Crete to Istanbul and tips for our Greece/Turkey itinerary

My husband and I are planning on taking a 3.5 week holiday to Greece and Turkey in late September or early October. Here is our general plan:

2 days in Athens
4-5 days driving through Epirus, where my husband's grandfather is from. We would like to see Delphi and Meteora.

2-3 days in Santorini
3-4 days in Crete, where my husband's grandmother is from.

4-5 days in Istanbul
2 days in Cappadocia
Fly back to United States

Is there a boat or ferry from either Santorini or Crete to Istanbul? We have not booked anything yet and have flexibility in our schedule, so we are willing to rearrange the order of the trip. Round trip flights from Los Angeles to Istanbul are very inexpensive through Turkish Air these days, but we prefer to travel in one direction if possible.

Any recommendations on must-see locations are also very welcome. We enjoy art, historical sites, and unusual nature that is hard to find in other parts of the world. Thank you!

There are no ferries from any Greek island to Istanbul. From both Santorini and Crete you can take a ferry to Rhodes and then another across into So. Turkey at Bodrum, Fethiye or Marmaris. From there you can bus or fly to Istanbul.

Greece and Turkey are close neighbours on a map, but there are some historic and political dividers between the 2 countries and that also translates in the transport options. There are 5 or more daily flights between ATH and IST, but connections between other places are much less frequent or non-existent. There are no ferries from anywhere in Greece to Istanbul. From Crete, you could take a ferry to Rhodos and then another one to Marmaris, where you can take a bus to Cappadocia or Istanbul; but this is a long journey. Flying would be more practical and Aegean has a few direct flights per week from Crete/Iraklio to Istanbul Sabiha. Plenty of 1-stop flight connections through ATH. No direct flights from Santorini, so again 1-stop connections. Check a site like Skyscanner to see what's available.
Make sure you get an e-visa for Turkey before you leave (it seems to be mandatory since Jan 2015 ).

I believe you try to fit way too much in your time frame. 4-5 days for Epirus(where exactly?),Delphi and Meteora does not make much sense to me. Getting to Crete for 3-4 days could maybe make some sense if you concentrate on an area close to the port/airport of entry/exit to the island, but not so much if you seek to be on a spot 4 hours driving away or whatever. You mention days on an area as they are full days, but in reallity they are not. You do not count travel time among places which can be a pain especially when connections include several hours driving or long ferry rides or having to go through an intermediate destination to connect dots...

Nothing wrong with ferries, if you could go from somewhere central like Naxos/Paros and then switch to the Northern Sporathes line and go into port on the mainland though, (and I don't know if that's possible) then youd be spending so much time at sea that youd be smoking pipes by the time you get to Alexanthroupoli. But I must say that if the visitor has so little interest in the culture and history of the Hellenic Republic that they expect to just hop on a ferry to Turkey, they should probably go somewhere else.

Across both countries, 17 year old boys are right now living in military slavery due to the (perceived) threats of the other country. No women, All men. Hows THAT for sexism. In the past its been three years, then it was reduced, recently it became one year (except for units like mine that require longer), and now I think its less than a year, though Im not sure because Im living in exile. Due to military slavery (conscription/stratoloyia) which is UNPAID - rather they pay a couple pennies to keep inside those BS Geneva Conventions - my father, a pacivist, faces 3 years in prison if he goes back, because he refused to do conscription (over the Turkish-Hellenic nonsense). There have been forced 'population swaps' and masses of wars throughout history between these two countries, including the continuing illegal occupation of Cyprus.

Basically what Im trying to say, as youre planning on going between both countries without the least bit of research....

...is NO, you Cannot just take a happy holiday boat to the Turkish coast on your oblivious jetsetting vacation! Capiche?

Im sorry, and I think the whole Hellenic-Turkish thing is mostly just stupid, but if youre planning on going to both countries on the same holiday, youre better to learn it from someone before you go.

OP posted nearly two weeks ago and never came back, but as other people may read this.....

While yes, there is some tension between Greece and Turkey, I am not sure I get some posts here that may be confusing to someone not familiar with the area. Tourists fit locations on both countries in one trip all the time and no one face them like criminals because they visited the rival country, for godness sake!
Politics do not always influence local people who often visit one another's country on a regular basis too if they live in a covenient area.

Italy is a country on a very friendly relationship to Greece, still there are only ferries from Patra, Igoumenitsa and Corfu in Greece to Brindisi, Barri, Ancona and Venice in Italy. There are no ferries from say Santorini or Athens to Napoli or Rome area or wherever. A simple look on the distances on a map is self explanatory I believe as it is the fact that the existing routes are of commercial and tourism interest and can survive on a finanial point of view.

The same thing applies to connections between Greece and Turkey, there are connections on trains and buses from Northern mainland Greece to Istanbul as there are ferries between islands on the east of Greece to near by Turkish coast.
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/trans/Ship/GreekIslandFerries.html

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