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Originally Posted by SoBelle
My husband and I are in the beginning stages of planning a trip to the Mediterranean, with target dates by the end of next Autumn (earliest possible departure March, latest in October.) We might be going for as little as two weeks or as long as two months. We want to visit as many places as possible and are taking a poll of the most wonderful places you've visited along the way. The countries we are most interested in are Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Malta, Cyprus, Sardinia, Italy, Sicily and Crete, but are open to suggestions. Here are our questions:
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Two general thoughts come to mind. If you leave in October, remember that November will be more showery than the summer months; on the other hand, August in some places is bestial with heat and humidity, but if you are used to the American South that might not be a problem.
The other is to give yourself time to see things and not create a breathless schedule of must-sees for yourself. Give yourself time to be able to sit and relax from time to time.
I live in Portugal, which while it shares many characteristics of a Med country in appearance, is an Atlantic-facing nation, which while it has shared North African Muslim culture was on the fringe of the Med world.
- Which is your favorite Mediterranean destination(s) and why?
Istanbul....it is mind boggling, however, be prepared to feel crowded in a way one does not in the U.S. and Western Europe. The idea of personal space is much different. However, the Ottoman architecture is stunning, I am thinking primarily of the mosques and other bldgs built by Sinan. The boat ride up toward the Black Sea is very picturesque.
I took several of the guided tours offered by Insight Travel, the groups were not big and the guides were personable and more than passingly informed about the sights. I wanted a personal tour of some of the lovely Sinan mosques that are not on the usual tour routes of the city, and I asked Insight to arrange a guide and driver for me alone. It has to be the one of the best investments I ever made. I had a tour of places on both sides of the Bosphorus, that rarely get seen by visitors and one that required special permission to enter. Don't remember the cost...it wasn't very expensive, and it was a travel high point of my life. Erman, the guide, was an enthusiastic walking encyclopedia.
Topkapi palace offers two levels of admission, one to the general public grounds and a more expensive one that includes the living areas of the palace. It is chock-a-block with tourists, and I left feeling that it was a notch on my gun rather than the very satisfying experience that the other tours had been.
I stayed in the Fehmi Bey hotel, a very small, tatty place just off the Hippodrome. It was clean, though cramped and very old-fashioned. But my first morning I awoke to the muezzin chanting the dawn call to prayer from the Blue Mosque, and lay in bed listening to the muezzins in other mosques then begin their chanting like an echo...it was a perfect beginning.
- What is your favorite sight, activity or experience?
Each time I go somewhere, I always go to a cafe or bar where there are no tourists at least once. It is a much different experience to pass an hour in a simple neighborhood coffee bar where local people drop in than to be in a "nicer" place that has entirely too many tourists, and is very busy in a big way.
- Which culture do you most enjoy or find most interesting?
I enjoy Barcelona for its modernist architecture, and there are other older towns fairly nearby. Also you can fly to Majorca very quickly...and though people slam Palma as too touristy, the Cathedral is impressive and interesting, and I took the old train up to the village of Soller in the mountains and stayed there for three days or so...it is an interesting little place to walk around in, and certainly picturesque.
If you do go to Cyprus be sure to go to the Turkish sector of Nicosia and not just the Greek one, the more interesting historical sites are on that side. Also take a tour of the old Byzantine churches in southern Cyprus, and do not be satisfied with a tour that just includes Kykkos....there are many lesser visited gems there. Greeks Cypriots are very outgoing and easy to deal with.
- Where, in your opinion, do we need to avoid at all costs?
Well, you may be disappointed in the city of Athens...the Parthenon and Plaka not withstanding.
The southern (Greek) part of Cyprus is a bargain bin tourist destination for the British, and I found the small cities along the south coast jammed with them, and the cities themselves are ugly in my opinion. Perhaps given the very bad economic conditions in the UK the Brits are there in more bearable numbers now. Cyprus is very hot and humid in August, upper 90's F. (I lived in Cyprus for three years.)
I would not linger over Malta, it has traditionally been another jam-packed tourist destination. Valletta is worth a day, but after that, flee. Sicily is better by far, IMO.[/quote]