zac495

Hi All,
We intend to visit Turkey for about 10 days in July with our 16 and 19 year olds. We are healthy mid-50's. We will continue on to Santorini and then fly back to the states. We figure about 10 days in Turkey.

So where to start? Of course Istanbul. Then what? We love great sights - love the ocean and cliffs. We love staying in hotels with a view. We love anything different - cities, history. My husband has difficulty in the heat so we tend to do short visits to sun soaked ruins, but we do love it (I'm a teacher so there's no choice about when we travel).

We are open to renting a car, flying around (if not too costly), train, bus, or group tour (though we tend not to like that very much).

Any advice is appreciated.
Ellen

sparkchaser

If your husband doesn't do well in the heat, July might not be the best time to go to Turkey or Greece.

yorkshire

With 10 days, I would select only one other spot in Turkey aside from Istanbul, and most people choose either the Cappadocia region or the Ephesus site. Your first task will be to read up on those two and decide between them (as this is a tough decision!).
Actually, first you should do some legwork to find out if there is anywhere other than Istanbul or Athens that you can fly to Santorini from--i.e., can you get a flight from one of the Turkey airports to save you time? That is going to be a major determining factor for your itinerary, so in this case I'd start "backwards."

amer_can

The heat will be very hard on you all.
Beaches will be the best bet. Santorini beches aren't all the great IMO. Tours groups will be stifling and too controlled. you might look at Backpacker.com. We had exceptional luck with them in IST. and Hello Ephesus.com in Ephesus. Why turkey and Greece at this time of year?? Why not northern Spain ie. San Sebastian,Sandtander etc. Cooler, interesting and although crowded everywhere in Europe will be. We havd also found very few cars with auto and ac.

sparkchaser

I'd leave your husband at home. That way you can actually do interesting things in Turkey and Santorini.

otherchelebi

There are some very interesting parts of Turkey which will not be hot at all and worth visiting although out of the typical tourist track.

Have a look at

- Flying to Trabzon from Istanbul
- Visiting Sumela monastery and the valleys of Ikizdere and Camlihemsin. possibly climbing towards Ovit mountain.
- Driving up from Hopa at Georgian border to Borcka to visit the Black Lake (Kara Gol)
- Continue driving to Savsat, visiting some canyons and castles on the way to view the scene closest to Tolkien's Middle Earth.
- Get to Kars and ruins of Ani, near the Armenian border.
- Drive down to Dogu Beyazit to see mount Ararat of Noah's Ark fame and the totally unexpected Ishak Pasa Palace.

- Return car at Kars airport and fly back to Istanbul with the great feeling that you have been to some exceptional places which few tourists visited even though you missed the standard haunts.

zac495

Ha - my husband will do things in the heat. I'm sorry I probably shouldn't have made him sound so bad. Simply meant we aren't 4 or 5 hour people in Pompeii (which we LOVED) but rather 2 or 3 hours. We like to be able to spend half a day exploring, and half a day relaxing.

We didn't care about beaches in Santorini, rather the view.

My travel agent said go to Bodrum from Istanbul, but I haven't seen a soul mention it.

Michael

You might want to take a look at my trip rpeort, although the time period in Turkey is longer than yours; click on my name to find it.

kja

> So where to start? Of course Istanbul.

Not necessarily - depending on your itinerary, it might be best to leave Istanbul for last.

Honestly, my recommendation for where to start is with a good guidebook. You can buy one or go to your nearest library. You'll learn things you never even thought to ask. And since Turkey offers SO much, you'll need to think through what your priorities are and which places match them.

It's a wonderful place - enjoy!

yorkshire

"My travel agent said go to Bodrum from Istanbul, but I haven't seen a soul mention it."
Well, 10 different people are likely to suggest 10 different things, that's why your next step should be to peruse a book or the web and see what you want to see most. You could spend a year and not see all Turkey has to offer, so prioritizing is a must.

tower

no trip reporting here..only some amateurish pics which may gve you some ideas. Have a great trip....been to Turkey twice both times in early spring...comfortable.

Click on Kja's name two posts above for an ultra-informative trip report...

In following post, there are pics in two sets...1.Istanbul, and 2.Cappadocia, Turquoise Coast, Pamukkale/Aphrodisias, Ephesus, Kusadasi (Koosh-a-desu), Bodrum,etc.

tower

https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...nesOfIstanbul#

tower

https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...cenesOfTurkey#

zac495

I read the trip reports - awesome job!! Very helpful and I love the pictures! Of course a guide book is a perfect idea. We always travel with Steve Ricks. It's just that I had absolutely no idea where to even start (and Istanbul can be last - I meant where to start asfar as where should we go - one can't see everything).

I'm leaning now - thanks to all of you - to Istanbul, Lycian Way from Antalya down to Fethiye, Cappodocia and Ephesus.

We love day trips so the question is - should we "dock," in Bodrum and drive part of the coast, then dock further down and see the rest - then go to Cappodcia and finally a hotel is Istanbul? We can do 13 days - then 5 in Santorini at the end.

You are all wonderful and everything you share is much appreciated.
Ellen

yorkshire

I think that might give short shrift to Istanbul. You'll have to decide how much time you need there, but I don't think 5 days is out of the question. Also, this year I tried to put together a trip to southern Turkey (it did not work out)--I was going to spend 10 days from Antalya to Fethiye. Though again, obviously you could do it in less time.
You'll want at least 3 days in Cappadocia.
I don't understand your question about Bodrum--how would you be arriving in country?
Check drive times at viamichelin website.
Finally, I found http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/ extremely helpful.

zac495

My travel agent suggested flying from New York to Istanbul and then flying to Bodrum. She said fly back to Bodrum and then fly to Santorini. Finally fly home from Santorini/Athens. That's where I got that idea. When I looked at a map it seemed Bodrum was not too far from Antalya, but perhaps that's wrong. I will look at the link. Thank you SO much.

Maybe I should drop the idea of returning to Santorini. It's just that it was the most magical place i ever saw and we only stayed 3 days. I vowed I'd go back...

xyz99

You originally say “We intend to visit Turkey for about 10 days”, but later you say “We can do 13 days - then 5 in Santorini at the end.”

So, do you have 10 or 13 days in Turkey? Does that include the day you land and the day you leave?

>> I'm leaning now - thanks to all of you - to Istanbul, Lycian Way from Antalya down to Fethiye, Cappodocia and Ephesus.

We are doing a similar trip (leaving in a week) spending 14 ½ day in Turkey (the ½ day is the day we land, and I did not count the day we actually leave).

So IMO, 10 days would not be enough for everything on your list, although I think other did it. It’s a matter of personal traveling style, and only you know yours. I suggest the same as the others did before, get a book, read a lot, decide what your priorities are (spend all the time you have in Turkey? Save some days for Santorini?), what do you really want to see/do in Turkey, how many full days you have, etc. Logistics will have to play a role, so you probably need first to decide on Santorini, and if you decide to include it, see where you can fly out from.
You have time to plan this toying with different options, good luck!

zac495

Yes all of you changed my mind how long we should stay. We can stay longer. I will buy that guide book.

Last year I almost died. I had a bone marrow transplant and I beat cancer. I learned how short life might be. I want this this to be special.

kja

Hmm.... Of all the guidebooks I've ever used -- and I use about 6 per trip -- Rick Steve's is the one I found least useful and have never tried again. In my opinion, the best ones for getting a general sense of where to go are (a) those with really high quality pictures, such as the National Geographic Traveller or Eyewitness guides, if what you want is inspiration, (b) those that suggest possible itineraries of the approximate length of your trip, because even though the particular itineraries that are laid out never suit my interests exactly, they give me ideas about priorities, time frames, and sequences -- I like Frommer's and the Lonely Planet for those ideas, and (c) those that give "best of" or similar lists that match my interests (for me, that generally includes Fodor's, Frommer's, and The Rough Guide) to help me think through my options and priorities. If I plan on doing a substantial amount of driving, I'll get a Michelin Green Guide, too, and I use the Green Guide along with Fodor's and Frommer's to make sure I know what the most highly recommended sites at each of my likely destinations are. For detailed planning, I prefer guidebooks that provide comprehensive coverage of the places I will visit along with very good maps. My go-to guidebook for that purpose is The Rough Guide, but the Lonely Planet and Moon guide offer many of the same benefits.

I'm glad you will be able to give more time to Turkey. BTW, I agree that Istanbul deserves at least 5 days, or maybe even 6 depending on your interests and preferred pace of travel.

(And thanks, tower!)

Congratulations on your conquest over cancer and best wishes for a wonderfully celebratory journey. Turkey is a very special location, so I think you've chosen well!

zac495

Thank you again. We intend to do Istanbul for at least 4 probably 5 days based on your advice! I agree those itineraries miss some of the things I want to do and I find them frustrating. I intend to use Fantasy Travel - they are based in Greece and the agent writes to me regularly - he did our Greek trip 2 years ago. I realize there are agents who specialize in Turkey, but this company was phenomenal so I think I'm smart to stick wtih what I know is good. I won't do guided tours, but I will follow advice from all of you and have the agent help me book things.

I will buy the guidebooks you suggest! Thanks for the well wishes.
Ellen