I'm travelling Europe with my boyfriend starting May and whilst we're out there, we want some chill time and I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a place to spend this?

I'm looking for a village or small town on Greek or Turkish mainland, with a quiet, traditional, friendly feel. Preferably a nice beach nearby, and maybe even a fruit and veg market. Romantic. Not too difficult to get to. Nice views. Good simple food. Not overrun by upmarket tourists. Perhaps where the natives holiday.
There must be millions of places like the one I've described, but if anyone can think of any that are particularly good I'd be grateful.

Also, what's the best island hopping route Turkey - Greece via the islands (taking into account money as well as which islands to go to)?

One more thing, I'd love to travel Eastern Turkey but information on it isn't as readily available as it is for the rest of the country. I've read up on the sites, but does anyone have any info on the infrasture and how easy it is to get about from place to place without flying? What are the best routes? How easy to find budget accomodation is it? Or is it safer and easier to join a tour group (I'd rather not) as opposed to doing it independently? What's the current situation out there and is it likely to change in the next couple of months?

Cheers all

A place that would fit most of your requirements is the small village of Gumusluk, on the Agean Coast very near to Bodrum. You can get there my minibus from the bus stationin Bodrum. It's a beautiful small fishing village/resort area with good hiking, calm water and open fields. May would be the perfect month to be there, and with Bodrum being so close you have access to all the "big city" distractions without having them around you most of the time.

Hi,

I travelled Turkey las September with FezTravel Tours and highly recommend them...

I say it´s safe, never felt in in danger and had a wonderful time...but of course, be sensible and respectful of local customs regarding conservative, baggy clothes as this especially applies in the more reomte areas of the East...

Also, try asking your question on the Lonely Planet Thorntree as you´re more likely to get specific advice and information about the east of Turkey there...due to the enormous number of travellers and amount of information available!

Try to take a gulet cruise on one of the smaller(8 berth) more quiet boats from Fethiye for some quiet time ... around €25 euro per day ...

I highly recommed a visit to Cappadochia as a jumping off point for your tour of Mt Nemrut and the East, then return to Cappadochia to either pick up the Fez bus again (it´s a backpackers hop on hop off bus!) or take the overnight train from Cappadochia to return back to Istanbul and continue around to where you started the tour. You can also start the tour from somewhere like Marmorice if that´s where you arrive off the ferry from say, Rhodes in Greece.

Here are some more links and recommendations

* Blue Yacht Cruises
* V-Go Blue Cruises

If you go to Gallipoli, Gallipoli - stay at TJ's Hostel in Eceabat! Web Site Tel: 90 286 814 3121ñ [EMAIL]info@anzacgallipolitours.com [/EMAIL] - And ask for the tour of the battlefield by Kenan (pronounced Canon, yes Canon, like the camera !) - he is a world renowned historian and expert on the Gallipoli Campaign!

see Here for more info I posted before...

Good luck, happy trails

Philip

Try the village/small resort of Dalyan in south west Turkey. It's in a conservation area and not on the beach, so although it has been developed for tourism (i.e. there are hotels, guesthouses and restuarants) it's reasonably low-key. You can "chillout" in several different ways. Swimming in nearby Lake Koycegiz (pick up a cheap boat ride in the village) is highly recommended.

If you can make it to the islands, Hora village on Folegandros in the Greek Cyclades is also beautiful and one of the sleepiest places I've ever been. You can sit in the Hora cafe, under the trees and believe that the world is really not too bad.

If you want to read more, reports of our fairly recent holidays, travelling independently, can be found on our non-commercial website, www.avengerpenguins.com .
The reports are really for people interested in birds and wildlife, but there's plenty of info for travellers, including some recommended accommodation and places to eat.

i think the best island in greece to get to turkey is samos there are two boats every day. this is a good site to look at as it has all the ferrie crossings and prices you need for turkey and also turkish domestic ferries. http://ferries.itgo.com/ferries/domestic.html you dont say where your flying to in greece. if its athens there is a boat every day to samos there are also fast boats. you can go to http://www.ferries.gr/ it has all the boats info you need for greece and you can book online. turkey also has very cheap bus travel from izmir to istanbul you can pay about £15 for a good air conditioned bus. but going short hops on the busses will cost just as much. enjoy your travels.

I was last in Turkey in September 2002.I got as far east as Diyarbakir.it is a large town still encircled by the ancient walls made of black basalt. even in September the temperature reached 35 degrees Celsius. transport is easy using one of the numerous private bus companies and cheap. as a single male traveller I encountered no problems at all.

not being a fan of the beach I cannot recommend any towns or villages that are close to the coast. but I did like Nicaea and it has an excellent midweek market. I spent two days relaxing here after visiting Istanbul. other towns little visited by tourists include the historic towns of Afyon and Bergama. Enjoy your trip!

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I'm looking for a village or small town on Greek or Turkish mainland, with a quiet, traditional, friendly feel. Preferably a nice beach nearby, and maybe even a fruit and veg market. Romantic. Not too difficult to get to. Nice views. Good simple food. Not overrun by upmarket tourists. Perhaps where the natives holiday.
There must be millions of places like the one I've described, but if anyone can think of any that are particularly good I'd be grateful.

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Nafpaktos on the gulf of Corinth in Greece meets your description. The main problem there is that the national highway dumps a lot of traffic into what would otherwise be a very pleasant town centre. Supposedly a bypass road is being built. It may be finished by now; if so, and it gets rid of the traffic, Nafpaktos will be a gem.

Porto Germeno also is nice, though much smaller. You probably need a car to get there and to explore the surroundings.