14 days in Turkey - Question for Turkey experts
 

We are planning a trip to Turkey. My ancestors hailed from Kayseri and Tarsus, and finally Istanbul, before coming to America. Regretfully, I am not more familiar with the country. We are structuring the trip around Istanbul, Adana/Tarsus and Kayseri en route to and following the trip to Cappadocia.

We were planning on flying to Izmir to start the trip, to see Ephesus and the sites in that area, and then moving on to Antalya, then a several day gulet cruise, then Adana/Tarsus en route to Cappadocia and ending the Cappadocia trip going through Kayseri before flying to Istanbul in that general order. Including Izmir is giving us trouble logistically, and also with the available the time in country.

If we eliminate the flight to Izmir, we gain about two days to devote to the other areas, as well as avoiding an extra flight. But in that case we won't see Ephesus and the other sights in that area. We likely would substitute additional time in Antalya, and see some classical sights nearby like Termessos, Perge, or Aspendos.

If this turns out to be our one and only trip to Turkey, is not seeing Ephesus a mistake, taking into consideration my other must-sees?

Thanks, Barbara

Click on my name for my trip report. But includes Istanbul, Ephesus and Cappadocia, but not Antalya and Adana/Tarsus.

First of all you have not mentioned which month you are travelling in ?? could make a difference..and in all honesty 14 days is not emough..3 weeks would be better to try and fit in all you want to see.

As for Antalya and where to go..I live here so I have loads of ideas for places to go and see.. I can suggest places that will fill up more than a weeks time in the Antalya area.

a few tips;

try to fly on the routes possible to save time..you can fly from Antalya to Adana..Izmir to Antalya by flight is also possible..

first have a look through my photos of not only Antalya and surrounding areas but all my turkey photos..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/canmom/sets/

here are similar ideas depending on how many days or weeks in Turkey and if arriving in and departing Istanbul;

1. Istanbul - Cappadocia - Antalya - Fethiye ( Lycian coast ) - Pamukkale - Ephesus/Selcuk - Istanbul

or the reverse...

2. Istanbul - Ephesus/Selcuk - Aegean coast - Pamukkale - Fethiye - Lycian coastline - Antalya - Cappadocia -Istanbul

The Turkey Travel planner has some good suggestions
www.turkeytravelplanner.com/itin/index.html

This is really a tough questions because 2 or 3 weeks travel in Turkey just the tip of the iceberg to see some of the great areas. My guess would be about 4 days to see some of the major sites but of course you can spend many more.
Certainly the places of Ephesus ( Selcuk ) and Cappadocia are not to be missed and for some time on the historical Lycian Way... check out the areas between Antalya and Fethiye.
have a look at the Turkey travel Planner web site for helpful ideas..You certainly cannot see all of Turkey within the time frames of 2 weeks but a glimspes of the wonderful areas.

other general ideas

istanbul (3-5 days)
selçuk-ephesos (2 days)
cappadocia (3-4 days)
antalya ( 2 days )

If your main reason is to see the places you have on your wish list, than you can scarifice from the gulet cruise as an alternative. However if you plan it well, Istanbul, Fly Izmir, Fly Antalya, Fly Adana makes all doable. All flights will be direct so you save time in this order. Alternatively, after Kayseri and Cappadocia a 3 hours drive will take you down to Adana.

Happy travelling,

Murat

Ephesus is must see! Click here and see what you are missing :)

http://www.bigloveturkey.com/culture...rs-ephesus.asp

by the way glad to hear that your ancestor's from Kayseri which is where I was born :)

Barbara:

Looks like you're getting some very good info. All I'll do is add in my set of pre-digital scanned photos from 1995, just to gve you additional ideas of places that you want to see....Pamukkale, Cappadocia,Antalya, Turquise Coast, Ephesus, Aphrodisia, etc etc etc. Remember, please, that these are scanned...(also Istanbul, the Bosphorus ferry, etc)

stu t.

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/ScenesOfTurkey#

I can't imagine going to Turkey and not seeing Ephesus. However, you might consider planning a trip to Greece in the future that includes a quick day trip to Ephesus from one of the nearby Greek islands.