Symi, Greece. Beautiful. But not easy to reach. |
We used Expedia and Orbitz to see what other options were out there and discovered we could fly to Rome or Istanbul direct. We then decided to explore an airline we knew didn't surface on Expedia and Orbitz--the dreaded (but grudgingly used) Ryanair from Ireland. We have used this low-cost carrier for strange hops in the past (Grenada to Madrid and Belfast to Glasgow). Sure enough, there was a flight from Rome to Rhodes--allowing us to bypass Athens. But the times didn't work out so we started looking at Turkish Airlines--thinking of flying from Dulles to Istanbul, spend a few days in Istanbul then on to Bodrum, Turkey and then a series of ferries to Rhodes, then Symi. But doing this route completely blows our plan for a short and simple route out of the water, plus the timing wasn't exactly awesome for all the different pieces.
I decided to search Ryanair one more time as they have multiple options into Rhodes from all over Europe. And low and behold! A new flight announced from London Stanstead! So I snapped that up allowing us to fly Dulles to London and then onto Rhodes. Perfect and Easy. Bookend the trip with a few nights in London (allowing us to have a couple good Indian meals and wander around one of our favorite cities) and able to bypass Athens and then zip over to Symi on the many ferries that move between Rhodes and Symi each day.
So to sum up the tips: Start with the big search engines to explore all your direct flight options; then see what low-cost carriers have to offer; don't hesitate to reach out to local travel agents. A travel agency in Bodrum and Symi both confirmed ferry service timetables for me and cemented my feelings that the fewer ferries, the better.
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