Galaxy: Athens, Istanbul, Ephesus- anyone do these on their own?

[mlbcruiser]

We have a couple of tours booked independently w/some of the other cruisers on our roll call for Istanbul and Ephesus early this summer. However, we are thinking more and more of doing at least Istanbul on our own. Also, Athens. Would appreciate tips or advice from of any of you who have visited these cities from the Galaxy on your own.

[casavaha]

We hired a taxi to see Ephesus. We told him where we wanted to go.

He dropped us off at the entrance to Ephesus and picked us up 3 hours later

at the other end. We bought a guide book and did our own thing. We took

longer, but so what. We had not paid him anything so he waited.

He tried to take us to some stores but we got out and paid him off and went

to the bazaar on our own.

They have a bad habit of substituting items when you ask to have them

wrapped. Take it unwrapped.

[mlbcruiser]

casavaha, do you recall how much the taxi to Ephesus cost (each way or RT?). We were also interested in seeing the home of the Virgin Mary. I have NO idea how close this is to Ephesus (?). We have an independent guide lined up w/a group now, but the cost, though not higher than the ship's similar tour, is an all day thing and we are not so sure we want to use up the entire day looking at ruins, etc. Our ship offers one tour just to Ephesus that is only 3 1/2 hrs. long in total. I wonder how much of a cattle call that one is or if it would suit our purposes.

 

We were in Malta once and had hired a taxi to take us around w/another couple. He, too, took us to 2 places to shop and we hadn't asked to go anyplace like that. It took up too much of the 2 hrs. he priced out for us for the tour. Yes, we complained but we all ended up coming to a middle ground on the price adjustment and he threw in a bit of extra sightseeing as a result, so it didn't end up too badly.

 

Thanks for the info. and for the heads up about having things wrapped! I will pass that one on to our roll call posters!

[sbc98grad]

We hired a driver at greecebytaxi. We were slated to be with Paul, but had an itinerary change during the cruise and ended up with another person who works for him. He was fabulous. You can contact them at grrecebytaxi@greecebytaxi.com.

[mlbcruiser]

Thanks for the suggestions. One of our main issues is COST. We are already spending what to us is quite a lot for a couple of tours on this cruise. I'm afraid a private driver to sightsee would be out of our range. That's why I am trying to find out just how difficult it would be to do some of these places on our own. I think we will probably end up using the guide we have w/a few other people from our ship to visit Ephesus and do a dinner show, and try to do Istanbul and Athens on our own. Thanks for the help everyone!

[nparmelee]

For Athens you can take the metro to the Acropolis and Plaka areas or a cab, depnding on ho wmany people you have.

[mlbcruiser]

Two people on a tripadvisor thread said NOT to take a cab to the Acropolis. Does anyone know why? Cost? Length of drive? Is the metro close to the port, and will we easily able to find advice in English to ask directions on how to get someplace by metro (or any other way?). Thanks for any replies.

[DonLou]

You can easily do Istanbul on your own. Taxi cabs are plentiful. As I recall they are not too expensive. The taxi drivers will speak at least passable English. If you wanted to, you could probably walk across the Galata Bridge to the Grand Bazaar from the ship (maybe a good 2 miles). From the Grand Bazaar, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and other venues are within a 1/2 mile. You can go to the main entrance of the Grand Bazaar to pick up a return cab back to the dock.

[mlbcruiser]

Donlou, that is very good information! Thank you!

[jody]

MLB Cruiser,

It's about a half mile walk (15-20 minutes) to the Metro station from the cruise port. Here's some info from my review of my 2003 Med cruise (for Athens):

 

Follow the road from the terminal around the port for about 15-20 minutes. When you see all the large ferries (versus cruise ships), you will be getting close. The train station is in an unmarked yellow building. We noticed a white Internet Café sign posted on the street corner outside of the building. Enter into a set of doors halfway down the building to your right and you should see ticket machines and a ticket window. If you have change, you can buy your ticket from the machine. Be sure to validate your ticket in the machine as you walk out of the vestibule/ticket area and towards the train platform.

We found it easy to take the metro (to the Acropolis then we walked to the Plaka area). The train is VERY crowded, so watch your valuables.

 

To ensure we were on the right track, we stopped younger folks and asked 'Metro?' and we would point the way we were going and we would get a nod of affirmation to let us know we were going the right way.

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