jritch

Hello, I am studying abroad for 3 months starting in September in Barcelona Spain. I have never been outside of North America before so I want to see Asia and Africa outside of experiencing Europe. Some friends and I will be visiting Morocco after school in December, so I want to go Asia on one of my 3 day weekends. I know this is the Europe forum, but Turkey was not under the Middle East forum so I posted this in both. I am on a tight budget so it needs to be cheap and not too far from Spain. This basically limits it to the Middle East. I am fascinated with the architecture and history of the Middle East, however my greatest concern is safety. The conflict with the Syrian War and ISIS concerns me greatly and makes me considering spending the money for Dubai or Qatar or even India to be more aware from the trouble area. I am a architecture student and want to study urban design/planning, walk able cities, historic preservation and public space. Some friends and I decided on Istanbul, but with the multiple bombings and the military trying to overthrow the government we changed our mind. We have considered 3 days in either Amman Jordan (day trip to Petra), Antalya Turkey, Bodrum Turkey, Konya Turkey, Izmir Turkey (Ephesus), Haifa/Akko Israel, Nazareth Israel, Tel Aviv Israel, or Jerusalem Israel. I am open to anywhere, but it needs to be cheap, easy to fly from Barcelona, and not a large safety threat. I know that all of Europe and the Middle East is dangerous, and I don't mind taking risks, but I need to be smart about it. Thanks for any suggestions.

laurie_ann

I have been to many but not all of those. Among Amman, Bodrum, Izmir, Nazareth, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, for a weekend and your interests I recommend Tel Aviv and/or Jerusalem. The airport for either one is Tel Aviv and they are close enough you can stay in one and day trip to the other if you wanted, but either one has more than enough in or nearby to fill and entire long weekend. Israel is very interesting historically and modern with architecture, museums, historic sites and an intersection of many cultures both from history and from modern immigration.

Michael

The military has not succeeded in overthrowing the government. Security is undoubtedly much tighter than it was in Istanbul. For a long weekend, with your interests, you should consider Istanbul. Wait a month or two, and things should stabilize.

To whet your appetite:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...934223233/show

jritch

Thank you for both suggestions. I will wait after the 90 day state of emergency in Turkey, and then I will decide about Istanbul. If there is no more attacks I will consider on going. I would probably spend a week there in December before I go to Morocco versus just a weekend, because there is so much in Istanbul. Tel Aviv and Jerusalem would be good for a weekend, or if the situation is better over there I might stay there for a week as well (I am staying in the Mediterranean for 4 weeks in Dec after school) instead of Croatia and go to Split or Dubrovnik on a weekend instead. However is Israel expensive? I assumed Israel would be cheap like Turkey because of the turmoil in the region and decline in tourism, but I heard Tel Aviv was pricey.

Kathie

I'd vote for Amman, though a day trip to Petra isn't really possible. If you want to go to Petra, spend at least a night or two. Indeed, you could find plenty to do if you had a week in Jordan. Jerash is one of the best preserved ancient Roman cities in the world.

I consider Israel a fairly expensive country to visit. I don't think political turmoil makes much difference in how much it costs to visit a place.

Istanbul is a marvelous city. I do hope you will be able to visit there.

kja

I think Antalya would be an excellent choice. Istanbul is delightful, but better suited (IMO) to a longer visit. Ephesus is well worth seeing, but I don't think its as easy to get to as some other cities on your list and you would lose time in getting there and back; if you go, you would probably need to fly into/out of Izmir, but you might consider staying in Selcuk. If considering a trip to Turkey, read and watch this thread:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-contnents.cfm

Hope that helps!

jritch

Thank you for all of the comments. I will probably go to Split Croatia for a weekend and Istanbul (if advised by the US consulate) for one week, and Jordan or the Turkish coast for another week along with 2 weeks in Morocco in December. I think Israel might be too expensive and old town Jerusalem being in West Bank concerns me.