1 week in Turkey? Can we do it?
 

Okay! I need help. I am considering a trip to Turkey. Arriving in Istanbul; then would like to go down the Aegean Sea to Izmir, Ephesus, Bodrum and Marmaris. Can this be achieved? We would be able to stay in Izmir at the Hilton. Can we make Ephesus, Bodrum and Marmaris daily side trips? What transportation is available? What cost and how much time would it take to travel to those cities?

This seems like a pretty agressive schedule for 1 week. I was in Turkey for 2 and a half weeks last year and covered alot of ground, but I think Izmir to Bodrum and Marmaris is pretty far for day trips.

You may want to check out some of the lost cost Turkish airlines (Atlas Jet is one, Onur Air is another) for flights between Istanbul and Izmir. I was able to get flights for about $50 one way.

You may want to check out www.turkeytravelplanner.com

On the 9th floor of the Izmir Hilton is a travel agent. They can arrange trips to all those places for you. Each of them will take one day. My trip last summer to Bergama with them cost around 80 euro. They will organise a bus for you, possibly with other tourists, maybe not. To get to Ephesus will take around 1 hour and a bit more. Bodrum and Marmaris will take longer.

Should we stay in Istanbul?

So, if we stayed in Istanbul, could we go to some Greek islands?

I do not want to spend all of my time traveling and zero time really enjoying the county. But 7 days is about what we have in Turkey.

We visted Turkey in July and went to all the places on your list. Ephesus was a real highlight for us, the other places ( Bodrum, Marmaris) were an enormous disappointment- built-up, tacky, catering to the package tour crowd. YUCK.

And now to answer your question, the only place on your list that's an easy day trip from Izmir is Ephesus. The others are way too far. Izmir to Bodrum is about a three hour drive; Marmaris is another few hours drive from Bodrum.

We loved Istanbul, and you could easily spend your entire week there. But a better idea might be to spend part of your week in Cappadochia, a part of Turkey which we unfortunately missed. If I were to plan our trip over, that would be my first stop after Istanbul. I've heard so many people raving about what an extraodinary place it is, that I just have to see it for myself!

I definitely agree w/ the recommendation to take a look at Turkeytravelplanner.com. There's a list of travel agents on it that you might find very helpful, and/or you can hope that an excellent Turkish poster here, Murat (Propertravel.com) answers your questions.

If you only have 7 days in Turkey, spend 4 days in Istanbul 2 days and 1 night in Cappadocia. You can fly to Kayseri and then 1 day in Izmir, using it as your base to see Ephesus. Fly home from Izmir. Bodrum & Marmaris are great, but still basically resort towns. Izmir is not really on Turkey top 10, but you can fly home from there and it's close to Ephesus.

Hi

Well you can fly to the Greek islands from Istanbul via Athens. We did Paros using Olympic. You can get to Rhodes by flying from Istanbul to Bodrum using say Onur Air - http://www.onurair.com.tr/onurair/.
Then take a ferry. See - http://ferries-turkey.com/turkey-gre...rhodes-en.html.

So, did you see Troy? What else is in Bodrum...isn't there a seven wonder of the ancient world there?

What about visiting the Princes Islands?

Dear Cherylcoolbaugh,

Here is an alternative itinerary for you to see some of the highlights of Turkey in a week. (Bodrum and Marmaris can be left for longer visits)

Day 1: Istanbul Ottoman & Byzantine Relics. Visit the Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, St. Sophia, Basilica Cistern & Topkapi Palace

Day 2: Visit Spice Bazaar in the morning and then take the 10.35 public ferry from Karakoy for the Bosphorus Cruise. Leave the ferry at Sariyer or Bebek to have lunch in one of the local fish restaurants and take a taxi/bus to Dolmabahce Palace. After visiting the Dolmabahce Palace, if you still have time and energy you can visit the Grand Covered Bazaar in late afternoon.

Day 3: Visit Suleymaniye (Suleyman's Mosque) and Chora Museum in the morning and spend some time around Taksim Square & Istiklal Street for shopping. Or you can take the underground (metro) from Taksim to Levent to shop at more fashionable and higher quality goods at the Kanyon Shopping Center, Akmerkez or Metro City.

Day 4: Early morning flight to Cappadocia.(Kayseri or Nevsehir depending on the flight timetable) If you prearrange a travel agency you will be picked up from the airport and then you will start your daily excursion in Cappadocia. Visit Göreme Open Air Museum, Pasabagi, Dervent Valley, Uchisar and Avanos before cheking in your hotel.

Day 5: Visit Sinasos (Mustafa Pasa, Kaymakli Underground city, Ihlara Valley and Soganli.

Day 6: Fly from Cappadocia to Izmir. (The flight will probably be via Istanbul) Take a tour to Ephesus. Again this should be pre arranged through a travel agency as you will be met at the airport, take the tour and brought to your hotel in the evening.

Day 7: Either take a plane from Izmir to Istanbul or just do it by bus (Varan,Kamil Koç, Boss or Ulusoy)to enjoy the scenery by land.

With all good wishes.

Bodrum has an interesting crusader castle and a nice harbor area - but having been there twice....I would suggest skipping it. You can get a feel for the coast in Kusadasi (near Ephesus) and there is also (I believe) a castle/fort there - if that is something you are interested in.

3 days Istanbul, 2 Nights Cappadocia, fit the dates for direct flights from Kayseri for Izmir to visit Ephesus. 2 daysfor that region. Spend the last day in istanbul before seems a suitable idea as Zwho and Selahattin suggests the genarl outline. 1 Day in a week for Cappadocia is to short... Weadles :-) thank you. Ofcourse I do try to share my knowledge and extend assistance when asked.

Happy travelling,

Murat

I have seen Cappadocia in a profile on the Travel channel. I really want to stay along the ancient history of Turkey. We have traveled to Rome, Pompeii and Egypt(Paris too). The coast seems to follow the history that we have been experiencing.

Can we go to Izmir and do day trips to Esphesus, Kusadasi and Selcuk? Possibly relax there?

You might think about basing in Selcuk. I know there have been several posts here about it, so check the search function. It would be very easy to tour Ephesus from there.

I would not waste a day in Kusadisi. It is a sprawling port city with lots of package tours. Not much to recommend it.

Since you're very interested in historical sites, you might also consider a visit to Pamukkale, which is home to the ruins of the ancient city of Hierapolis. You can swim amidst the ruins there. We never made it that far,(it's a few hours drive from Izmir) but there have also been plenty of posts about it here online.

There's also a woman here at Fodors who is taking a slow travel trip of Europe, and has posted quite a lot about her travels in Turkey. I am blanking on her name right now, but maybe someone else has it? If not, I will try to find it for you. It's quite informative.

Weadles,

Thanks for the information. The reason we will be in Imzir is that is where the Hilton has a hotel. We want to make that work because we are using hotel points. Is Esphesus too far from Imzir? Wouldn't the HIlton have day tours from there?

Did you see my previous reply? Here it is again.
Date: 02/04/2008, 09:49 pm

On the 9th floor of the Izmir Hilton is a travel agent. They can arrange trips to all those places for you. Each of them will take one day. My trip last summer to Bergama with them cost around 80 euro. They will organise a bus for you, possibly with other tourists, maybe not. To get to Ephesus will take around 1 hour and a bit more. Bodrum and Marmaris will take longer.

The above poster has given you great information. Izmir is about an hour from Ephesus. From Izmir airport, I think it took us a little longer.

We used ANKER TRAVEL, based in Kusadisi for some of our flight/hotel arrangements, for a private guided tour of Ephesus, and a guided tour of Lake ??( can't remember the name!) on the way down to Bodrum from Kusadisi. They were excellent, and I'd highly recommend them. We worked with a rep named CEYDA. By the way, this is one of the agencies recommended on Turkeytravelplanner.com

Since you're interested in ancient sites, I would ask whatever travel agent you decide on how far Pamukkale is from Izmir. I think it's only a few hours. It would make for a very long day, but it might be doable.

Spending a week in Turkey and seeing all of those places would be rather difficult. Izmir isn't really all that exciting, I did live there for a year and a half and took frequent side trips around the country and the coast. You will definately want to see Ephesus and Bodrum or Kusadasi or even Cesme. All the coasts are the same I thought. It's quite easy to just rent a car in Izmir to see those places rather than dealing with all of the Turks on buses and trains. The cost for renting a car is fairly inexpensive but the gas is extremly expensive but it can be done. Safe travels.

Staying in Hilton means at least two hours on the way(return), but not impossible. If its just a day that you will be visiting Ephesus only and won't go Pamukkale or Priene, Miletus direction, you can stay in Hilton and still visit Ephesus.

Try also to visit Terrace Houses while in the sight of Ephesus with extra admission fee and also Selcuk Muesum preferably before the Ephesus.

Happy travelling,

Murat