The trains have stopped because of major rebuilding of tracks and rolling stock renovation in conjun

I will be on my first trip to Turkey and Greece for around 2.5 weeks this May. My boyfriend and I will be staying in Istanbul for the first 4 days and then we were hoping to rent a car to possibly take a day trip down the Turquoise coast and then head backwards along the coast of Greece. national rental cars new zealand I am having national rental cars new zealand a bit of trouble finding a company that will let me check rates or make reservations online for this sort of trip. Any suggestions on companies I can look into? We were hoping to fly out of Athens back to IST for our flight home, so the rental is basically a one way situation - is this a problem for the rental companies? Would it be better to take a ferry across to Greece possibly and then rent a car there to get to a few locations?
Thank you both so much for your quick responses! I will look into both of those plans. I have done so many extensive road trips across the US and I enjoy exploring between two main points of interest. national rental cars new zealand It is a whole new experience when the country national rental cars new zealand next door is just a few hundred national rental cars new zealand miles away and you can't necessarily just take the car wherever you go
Are you actually saying that once you reach your southernmost destination on Turquoise Coast you will then turn around and head back north, driving along the Aegean, the western border of Turkey, then head west into Greece to Thessaloniki and then south to Athens, then fly back to Istanbul for your flight home?
Clausar, national rental cars new zealand from what I read I have a different understanding of their proposed itinerary than you do based on the question: "Would it be better to take a ferry across to Greece possibly and then rent a car there to get to a few locations?"
Wow, I've got to say I'm surprised at the snarkiness in response to this question. I definitely have spent a lot of time studying the geography of the region national rental cars new zealand in the hopes of taking a driving tour. Therefore, I can only assume that I am totally mistaken in my research that there appear to be roads connecting Turkey and Greece, via their shared border. I will note the changes on my maps!
Yes you are correct! I was talking about *possibly* driving further south from Istanbul into Turkey (maybe to Ephesus?) for a day or two (or that could be accomplished via the options of train/bus I have already looked into) and then backtracking North and East thru Turkey, and Southwest along the coast of Greece - but really the goal was to leave directly from Istanbul in a car and drive down thru Thessaloniki, to Athens, and maybe even to Kalamata or possibly to Lefkada.
I am just being ambitious - hoping to see the places my family is from and possibly to see my extended family, whom I have never met. I know much of this trip will be edited down to the must-dos and not be so unattainable.
It's under 700 miles if we start from Istanbul to Athens via the routes I mapped - which is exactly the route you mentioned, BLL. This is not far to drive over the course of a week and a half, with time to stop along the way and see some more of beautiful Greece. Really, my question was just about bringing a rental car across the Turkish/Greek border in a one-way rental not about ferrying rental cars. I was just asking about ferrying us - 2 people - from Turkey's western coast to Greece, national rental cars new zealand in the hopes we could somehow squeeze the coast of Turkey into this trip.
With all the differing state laws regarding national rental cars new zealand insurance and driving in the US, national companies do still allow you to cross state lines in their rental cars. I guess I was just curious if two countries might have these policies in Europe. Doesn't hurt to ask, right?
The first thing I would do would be to contact the international department of companies such as Autoeurope, Avis, Budget and Hertz to ask about crossing borders. You never know, they might have some sort of accomodation for this.
i checked with our fav rental site, kemwel, and it shows 'no dropoff in greece online. however-- national rental cars new zealand i would call them because they are so very helpful and real people (as in they really work with you.) they may have some ideas or creative solutions. kemwel uses agencies like hertz and autoeurope-- national rental cars new zealand but they will beat any rate you find. aside from that, i have just always found them to be super helpful. they should be able to give you the full scoop. much luck.
You will find that it really is impossible to take a rental car across borders from Turkey into the EC, especially on a one way rental and vice versa, because of both customs and insurance regulations. As far as i know all the major car rental companies national rental cars new zealand like Avis and Hertz have licencies in Turkey rather than owned operations, which makes it really, really impossible for them to provide any international assistance.
there are frequent buses from istanbul to Kavala and Tessaloniki. The route within turkey is not that exciting national rental cars new zealand except for the possible detour into Enez, just before national rental cars new zealand the border. Then you can rent your car from Kavala or tessaloniki to drop it in Athens with no difficulty. In fact, there may even be some flights from Istanbul to tessaloniki, national rental cars new zealand but i have not checked this.
I checked Avis on line system.... and there was a surcharge of 500 Euro for picking national rental cars new zealand up a car from Alexandroupolis and dropping national rental cars new zealand it off at the Athens Airport. ( this is quite common in Greece, as the car will have to be returned to Alexandroupolis)
Lotsofcats, I didn't see any snarkiness whatsoever in the replies to your question just a genuine desire to help, but confusion over your intentions. I couldn't make out what you wanted to do either, as the Turquoise Coast of Turkey and Thessaloniki in Greece are in opposite directions from Istanbul, and that would mean either doubling back or taking a ferry. It's difficult to display emotions in a forum post, which is why I make liberal use of smilies.
There may possibly be rental car drop-off arrangements between different countries within the European Community (EC), I don't know, but Turkey is not an EC member. From my current take of what you wish to do, it seems best to explore what you want to see in Turkey, fly from Istanbul to Thessaloniki or Athens, then pick up another rental car to explore there.
Amazing, and again - thanks everyone. I had gathered from reading the forum previously that people have really national rental cars new zealand good info to share and you guys are quick.! That is all incredibly national rental cars new zealand helpful national rental cars new zealand and the info will be put to good use.
In an unexpected twist, I am going to London for 6 weeks for work and will probably be pushing my Turkey/Greece vacation back a few weeks... and maybe even getting to extend my stay in both countries. Looks like this spring and early summer will be nothing short of a major adventure. I couldn't be more thrilled
I am planning a trip by camper around Greece this summer with my family (11/12 yo boys). Originally I was planning to fly into Athens, but now looks like we and will be flying in/out of Istanbul, Turkey.
I initially wondered whether it would be practical to hire the vehicle in Istanbul and drive to the Greece border, but from these replies (and others) it seems it will be ill advised, if indeed possible, which was my gut feeling from visiting Istanbul years ago.
I do not know the historic places to visit en route to Tessaloniki, but there is one within Turkey not too far from the Greek border called "Enez" national rental cars new zealand You can find some information on the level of excavation and the structures there on the web. What interested me most was a warehouse for mussels that was possibly 3000 or more years old not far from the antique Greek city.
The WW I battle sites at Dardannels have memorials, cemetaries and such but hardly any beached ship or weapon remains. They are also about 90 minutes or more from the main highway, towards the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula.
The inter-city buses in Turkey are usually very comfortable. Most have on board toilets. All have hosts who serve cold water and assist any way they can. They also have reasonably frequent rest stops.
The trains national rental cars new zealand have stopped because of major rebuilding of tracks and rolling stock renovation in conjunction with the Bosphorus railway tunnel which has been delayed partially due to the finding of a major antique port, ships and artifacts where the railway is expected to come above the ground, national rental cars new zealand not far from the Yenikapi ferry landing in Istanbul.
It seems there are opposing thoughts here, that driving in Turkey, esp out of Istanbul is a crazy idea and yet orherchelebi suggests driving to Enez and other interesting sites. That is largely academic as I plan to head straight to Greece as directly as possible.