Jill02

Ok. I am ready to do the final planning for 8 nights in Turkey. We (45 year old couple) arrive in Istanbul on October 16. No kids! It will be a red eye from SFO to Zurich, arriving in IST around 12:00 so we will be tired but have the day still (we are good about adjusting - that direction anyway. The way home is horrible but probably because we are going home).

Istanbul hotels? We can stay at Le Meridien on points. Is that location good? Maybe split it with a boutique hotel with some charm? We are thinking 4 nights. One day will be a guided tour of the major historical monuments. One day will be the ferry on the Bospherous, maybe to Princess Island. Realistically, can we grab gyros or other quick/cheap lunches? We have no clue about Turkish food or dinner restaurants. A realistic budget?

For the other 4 nights I don't think we will make it to Cappadacia. Ephesus is a must. We need to fly to Athens on October 24. I found a flight on Pegasus for $200 from Kusadasi. The ferries are tempting but seem slow, I cannot figure out the schedules and I don't trust anything Greek to operate reliably with a pending economic crisis in low season.

As part of our scientific travel research, we ate at a restaurant called The Bosphorous and the owner insisted we visit Antalya and the surrounding area. Should we rent a car in IST and just drive all over the place? We can stay at the Sheraton in Izmir (Cesme I think) on points. Is that a realistic home base to tour from?

We are mainly interested in the most popular tourist attractions, history oriented. We want to tour, not lay on a beach (plus it is Fall). FYI, afterwards we have 2 nights in Athens then do a cruise to some Greek islands, Croatia and Italy (so we don't have to plan or think for that segment of the trip. Just eat).

I welcome your opinions. Thanks in advance.

kja

> One day will be the ferry on the Bospherous, maybe to Princess Island.

??? I believe these are 2 distinct options - a ferry on the Bospherus or a ferry to Princes' Island (which is in the Sea of Marmara, not in the Bospherus).

> Realistically, can we grab gyros or other quick/cheap lunches?

Yes.

BarbAnn

You sparked my interest because my hubby and I will be arriving in Istanbul (from Sacramento) on Oct. 16. We will leave Turkey on October 23 to fly to Rome to board a cruise ship.

I did a lot of research on Turkey prior to booking hotels and air flights. We also have some friends that were in Turkey last year that advised us. The Le Meridien is not near the Sultanahmet (Historic Old Center). In fact, the hotel is not even on the map of Istanbul that my friends gave me. We will stay at a hotel near the Topkapi Palace that allows us to walk to most attractions. Everyone, including our friends, advised that we take a cruise up the Bospherous. We plan to do that. After 4 nights in Istanbul, we will fly to Cappadocia area for 3 nights. We will visit Ephesus while on our cruise. However, our friends actually flew down to Ephesus for the day from Istanbul and had a great time there. Our flight to Nevsehir (Cappadocia) is booked on Turkish Air (early morning flight to maximize sightseeing). I paid approx. $250 pp to fly Pegasus from Kayseri (Cappadocia) to Rome. All the hotels I booked are costing about 100 Euro per night (includes breakfast). Fodor's and Rick Steves guide books on Turkey contain a wealth of information. Also search this forum for more info.

Good luck. I hope the weather is sunny while we are there!

Jill02

Thanks Barb! Maybe we will see you there! Our itineraries are so close. We spent a week in Rome last year so we emphasized Greece and Croatia on this cruise itinerary, specifically ports where a day is OK.

We are very excited about our 8 nights in Turkey. Where are you staying in Istanbul? Maybe we will copy you and we can share a guide!

BarbAnn

Jill, we are staying at the Erboy Hotel (http://www.erboyhotel.com/)in Istanbul. We rarely use a guide for city stays. I research for months on a city or region and develop a day to day plan on what we will see/visit. When I was much younger (I'm 58), I was a travel agent/convention planner/tour guide.

What cruise are you taking out of Athens? A few years ago we took a Med cruise from Venice (visited Athens, Mykonos, Corfu, Katakolon and Split). Loved it so much we decided to take another cruise in the Med. This time we are on the 10 night Celebrity Equinox on Oct. 26 visiting Sicily, Athens, Kusadasi, Rhodes, Santorini, Mykonos and Naples. We no longer take ship excursions (been on about 25 cruises). If you haven't already, you should check out http://www.cruisecritic.com/

Happy travels!

astein12

Jill and BarbAnn - love to hear your final Turkey itineraries. My wife and I arrive on the redeye from Newark on November 5 for 8 nights as well. I'll keep you posted on our planning.

Jill02

Yes! Let's all share info. Barb - I admire all of your travel experience. We are only 45 and just now able to travel after those intense child raising years. I lived in Italy for a year and I am fluent in Italian so I am comfortable travelling there. But, I must say, a couple of years ago on my 8th visit to the Vatican, I enjoyed it 100x more with a great guide. We will probably hire a guide for a day or a half day when we do the major monuments in Istanbul. We end in Izmir and will also hire a guide in Ephesus. Pegasus was only $100 pp Izmir to Athens.

We are not cruisers but are doing the cruise as a "floating hotel". We leave out of Athens (Azamara Jourmey) so we will arrive a few days early,(after Turkey) to see Athens. We do Crete, Corfu, Split, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Ravenna and Venice. I have never been to Turkey, Greece or,Croatia before so we are very excited. For those ports, we will probably only want a guide in Corfu.

BarbAnn

Jill, you really do not need a guide in Corfu. Hubby & I rented a car there. Driving was easy. We drove to Paleokastritsa to see the monastery, took a 45 minute boat ride to see the cliffs/caves, stopped at Lakones for the view, toured Achilleion (a royal villa) and had enough time to wander around Corfu town for about 2 hours. Parking was plentiful. All in all, a great day.

We also use cruise ships as a floating hotel. I have found that many times it is less expensive on a cruise than adding up hotel, transportation between cities, food, etc. We took a cruise that circumnavigated New Zealand last year. It was less expensive than renting a car, hotels, air flights between cities. We have also met wonderful people on cruises...travel minded like my hubby and I. One couple we met three years ago have traveled with us two other times. We have plans to travel to Hawaii (land vacation) and an African Safari with them.

Ok, now back to Turkey. Here is our semi final plan:

I used AA frequent flyer miles for SMF-IST (via Madrid on IB).

Oct. 16: arrive IST. Pick up by Erboy Hotel (if you stay 3 or more nights they pick you up at the airport for free)

Oct. 17-19: Explore Istanbul May take a half day Bosphorus cruise (http://www.goreme.com/bosporus-cruise.php)

Oct. 20: Fly TK 2006 IST-Nasehir 07:05 - 08:20. Free transfer to Kelebeck Cave Hotel (http://www.kelebekhotel.com). Explore Goreme Open Air Museum.

Oct. 21-22: Take two different small group tours and a balloon ride offered through Kelebek Hotel.

Oct. 23: Fly Pegasus Air Kayseri/SAW/FCO 08:00-13:40

one website I found very helpful was http://web.me.com/dav_camp/go2istanb..._Istanbul.html.

Barb

Jill02

Hi Barb! That sounds so great! Everything except the hot air balloon which made my palms sweat so much I can hardly type! It sounds like you have an amazing passion for travel. I am hoping to get mine back.

We leave October 15 (because it makes the first day of FF off season! Even though we couldn't use our miles). At least we have a great red eye nonstop SFO to CDG with a real quick 90 minute connection to IST arriving at noon.

We are looking at luxury hotels. We prefer apartments but VRBO had nothing. It is great that most include breakfast and transfers. We will probably spend $700-$800 for 4 nights. We will use a half day guide for the major monuments and definitely take a Bosphorous cruise. The ferries are more highy recommended than private boats.

We really struggled with skipping Cappadocia but I think we are going to fly down to Izmir (Pegaus $100 total) where we can stay at a really nice Sheraton on the sea for free for 4 nights. We will rent a car (Avis $175) and do day trips, including Ephesus. We then fly to Athens and have 2 days before our cruise.

Thanks for the advise for Corfu. That sounds like a great itinerary for the day. I might hit you up for more details! We are trying to finalize Turkey before fine tuning the ports.

I do feel like we are paying way too much for our cruise plus $2400 in unexpected airfare when the FF miles didn't work. At least we ave great flights. We fly home from Venice at 11:30 am, connect in Zurich then fly nonstop to SFO arriving at 4:45 pm the same day.

At least Turkey is affordable and the dollar is doing well against then Euro. And we only need to pay for the 4 nights of hotel in Istanbul, we have points for the rest.

Jill ([email protected])

otherchelebi

Jill, just some comments :

- I doubt that you can get luxury hotels for $7-800 for four nights in istanbul. Four Seasons (Sultanahmet and Bosphorus) rooms sell for that much per night. However, you can get some decent smaller boutique hotels in the old town with all the other tourists.

- The Sherato at Cesme will be fine in October because you will not need the A/C on all the time. We hated it and others complained of the same thing afterwards because they turn of the A/C in the daytime even in the heat of Summer.

However, Cesme is close to two hours from Ephesus and longer away from other major antique sights in the area.

My wife and daughters are just coming back from there today from a lovely vacation at a boutique hotel at Alacati after lots of wining, dining, beaching and clubbing. But all that will have disappeared by October.

October can be quite windy and cool there which may not leave you with a desire to make use of the beach. There will also be not much else for you to do within close proximity, except for some excellent restaurants not too far away (but by car) from the Sheraton.
The spa of the hotel is mediocre and so is its food.

I wonder if you checked the direct LA-Istanbul flight on Turkish Airlines before you made your other arrangements?

Check the site for "Istanbul Eats" on the web for a quick introduction to possibilities and varieties of food in Istanbul.

BarbAnn

Jill: I know that everyone highly recommends the regular ferry vs a private boat. I have to factor in time (ferry takes all day). If I had more time in Istanbul, I would go the ferry route.

As for the hotels, we like smaller local hotels. Even the Erboy Hotel is a bit larger than what we generally book. I did want one within my budget and it had to have a roof terrace with views. Location is always important to us. We like to be able to walk to local restaurants, grocery stores and sites.

otherchelebi: I think I read that you will be in the States (US) when I am in Istanbul. If plans change, I would love to meet you. You have given so much advise to those visiting Turkey.

Barb

otherchelebi

Thanks for your interest Barb, but we shall be doing our annual pilgrimage to the States since 1998 when DD1 started Architecture at Virginia Tech. DD2 followed with Interior architecture and then a graduate degree in Restoration and Historic Preservation at SAIC in Chicago where she is married and settled now. This year we visit Adu in new York, jazz musician friends at the Berkshires, a few days in Vermont, then I try to persuade DW to try to go down Niagara Falls in a barrel, followed by a few days with in-laws around Detroit and finally a week or so in Chicago. All this Oct9-31.

Jill02

Thanks Chelibini - great food for thought. What we like about the Sheraton is the "free" part. We know some of our day trips are going to be pretty far out but we also don't want to change hotels everyday. There is always a trade off. Should we cancel a night and do one night near Ephesus? Should we cancel 2 and do 2 nights in Cappadocia? So hard to decide!

Don't worry - we realize we aren't gonna get the Four Seasons! I am using Trip Advisors luxury rating. We are looking at the #2 rated hotel out of hundreds with nearly 800 rave reviews. How can that be? I am dying to learn what makes everybody love Turkey so much. I have never seen such consistently high reviews.

We plan to tour and will not be disappointed in bad beach weather. I rarely use hotel spas or dine in hotel restaurants. Can you recommend a bath house and restaurant near the Sheraton? Istanbul Eats is my next click.

Thank you so much

BarbAnn

otherchelebi: Sounds like a lot of fun. Enjoy your visit with the kids and relatives. Sorry I will miss you. Maybe another time...

Barb

tedgale

Otherchelebi: I was in Niagara (Canada) yesterday. If it is possible for you to cross the border, you should see the Canadian side, especially the historic town of Niagara on the Lake. On the US side, Fort Niagara is a must. Also the Albright Knox Art Gallery and the Frank Lloyd Wright houses in Buffalo.

Turkey visitors may click on my name for my April 2012 Turkey trip report.

Jill02

After further research and strong consideration of the comments from vastly more experienced travelers, especially you Barb, we are bailing on Ephesus and doing Cappadocia instead. I studied in Pompei for a month and we are going to see plenty of ancient civilization ruins in Greece. I hear Cappadocia is "out of this world". Plus we might pick up Ephesus on a cruise some day.

Now begins all of the research on Cappadocia.... Where to stay, eat, rent a car, balloon ride (ahhh!), etc. I will search the threads then probably copy you Barb!

live42day

We just got back last month and stayed at Kelebek Cave Hotel in Goreme and just loved it. We also took Butterfly Balloons and it was fantastic.

Jill02

Thanks live for! We have hit a snag when swapping Cappadocia for Ephesus... When we leave Turkey for Athens, there are no reasonable flights from Kayseri to Athens. But, we there are great flights from Kayseri to Izmir and Izmir to Athens on Pegasus ($45/$90 pp) so... We might see Ephesus after all...
That gives us 4 nights in Istanbul, 3 nights in Goreme and one in Izmir. Ephesus is pretty far from Izmir so the private tours are expansive but we may not have any choice due to time constraints.

I am not seeing many threads on Izmir hotels although we are not compelled to stay in Izmir because we get in at 10 am, tour Ephesus and then leave the next day for Athens at 11 am, leaving us plenty of time to get to the airport. More research... And boy are we over budget without even leaving yet!

Jill02

P.S. tedgale: loved the trip report! thanks for posting.

Jill02

Yay! Thank goodness for Pegasus. For under $350 total for both of us, we got nonstop flights from SAW to Kayseri, Kayseri to Izmir and then Izmir to Athens. I think that's a steal for all of our internal Turkey travel. It even bumped up our luggage allowance to 20kg pp on the domestic flights when we booked Athens. Now our itinerary is really set so we can start finalizing hotels and looking at tours...