On axolotl's point about Schengen -- whoa! I didn't realize how hard it could be to stay more than 90 days in Schengen (I am USA). At the moment, it seems plausible to just spend 90 days, exiting through Croatia, down through the Balkans and Bulgaria to Turkey. But once Bulgaria enters Schengen -- possibly as early as the end of this year -- that route will be closed, and getting to Turkey requires going through Greece or Bulgaria.


An interesting wrinkle. It may be fairly easy to overstay the Schengen visit when *exiting* in the southeast. I'll have to see how this develops. Thanks for the tip!