Marina-Oct 12-2012-Istanbul-Athens

[ALPHYL]

I am trying to find: A great, reasonable hotel in Athens, post cruise, Oct 22/23.

 

Also, need a great guide in Instanbul to tour Jewish sites, synagogues, etc.,

 

Lastly, can you buy tickets online for Topkapi and the Harem. If so, how?

 

Thanks all responders. :confused:

[tropicalkerry2002]

the Ava Hotel in 2009!

[ksps cruise fan]

I am trying to find: A great, reasonable hotel in Athens, post cruise, Oct 22/23.

 

Also, need a great guide in Instanbul to tour Jewish sites, synagogues, etc.,

 

Lastly, can you buy tickets online for Topkapi and the Harem. If so, how?

 

Thanks all responders. :confused:

 

Here's a copy of a message I orginally posted on "Other Mediterranean Ports" board. The tour I mentioned took place in 1996, but I just checked to see that the company's web site is still listing the tour.

 

My husband and I took a half day tour with Plan Tours that I recommend highly. We went inside every synagogue.

 

Even the process of entering the synagogues was fascinating. In 2003, two synagogues were bombed. Neve Synagogue, the synagogue that is currently in use for the Jews in Istanbul, was one of the bombed places and it now has seriously impressive security measures in place. We had to fax copies of our passports well in advance so the security office could do a security check on us. Arriving, we entered through an isolation room secured by heavy steel doors while security guards visually confirmed that we were the owners of the passports submitted earlier. One one level this was a despressing commentary about the modern society and on another level it was a fascinating experience.

 

Inside each synagogue the talk was given in a variety of ways: the rabbi himself, a representative of the synagogue, and our own private guide. Sometimes our guide showed us things in rooms outside the sanctuary even if someone else had given that portion of the tour. (We gave a nominal donation at every synagogue we visited, too.)

 

No other synagogue required the same level of security, but there's at least some level of security everywhere. That's certainly one reason the ship tours just do drive by visits and can keep the tour price low.

 

Logistics: We had a private guide and a driver throughout the tour. The driver is essential since many of the synagogues are in the older parts of the city where parking simply does not exist. The driver would drop us off outside the front entrance and wait elsewhere until getting a phone call from our guide.

 

This was a very, very special experience.

 

Your original post does not mention the date/s of your visit. Touring with Plan Tours requires significant advance preparation. I suspect this is the same for any company taking clients inside.

 

Here's the link to Plan Tours:

 

http://www.plantours.com/RL_Default.aspx

[pier]

We liked the Athens Gate Hotel in Athens. The hotel was clean, the location was great, and you could eat breakfast overlooking the Acropolis. We paid extra for a better room so we could have a view of the Acropolis.

[Mura]

Regarding a tour of synagogues in Istanbul, last November we used Runner Tours which did an excellent job.

 

However, the temples themselves had just started requiring a "voluntary" donation on top of the fee paid to the agency. It wasn't that we necessarily objected to making a donation, it just would have been nice to know about it beforehand. When you have booked a tour you don't necessarily carry enough cash to pay these donations if you didn't know about them in advance.

 

Mura

[ALPHYL]

Thanks--I was looking at both the AVA and the Athens Gate and both were recommended by fellow cruisers. I guess great minds think alike.

[ALPHYL]

Thanks for the recommendations on Jewish Heritage Touring in Istanbul. I will look into your suggestions and compare them to the one I used previously on a land tour--isakeske****.com. They were fabulous--I toured with Anna, Isak's wife. She too uses the car/driver system--her driver leaves us off at the site, and when you are ready to leave, she calls him on her cell and he is "there". No wasted time. She is an art history/architecture expert, fluent in about 6 languages and very personable. I recommend them highly, but I do want to compare other companies/prices for this trip. So again, thanks, but do consider them for all types of touring in Istanbul, Ephesus, etc.