keesie

We are three seniors and after 17days in Istanbul would like to drive to Bergama for one night,then to Selcuk 2/3 days and end up in Bodrum in am to get ferry to Rhodes. Suggestions wanted... This is in mid-June.
Car rental in Turkey?

otherchelebi

Dear Keesie,

If you can shorten your stay in Istanbul by one day or even two or three to add to your route to Selcuk, you can find some truely lovely places on the way. Here are some alternatives:

1. Take ferry to Bandirma 2 hours
Drive to Canakkale and Troy 2.5-3 hours
Drive to Assos/Behramkale 1.5 hours
Overnight at assos port or at Lila Motel down
at Kucukkuyu (another half hour)
Drive to Pergamom, 1.5 hours. Pergamom tour 2-
2.5 hours
Overnight at Dikili or Foca
Drive to Sardis/Salihli 3 hours
Sardis tour 1.5 hours
Drive to Selcuk via Manisa 3 Hours
OR via bozdag, Birgi and Odemis.3-3.5 hours
including short tour of the famous mosque and
the mansion in Birgi. (recommended)

Alternative 2.

Take fast ferry to Yalova. 1.25 hours
Drive to Iznik(Nicea) 1 hour. Iznik tour 1.5
hours
Drive to yenisehir 45 minutes
Drive to Inegol 45 minutes
Drive to Oylat 1 hour. Visit the caverns on
the way, 1 hour
Overnight at Oylat Spa.
Drive through Tavsanli to cavdarhisar 2 hours
or a bit more.
Visit Aizanoi (one hour).
Drive to Salihli through Gediz and Kula to
visit Sardis 3 hours.
Drive to Bozdag for overnight 30-40 minutes.
Drive to selcuk via Birgi and Odemis 3-3.5
hours.

here's a link to our presentation of Aizanoi, which we visited just a few months ago together with Sardis, Bozdag and Birgi:

http://travel.webshots.com/video/308...04991763EuRfXG

my wife is rather lazy with the Sardis presentation.

If we hire cars, we usually do it with Avis, Hertz, Budget, Europcar or Decar. Avis has the biggest fleet. An automatic Ford Focus is the recommended car in their fleet, unless you splurge for a Mercedes C class.

Most rental cars are manual transmission and the time of the year means you should reserve your automatic well in advance.

Driving is easy. The roads are well sign posted. The speed limit is 90 + 10% kilometers on highways and 120 + 10% on motorways. Lots of radar checks on highways but not on motorways.

do not hesitate to ask questions.

Michael

We used Economy Rentals for our travels in Turkey and had no problems whatsoever. This broker tends to be much cheaper than Kemwel or AutoEurope.

otherchelebi

I am sorry, i forgot to give the most direct route to Bergama from istanbul.

by rental car : Fast ferry to Bandirma, drive tow Balikesir and take the road to Ayvalik/ Edremit, take Izmir direction at junction at Havran.

by bus : If you cannot find a direct Bergama bus, take bus to Ayvalik and a dolmus minibus from Ayvalik to Bergama. (Taxis to the two separate sites), Bus to Izmir, bus or train to Selcuk.

LaVisiteure

I can recommend a little B&B on the quiet (hill) side of Selcuk – a perfect location, with simple small rooms around a courtyard, an excellent breakfast, and lovely people. Nothing fancy (and a small bathroom), but we were happy there for five days.

http://www.nilya.com/

tcreath

We used Economy Car Rental as well, in Croatia and in Turkey, and were very pleased. As mentioned, the prices were considerably cheaper than the other alternatives.

In Selcuk we stayed at the Hotel Bella, a nice little hotel across from the ruins of St. Johns. I highly recommend it.

Best wishes,
Tracy

keesie

Thank you..we are going to peruse all info thus far..appreciate your responses. Anyone stayed in Bergama or environs. By the way were your car rentals done from home[we are in Montreal and drive manual by the way]or in Turkey.
we welcome too any more tips ou there..

Michael

I rented from the States and had a printout as a contract.

otherchelebi

Bergama is a commercial and agricultural regional center. There are also some spas in and around the city which are mostly frequented by conservative moslems.

Most people who visit for the museum and the two antique sites prefer to stay at Dikili on the sea shore.

having said that, you may check 'Elit', 'Akropolis' and 'Manolya' Pensions, in tha order.

tcreath

We too rented from home (NC) and brought the printout. We picked up and dropped off at the Izmir airport.

Tracy