We are planning a trip to Turkey for three weeks in May. This is the itinerary that I am working on, hopefully you will just be full of comments and suggestions.
Istanbul (4 nights)
Cappodocia (fly to Kayseri or Nevsehir) staying in Urgup or Goreme. (4 nights with rental car)
Pamukkale (hopefully flying to Izmir) I'm not sure where to stay in this locale, or how many nights to allow. (2-3 nights with rental car)
Ephesus (by car) Probably staying in Selcuk for four nights to explore the area.
Some place on the Aegean Sea where we can charter a gulet boat for a blue water cruise and drop the rental car. Maybe Bodrum or Fethiye?
Return to Istanbul for flight back to U.S. by air from someplace (?)
Our plans are rough so any suggestions will be appreciated.
Sounds like a great plan! I spent only 2 weeks in Turkey a few years ago, and would love to return.
I spent much of my time in Istanbul, with 4 days in Cappadocia (I also flew in and out of Kayseri)Unfortunately I didn't have the foresight to book a rental car, I think you'll find it really helpful to have your own car.
You might enjoy spending a few extra days in Istanbul. There really is an enormous amount of very interesting things to see and do right in Istanbul.
I loved having a Turkish bath (complete with massage) at a historic bath (the Cagaloglu Hamami) and spent a great day taking the local ferry up the Bosphorous (I think pre-arranged tours are also possible) It was a cool way to see different parts of the city -- and I just thought it was thrilling to actually be chugging up the Bosphorous!
And of course the Haghia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern and the Topkapi Palace are all fascinating!
Excellent program. Turkey is an extremely underestimated destination. You will have a great trip. You will see the kind of archeological sites like Greece, but you will be eating wayyyyyyyyy better. -- A nonnegligible point for this foodie.
Thanks for the encouragement, it is much needed as we are moving out of our comfort zone for independent travel. We are looking forward to experiencing Turkey and are still fine tuning the itinerary.
Hello Cracker: My daughter and I travelled in Turkey last fall. We are independent budget travellers and had no difficulty. Turks are friendly, helpful people.
Your itinerary looks great. We found arriving in the early afternoon in Pamukkale and leaving the next day around noon for Selcuk ample time to explore the travertine. If you want to explore the Roman ruins extensively another night may be in order.
We did not do a gulet cruise but found the Fethiye/Oldeniz area heavily frequented by package tour groups. Given a second visit we'll probably choose to stay in Kas.
There are a couple of recent trip reports and hotel recommendations on this site that may be of use to you.
All the best with your planning. Dennis
Posts: 293 | Location: Calgary, Alberta Canada | Registered: 08 November 2003
Cracker, You have the right idea. Travelling IS about moving out of one's comfort zone. I have one Istanbul restaurant to recommend: Kime Ne, on n°12 in the funky Çiçek Pasajı in Beyoğlu. At night Gypsy musicians play there, and all the diners join in.
I will second Kas. It is a lovely place with a nice marina etc. Not too big (like Kalkan!), still touristy of course, but managable. Had a Turkish bath there, great fun!
Another place we actually quite enjoyed was Dalyan and the Caunos ruins. Small place with some really good restaurants and incredibly friendly people (everyone, everywhere was though...)and of course the tombs!
We stayed in Selcuk for 2 nights (Canberra Hotel...approx 40TYL per night per door sign, ...clean, but minimal accomos..good for the price) Selcuk was used as a base for Ephesus and that area. They have a nice museum and a lot of restaurants and best of all, a night market!
Fethiye was touristy, but lots of restaurants, a nice covered(ish) market and a big marina where you could probably find a gulet cruise. I read a few negative things about booking gulets at the marina, but I'm sure there are positive experiences too. We booked out gulet cruise thru Explore Worldwide. Took a chance on a "group tour" and it all worked out just fine. We were also with friends, so if our cabin mates hadn't worked out we'd at least have each other. The gulets are not airconditioned, so be prepared to sleep on deck (grab your pillow and blankie), a lot of people did and it's fanatastic...if not in a marina the night sky is unreal. Stopped at many idyllic coves and bays for swimming...the water is crystal clear and that special Med/Aegean blue.
In Pamukkale we stayed (again part of the tour pkg) at the Pamuksu Hotel. Basic rooms (air con got turned off at 8AM and it was HOT), clean, very nice people and large, by most other hotels standards, breakfast buffet, beautiful pool with sort of a view of the terraces. Hierapolis in the evening is best after a visit to the "cotton castles"...less people and about 1000 degrees less than the the mid day temps. Great ruins too.....awesome necropolis.
Istanbul is incredible! We stayed at the Ferman Hotel (Sultan room I think...)and would highly recommend it. I think they must have the best rooftop terrace in Istanbul...only breakfast and bar service right now, but said they were opening a restaurant really soon. Met the hotel owner one evening while enjoying the views and drinks. The staff there are really nice especially the older fellow that got the breakfast set up each morning.
Didn't get to Cappa , but definitely will next time.
I'm still working on going through my 1500 pics, but will try and get them up and posted (not to worry, not all of them LOL) soon and of course write up my journal.
Turkey is an awesome place. It's on our list of places to definitely go back to someday. We were there for 3 weeks and didn't make a dent in what there is to see anywhere. 5 days in Istanbul could easily have been turned into 10.
One thing we did that I wouldn't do again.....we did the ferry up the Bosphorus to a place called Anadolu Varagi because it's the last stop and supposedly had the best seafood restaurants. Well....that's all it has are restaurants and lots of them. We had a great lunch NOT on the waterfront for about half the price. Absolutely nothing else to do there. I would recommend the ferry, but get off somewhere else along the way that offers a little more to do than just eat.
In Istanbul definitely head up to Taksim and Istakal Caddessi (sp???) what an exciting area.
Be warned though....Istanbul is not a terribly pedestrian friendly city...those little green walking men on the walk/don't walk lights really don't mean much LOL.
Definitely go the the Cisterns....wow!
Well I should probably work on my trip report rather than babbling on here and get those pics posted!
Cracker: Don't tell everyone....but Turkey is wonderful!!! I've been there a few times. The people are tremendous, as is the food. It's like an open air museum, ruins and sights to see round every corner. Don't be afraid to drive, we were there last September and drove everywhere, hardly a car on the road away from the big cities. The gas prices were high, though, about $3Can a litre. Kas is a great litle town, and if you don't want to go on a long gulet cruise, you can just get a boat out for the day from there(or indeed from any of the coastal towns.) to the sunken city of Kekova. I liked Kalkan too; we stayed at a B and B called The White House, which was lovely. Here is a photo of the harbour at Kalkan . Let us know if you need help planning your trip.
Thanks to all for so much good information, you have given me new destinations to research and made me more confident about doing independent travel in Turkey. I do appreciate all of the help and will have questions as our plans get more specific.
We will be traveling with friends and are hoping to charter a small gulet boat for 3-4 days, if anyone has a gulet boat company they were have worked with I would love to have the name.
Dennis, I forgot to mention that I did read your trip report and found it very helpful, thanks for sharing the details of your trip. It sounds like you had a great time in Turkey.
The only change I would make is spending longer in Istanbul. We were in Istanbul 9 days and barely touched the surface. The rest of your trip sounds great. Cappadocia is wonderful. I think less time in the Esphesus or Pammakale areas (but do go) could give you more time in Istanbul! BJinNM
I agree about spending less time in Pamukkale. The first time I went there, we only spent one night there, and saw all the cliffs and Hieropolis. The hotel we stayed in is long gone, as since my first visit they have changed it into a World Heritage Site,cleaned the whole area up, and got rid of all the tacky hotels and junky stalls along the cliffs. This last time we arrived by car around ten am, and left to drive on to Bursa by about 3pm. Istanbul is wonderful, and you will be amazed at all the things to do, see, eat, etc. there. I could stay for a month and be quite happy. Here is the amphitheatre at Hieropolis last September; it's up behind the cliffs and pools.
, but definitely will next time.
