hi alex,
altho it's eleven years since we did the trip from kos to bodrum, definatley would not go again, especially with two young children. we set off from kardamena at 7am, but didn't sail from kos town till about 10-30, after queing up for visa's etc. takes about 45 mins, then when we got to bodrum, were you hand your passports over, we were herded like cattle, to the bazzar(out door market) which seemed like miles. i know it was july and it was scorching hot, all we wanted to do was drink water, it was to uncomfortable to walk about. then you had to be back at 3-30pm to pick your passports up, before sailing back to kos, to all our party it was a day wasted, like i said never again

jeppo

Thanks Jeppo

It does seem like a bit too much trouble to me.
I didn't think of the visas either. That would put another £40 on the trip.

Alex - we have done this trip twice from Kos, first time we really had a good day, as it was all new sights and sounds, and got loads of cheaps watches and fake tee shirts and stuff. Went again last year, and must say we were very disappointd with it, you get LOADS of hassle from the locals wanting you to buy their stuff, and its just a cattle market, you cannot even try the food safely, not saying its all the same but seeing their standard of hygein I certainly wouldn't try eating anything, and certainly not drink the water unless you want to spoil the rest of your holidays. The reps all push it - but I would say keep your money in your pocket, especially with two little ones.
Heather

I went last September, i didn't book though the holiday rep, I booked it in a shop just near the front and it cost 10.00 euro's.. the day was ok but again I didn't like the hassle from the Turkish men..

Hmm, we went to Kos for a week last year and ended up going to Bodrum twice! The first time we went, we booked the trip with a company who do the hydrofoil to Bodrum and other islands, it cost 10 euros but with taxes went up to 18 euros....the crossing also includes a trip around Bodrum, we were a bit sceptical but we had a really good guide who was working for the company as part of her Army national service. You get to see the windmills, the Myndos Gate, you go past the ancient theatre and you get a bit of history as well....now the new shopping centre at the top of Bodrum sponsors the tour and you do get taken to the big gold shop there..it'll take about an hr and 15 mins and you get dropped off back in the twon, but you don't have to do the tour, it is optional. We did it and enjoyed it. We then shopped around Bodrum, we didn't get that much hassle, it was October though, in fact we were surprised as in one shop, they did not want to haggle and had signs up saying so! We found that Turkey had gone up in price since we did our day trip to Marmaris from Rhodes but you could try and get bargains. Hubby also wanted to go round the very impressive castle but we didn't have time to do this so we decided to come back the next day, so we stepped off the hydrofoil and went back into twon to re-book for the next day. It is an early start but we didn't find the queues to be as bad as what was made out, maybe it is a very different story in high season.

we are going to kos this july, and are wanting to do the trip over to bodrum, we have been on holiday to turkey and loved it, so thats why we want to pop back.

we want to organise the trip ourselves as oppose to going with a rep, does anyone know if this way is exceptionally difficult?

we also found turkey to be lovely and clean, and if you just say "no thanks" to those giving you hassle, and carry on walking you should be fine.

Hi We did this trip when our daughter was 10 and I wouldn't go again. In fact it put us right off a Turkish holiday. You have to wait ages on the harbour for the visas no matter what time you leave your hotel. The crossing is nice but that's where it ends. My sister had a lovely holiday in Turkey but what you have to remember is you don't get to go much further than the port, which we found to be stinking. The smell of urine was very strong and the people were a nuisance trying to get you to go for a camel ride (only about 200yards at an exorbitant price). When it was time for lunch we found all the cafes to be grubby and we were afraid to eat in them. We bought a couple of boxes of Turkish Delight as souveneirs and then decided to open one when we realised they came from under the counter not from the shelf. (The box was full of weavels), and there was no way you could get your money back.The hotel area of Bodrum may be beautiful, but where you land certainly isn't. Admitedly it was cheap but our opinion was cheap and nasty.

we went to kos last year...to tingaki, and we did a day trip to bodrum and organised it without the rep, it wasn't that expensive i we found it brilliant, yeah you do get hassled but the trick is not to pay much attention and not to show your interested. It didnt take long for us at all, a coach picks you up and takes you to kos town were you get a boat over to bodrum then it only takes about 10 mins to get things sorted(we went over on one of them hoover boats-it's faster)
It was a brilliant trip!
from
nikkixxx

Freinds please explain me...
how much time u can spend in Bodrum when u go there from Kos. when the boat arrive to bodrum and when it leaves back to kos. i am not very much interested in the shopping. i would not like to stay in the port. why u say that u had to stay in the port i dont understand, why i cant go for a walk to the city , i want to see some historical places ..theatre...museum and the whole city itself. why i cant do it...how many hours i can stay in bodrum and when does th last boat to kos leaves.
thanks

Romantica99 - from memory, there are several boats that go from Kos Town to Bodrum..they all tend to leave in the morning so you get to Bodrum about 9.30am..the boats then tend to come back around 4 to 4.30pm..they let you know what time they are coming back before you leave the boat! The quickest way to get across is by the hydrofoil...if you don't like shopping, then have a look round the castle and the Myndos Gate and for great views over Bodrum/Gumbet go to the windmills!
Tinka14