adventures6

We will be in Turkey this August.

Day 1: arrive at SAW @ 2pm
Days 2 & 3: Istanbul
Day 4: fly to Kayseri (trying to decide between morning or night flight) no budget options for midday.
Days 5 & 6: Cappadocia
Day 7: fly to Izmir (can only find a flight for am departure) train to selcuk.
Day 8: Selcuk
Days 9: flying out of Izmir for Greece
Days 10-12: Greece
Day 13: arrive in Izmir; train to Pamukkale
Day 14: fly to Istanbul

My questions are:
1- On day 4, where would our time be better spent with kids Istanbul or Cappadocia? That is also the day of the presidential election. Is it going to be difficult to get to the SAW airport? Should we leave earlier in the day?
2- On day 7: We have to leave Cappadocia early because of the available flights. Or we could take an overnight bus to Pamukkale to get even more time in Cappadocia. But if we do an overnight bus, what do we do with our things the next day while we bathe in pools and so on? We would then leave Ephesus for after Greece

otherchelebi

1. I would prefer cappadocia over istanbul on election day, since many istanbul restaurants and all shops will probably be closed in istanbul and there will be a ban on alcoholic drinks. None of these restrictions would deter you from sightseeing or hiking in Cappadocia.

2. They will have some facility for you to leave your things at the central bus depot (OTOGAR) Just ask your bus driver. If he does not speak English, you can mime it.

adventures6

Is there a community pool in the Cappadocia area? A lot of the cave house hotels do not have pools on the property. Traveling in August, I think a pool will be a necessity.

Thanks

xyz99

Day 4 - I would pick the early flight. Keep in mind that Kayseri to Goreme is more than an hour, closer to 1 1/2 hrs drive.

Day 7 - If you go to Izmir, check the airlines, one of them (Atlas?) provides free shuttle from Izmir airport to Selcuk.

Where are you staying in Cappadocia? I am not aware of a community pool in Goreme, but Urgup is a larger town, might have one. If not, some hotels have pools.

adventures6

I haven't booked a hotel in Cappadocia. I am trying to figure out if I should just book a hotel without a pool and use the community pool, if there is one in town.

otherchelebi

I very strongly doubt that there are any community pools you could use anywhere in Cappadocia. However, there are a number of hotels with pools.

adventures6

Would it be worth it to split up the stay? One night in ugrup at a cave hotel then 1 night in goreme for a hotel with a pool? Are there any other reasons to stay in each of the towns, maybe easier to see some things based out of each? The third night I'm considering Kayseri to be close to the airport for our morning flight. Any advice?

adventures6

Also, I just can't decide how miserable a night bus from Cappadocia to Pamukkale would be. Would we be able to sleep?
Is it really 8.5hours? I am traveling with four children. I guess they could sleep on the train to Selcuk after visiting Pamukkale.
Otherwise, we are driving to Kayseri the night before our flight. getting a hotel and then flying out at 8:30am the next morning.
I'm traveling with camera gear also. Is this going to make me a target for theft on the buses?

xyz99

We stayed in Goreme and found it convenient to everything we wanted to see/do.

<< One night in ugrup at a cave hotel then 1 night in goreme for a hotel with a pool?
You can get a cave hotel with a pool, so you can stay in one place only.
We stayed at Kelebek Hotel in Goreme and loved it.
http://www.kelebekhotel.com/swimming-pool.php

Personally, I don't like 1 night stops and would stay all 3 nights in one place. You can arrange transfer to the airport through the hotel.