralles, both Greek geometers, designed the present building. The Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki is among the buildings it inspired. As a mosque it was the principal one in Istanbul until the Blue Mosque went up in the seventeenth century.
Topkapi Palace adds the court of the sultans to greece and turkey tour packages. The Palace of Felicity was the Ottoman name for it, as Wikipedia records. Silence was a rule in the inner courtyards. The court moved to Dolmabahce Palace in the nineteenth century, yet Topkapi kept the treasury, the library and the mint.
The Grand Bazaar adds a covered market to greece and turkey tour packages. Wikipedia traces the word bedesten to a Persian term for the bazaar of the cloth sellers. In its seventeenth-century form the market had 67 roads, five mosques and seven fountains. Eighteen gates opened each morning and closed each evening.
The Basilica Cistern adds an underground hall to greece and turkey tour packages. Its Turkish name, Yerebatan Sarnici, means Subterranean Cistern. The chamber measures about 138 metres by 65 metres. Its columns stand 9 metres high and 5 metres apart. The capitals are mainly Ionic and Corinthian.
The Bosphorus gives greece and turkey tour packages a water route through the city. Wikipedia calls it a crucial international waterway. From the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles lead on to the Aegean and the Mediterranean. By way of Gibraltar it reaches the Atlantic, and by way of the Suez Canal the Indian Ocean.
Istanbul splits into three parts, and the sights do not sit evenly across them. The Sea of Marmara forms its southern boundary, Wikivoyage notes, and the Black Sea forms a less developed northern one. The old city around Sultanahmet lies west of the Bosphorus. North of the Golden Horn, Galata, Beyoglu and Taksim form the modern centre.
What do Ephesus and Pergamon add to greece and turkey tour packages?
Ephesus and Pergamon add two ancient Greek cities, both on the UNESCO list, to greece and turkey tour packages. Under Augustus, Ephesus took over from Pergamon as the seat of the Roman governor in western Asia Minor. The two sites show how Greek and Roman rule shaped the Aegean coast.
The Terrace Houses give greece and turkey tour packages a look inside Roman Ephesus. Wikipedia calls them the Houses of the Rich and counts six luxury Roman homes. Floor mosaics and wall frescoes decorate them. The oldest house goes back to the first century BC, and others stayed occupied into the seventh century AD. A protective roof covers them.
The Library of Celsus faces east, so its reading rooms used the morning light. Wikipedia gives the interior as roughly 180 square metres. A consul’s son commissioned it as a tomb for his father. Only the facade was rebuilt, from fragments and copies. Greece and turkey tour packages reach a rebuilt facade, not a full building.
The Odeon at Ephesus was a roofed hall for plays and concerts. Wikipedia counts about 1,500 seats. The Great Theatre held an estimated 25,000 and is believed to be the largest of the ancient world. Greece and turkey tour packages see a small hall and a huge one at the same site.
Pergamon ruled as a royal capital from 281 to 133 BC under the Attalid dynasty. The Attalid kings wanted a second Athens. They modelled their own acropolis on the one in Athens. So greece and turkey tour packages link two Greek hilltops across the sea. After 188 BC a new city wall, 4 kilometres long, enclosed about 90 hectares.
Pergamon drew water from mountains over 40 kilometres away. The line crossed a valley 200 metres deep. A pressurised lead pipe carried it over the last stretch, and the water climbed to the citadel unaided. Wikipedia compares the pipe to a communicating vessel.
The city linked its origins to Telephus, a son of Heracles. The word parchment comes from pergamenos, which means from Pergamon. Hadrian later gave the city metropolis rank, above local rivals such as Ephesus. Greece and turkey tour packages thus meet two cities that competed for rank.
What do Pamukkale and Cappadocia add to greece and turkey tour packages?
Pamukkale and Cappadocia add two inland stops to greece and turkey tour packages. Pamukkale is a white travertine hillside with the ruins of Hierapolis on top. Cappadocia is a volcanic landscape where people cut churches, houses and whole cities into soft rock. A road leg or a flight joins them to the coast.
Earthquakes ended the story of Hierapolis, says Wikivoyage. The town suffered repeated severe quakes and was abandoned after the one of the fourteenth century. Wikipedia adds that a thick layer of limestone then slowly covered the ruins. A traveller on greece and turkey tour packages sees what the stone preserved.
Hierapolis adds a link to Pergamon. The German archaeologist Carl Humann first dug there, and he later found the Pergamon Altar. An Italian mission has worked at the site since the nineteen-fifties. Greece and turkey tour packages visit a place that archaeologists still study.
The name Cappadocia covers two places, says Wikivoyage. Ancient Cappadocia was a kingdom, later a Roman province, that reached from Sivas to Aksaray and Nigde. The Cappadocia of travel is a smaller area near Nevsehir. Greece and turkey tour packages visit that smaller area.
Wikivoyage counts 40 known underground cities and adds that more keep being found. It dates the cave dwellings mainly between AD 100 and 800. It also calls the Cappadocians early adopters of Christianity. Greece and turkey tour packages meet that history in the rock churches.
Greece also appears in the story of the plateau. Wikipedia gives Goreme the Greek name Korama. In Byzantine times the site was two villages, Korama and Matiana. Wikivoyage names Mustafapasa, also called Sinasos, for old Greek cave mansions. Greece and turkey tour packages cross this shared past.
The plateau lies inland. Wikivoyage says buses from Istanbul reach the hub of Nevsehir every couple of hours. It adds that a package tour is one way to see Cappadocia without a vehicle. Wikipedia ties the tourism of Goreme to hot air balloon rides. Greece and turkey tour packages join coast and plateau by coach or air.
What do Troy and Gallipoli add to greece and turkey tour packages?
Troy and Gallipoli add the north-west corner of Turkey to greece and turkey tour packages. Troy is an ancient city in Canakkale Province. The Gallipoli Peninsula lies across the Dardanelles and keeps the battlefields of a First World War campaign. Canakkale is the base for both visits.
Troy is a mound of nine stacked cities, and UNESCO lists it. Hittite records name a city of this region Wilusa, which Wikipedia links to the mound of Hisarlik. Greece and turkey tour packages visit the place where Greek myth and Hittite records meet.
The mound was found in steps. Frank Calvert, who owned a farm nearby, surveyed it and named it as classical Ilion. Heinrich Schliemann then won permission to dig and cut a trench across it. Greece and turkey tour packages reach a site that two diggers opened up.
The Iliad gives Troy a steep hill, sloping stone walls and rectangular towers. Its gates have wooden doors, and a temple of Athena stands at the top beside the palace of King Priam. The square before the gate holds a wooden horse that the public can enter by ladder. Greece and turkey tour packages meet it first.
The Gallipoli Peninsula has a Greek past. According to Wikipedia, Greek settlers founded about twelve cities there in the seventh century BC. The Greeks called the land the Thracian Chersonese, and Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name Kallipolis. That Greek root ties the peninsula to the Aegean story of this page.
The peninsula now holds a historical national park that preserves battlefields, cemeteries and memorials. Turks call the campaign the Battle of Canakkale. Wikipedia notes that they regard it as a defining moment in their national history. Greece and turkey tour packages visit these sites as places of remembrance.
Timing matters here. Wikipedia notes that tours from Canakkale cover Troy and the battlefields, sometimes on the same day. It adds that the town is heavily visited around the eighteenth of March and the twenty-fifth of April, Anzac Day. Greece and turkey tour packages check these dates.
Canakkale sits where the Dardanelles are narrowest, and regular ferries cross to Kilitbahir. Minibuses reach Troy from the town, while the battlefields are not easy to explore without a private car, Wikipedia adds.
How does Egypt join greece and turkey tour packages?
Egypt joins greece and turkey tour packages as a third leg after Istanbul. One flight from Istanbul to Cairo turns a two-country plan into a three-country plan of 22 days. The Greek and Turkish parts stay as they are, and the Nile sets the new direction.
The order follows the map. In greece and turkey tour packages that grow into three-country plans, Greece comes first, Turkey second and Egypt last. The route therefore runs from the west to the south-east. Istanbul ends the Turkish leg, and the flight leaves from there.
Egypt has drawn visitors since ancient times, says Wikivoyage. The Mediterranean Sea lies to its north and the Red Sea to its east. The Nile valley and the deserts dominate the land. Greece and turkey tour packages meet a new landscape here.
Cairo International Airport lies in Heliopolis, northeast of the city. Wikipedia puts it about fifteen kilometres from the business area of Cairo. The plan lands there and reaches the pyramids within the first days of the Egypt leg.
The Great Pyramid, the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure and the Great Sphinx were all built in the Fourth Dynasty. The Giza site also holds temples, cemeteries and the remains of a workers’ village. The earliest account of the building comes from the Greek historian Herodotus, Wikipedia records. Greece and turkey tour packages meet a Greek voice here.
Wikipedia lists eleven countries in the basin of the Nile, and Egypt is one of them. In the delta the river splits into the Rosetta branch and the Damietta branch. Greece and turkey tour packages follow the river upstream from Cairo.
Luxor carries the nicknames City of a Hundred Gates and City of the Sun, and it was once Thebes. Wikipedia notes that people have called it the world’s greatest open-air museum. Aswan was the ancient frontier town of Swenett, later Syene, facing the south. Wikipedia calls it a global tourist winter destination.
The day-by-day Egypt story belongs to the three-country pages of this site. Greece and turkey tour packages need only the shape: one flight, one river, three countries.
When do travellers choose greece and turkey tour packages by season?
The island and ferry legs of greece and turkey tour packages suit April to October. Wikivoyage Greece says the vast majority of visitors arrive in those months, with the peak from late spring to September. A city pair relies on a flight, so the sea does not set its calendar.
Greek weather frames the Greek half of the trip. Wikivoyage Greece describes hot, dry summers with sunshine from April until November. The cold, rainy period starts in November and lasts until late March or early April. Dry-season rain is rare and quick. Greece and turkey tour packages with island legs sit in the dry months.
The Turkish coast follows a similar pattern. Wikivoyage Turkey describes hot, dry summers on the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts, with 35 degrees Celsius reached very regularly. Winters are mild, with occasional heavy rainstorms. Snow is rare there, except at Gallipoli. An islands-and-coast plan in greece and turkey tour packages spends its Turkish days in that climate.
City pairs meet another winter. Wikivoyage Turkey counts almost 20 days of rain a month on the Marmara coast, which includes Istanbul. Snow is occasional but falls every winter and can affect road conditions, especially in highland places. A city pair flies between the two cities, so the road matters less.
Inland legs add a different pattern. Wikivoyage Turkey expects inland daytime highs around 30 degrees Celsius in summer and around zero in winter. Spring is thunderstorm season there. Valleys inland from the Aegean coast can reach daytime averages near or above 35 degrees Celsius. The coast-and-Cappadocia plan of greece and turkey tour packages moves from one pattern to the other.
The sea legs follow the calendar. Wikivoyage Greece calls the Aegean extremely rough from January to March, the off-season. Boats can wait in port for days. The page tells off-season travellers not to plan a morning island departure with an afternoon flight home. A ferry leg at the end of greece and turkey tour packages needs a spare day.
Shoulder months soften the coast. The Marmaris article describes cooling from September, with an October that stays warm and bright but brings spells of rain. Its heatwaves fall in July and August. Wikivoyage calls Ephesus a year-round site with mild, wet winters. The coast stops of greece and turkey tour packages meet cooler air at both places outside high summer.
Which documents do greece and turkey tour packages need?
Greece and turkey tour packages need a valid passport and a check of two entry systems. The trip leaves the Schengen Area when it crosses to Turkey, so the border step changes at that point. Each country states its own entry rules, and they differ by passport.
In the east, the Schengen article puts Turkey on the list of countries bordering the area by land. Greece sits inside it, and the Samos page of Wikivoyage points to the Greek entry rules. A sea leg in greece and turkey tour packages therefore joins two entry systems. The rules differ by passport, so your own government’s page decides.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs keeps one visa page, arranged country by country. A documentary film, research or an excavation needs special permission from the Turkish authorities in advance, the same page states. Find the line for your own country and check it against the dates of greece and turkey tour packages.
According to Wikipedia, all persons crossing an external border, inbound or outbound, face a check by a border guard. Known commuters are the one exception. A sailing from Samos to Kusadasi leaves the Schengen Area, and the sailing back enters it. A traveller on greece and turkey tour packages meets that step in both directions.
The travel insurance article says a policy is bought before departure from home or from the first departure point. The product sets the exact rule. It lists cruising among the optional benefits, next to higher-risk sports and trekking at high altitudes. Read the policy against each leg of greece and turkey tour packages.
The article on 112 gives Greece a separate coast guard line, 108, next to 112. That line suits the ferry legs of greece and turkey tour packages. For Turkey, the article names 112 for all emergencies and says calls to 911 redirect to 112. Save the numbers before the first sailing.
A three-country plan adds a third set of entry rules for Egypt. The three-country pages of this site cover that leg. Read your own government’s official page for every country on the route. Greece and turkey tour packages that grow into three-country plans need that check three times.
What do travellers pack for greece and turkey tour packages?
Travellers pack light layers, closed shoes and a cover for shoulders and legs for greece and turkey tour packages. Wikivoyage Turkey names one mosque rule for every visitor: covered shoulders and legs, and covered hair for women. The sea legs, the stone paths and the open ruins set the rest of the bag.
Shoes carry the day. Wikivoyage Istanbul describes a car-free cobbled street north of Hagia Sophia that runs down to the gate of Gulhane Park. Wikivoyage Cappadocia warns sunset walkers not to be caught by nightfall on unfamiliar rough ground. Greece and turkey tour packages cross cobbles and rough ground, so closed shoes with grip suit them.
Evenings run cooler than the days. Wikivoyage Istanbul suggests a light jacket or light sweater for summer evenings that turn cooler than average. Wikivoyage Greece adds that coasts near open water, especially on the islands, run breezy, and nights there can turn cold. The ferry legs of greece and turkey tour packages cross open water.
Sun cover goes in the day bag. Wikivoyage advises sun protection at Ephesus even on cloudy days, because UV penetrates the cloud. It adds that the site has little shade. For Greece, Wikivoyage names a light sun hat and sunglasses for summer. Greece and turkey tour packages visit open ruins on both sides of the Aegean.
A small day bag carries the water. Wikivoyage Greece says tap water on certain small islands is imported and heavily chlorinated. The water is drinkable, but it does not taste good, the page adds. A visitor in doubt asks the hotel. A refillable bottle suits the day trips of greece and turkey tour packages.
Swimwear fits the island and coast legs. Wikivoyage describes a beach of about 100 metres near Pythagorion on Samos as pebbles with a sandy bottom. It has sun beds, umbrellas and a shower. The Wikivoyage page on Marmaris calls its beach sandy though narrow. Samos and Marmaris are both stops in the islands-and-coast plan of greece and turkey tour packages.
Churches ask for cover too. Wikivoyage Turkey says clothing requirements there differ by denomination, and dress suited to a mosque also works in churches. A light scarf and long trousers or a long skirt serve that rule on greece and turkey tour packages.
What else do travellers ask about greece and turkey tour packages?
Can greece and turkey tour packages join Greek islands with the Turkish coast?
Yes, the sea links make it possible. Wikivoyage Turkey says Greek islands near the Turkish Aegean coast are linked to it by hydrofoil fast ferries. The page marks certain routes as seasonal.
Those islands also have westward ferries that ultimately reach Piraeus, the port for Athens, as the same page adds. That gives greece and turkey tour packages a clear island-and-coast shape. The plan runs from Athens through a chain of islands, over one sea crossing, to the Turkish Aegean coast.
The Turkish end of a crossing is compact. Wikivoyage Marmaris puts the ferry terminal east of the marina. The castle and downtown lie 1 kilometre away, over the harbour footbridge.
Turkey has inhabited islands of its own. Wikivoyage Turkey adds that each has a daily summer sailing to the nearest mainland city or town. So greece and turkey tour packages can touch islands on both sides of the sea.
Can greece and turkey tour packages cross the border by land instead of by sea?
Yes, a road crossing exists for greece and turkey tour packages. Wikivoyage Turkey says the E90 road enters Turkey from Greece at the Ipsala border gate. The gate lies west of Kesan and east of Alexandroupolis.
Trains do not make the crossing. Wikivoyage Turkey says no cross-border trains run from Turkey to any other country. For Greece it names two ways. One is Edirne, then a Greek domestic train in Kastanies, 9 kilometres southwest across the border. The other is Sofia, with a change for Thessaloniki.
The same page calls Edirne the second capital of the Ottoman Empire. It also names a bus from Athens via Thessaloniki as one way to reach Istanbul. Wikivoyage Greece adds that the land border can be crossed to Turkey. Check whether greece and turkey tour packages cross by road or by sea, as these are two different trips.
What changes between Greek and Turkish food on greece and turkey tour packages?
Wikipedia says Greek climate and terrain suit goats and sheep better than cattle, so beef dishes are rare. In Turkey, Wikivoyage names rice as the main staple of the north and west, and bulgur wheat elsewhere. So greece and turkey tour packages move between two different food bases.
Breakfast has its own word in Turkish, kahvalti, which means before coffee. Wikipedia lists menemen as a breakfast specialty, a dish of eggs, green peppers, tomatoes, onion and olive oil.
A yoghurt dip shows how close the two kitchens sit on greece and turkey tour packages. Wikivoyage Greece describes tzatziki as strained yoghurt with olive oil, garlic, cucumber and dill or mint. Wikipedia describes Turkish cacik as a diluted cold yoghurt dish with garlic, salt and cucumber slices.
Wikipedia names the taverna and the estiatorio as widespread Greek restaurants serving home cooking. A Turkish home meal starts with soup, the Turkish cuisine page adds.
Which language helps on greece and turkey tour packages?
Each country has one official language: Greek in Greece and Turkish in Turkey, as Wikivoyage states. Wikivoyage Turkey says schools that train students for tourism send out thousands who want to practise their languages on visitors.
Turkish uses Latin letters, and its spelling is very phonetic, says Wikivoyage Turkey. Loanwords show how it works. Cheesecake becomes cizkek, T-shirt becomes tisort, and elevator becomes asansor, from the French ascenseur. That makes signs easy to sound out on greece and turkey tour packages.
Greek has its own alphabet, from which the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets were derived, notes Wikivoyage Greece. The language has been spoken in the country for nearly 4,000 years. In English, the United Nations now uses the Turkish spelling, Turkiye, for the country, says Wikivoyage Turkey.
Migration has left German speakers even in rural Turkish villages, the same page notes. English is also increasingly popular among the younger generation there.
Do greece and turkey tour packages use the same plugs and money?
The plugs match, but the money does not. Wikivoyage lists 230 volts and 50 hertz for both countries, with Europlug and Schuko sockets. A traveller pays in euros on the Greek side and in Turkish lira on the Turkish side. So greece and turkey tour packages change currency once at the border.
Euro banknotes look the same in every country, says Wikivoyage Greece. Euro coins share one design on the reverse and carry a country-specific design on the obverse. The page adds that the obverse design does not affect whether a coin is accepted.
Turkey has a currency story of its own. Wikivoyage Turkey says the Central Bank created the lira symbol after a country-wide contest. This page quotes no rate and no amount, because rates move.
Wikivoyage Turkey says buses have a USB socket for charging a phone. It suggests carrying two cables and a power bank.