My wife and I have just returned from 20 days touring Turkey. We flew to Instanbul, spent two days then flew Turkish Air to Kayseri where we picked up our rental car (Fiat Sahin plenty of headroom and enuf legroom for me 6"2" - not much power for hills but made it fine 14 days $364 thru auto europe) and headed for Cappadocia. Stayed in the Gamirasu Cave Hotel which was outstanding in all respects. Suleyman Cakir provided much needed advice for traveling in the region. He provides a guide service and although, since we had our own car, we did not use his services I would not hesistate to recommend him. the small village of Ayvali was was a bit out of the way, (10-15 minutes to Urgup) for those without their own transportation but no problem for those with.<BR>Were able to catch a Dervish performance held at the Karakus entertainment restaurant.<BR>Drove over the mountains, yes we were at snow level) to Manavgat a nice town on the coast. Stayed at the Villa Lapin which was recommended by Suleyman who is with the Gamirasu hotel. Ria (Dutch) and Emin (Turkish) opened the hotel about a year ago and we highly recommend it. Breakfasts and Dinners were outstanding and different from the usual fare. The location is to die for, the patio is on the Manavgat River very nice for morning coffee or an evening cocktail.<BR>We enjoyed all the coastal towns, but recommend Fethyia and Oludeniz as the best of the lot. BTW, we saw no Americans on the coast, dont know why, lots of Germans, British, some Canadians and Australians but no Americans. We paid anywhere from $19 to $120 for our hotel rooms and the $19 was in Oludeniz with a great room and pool. We decided to splurge on advice from people on this forum, and stayed at the Antique Theater whilst in Bodrum. Sugar cubed villas covered in Bouganvilla, pool perched on side of mountains, views !!! Think Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn or Lifestyles of the rich and Famous. Headed for Selcuk and Ephesus. Stayed at the Hotel Arkay, plain but comfortable and clean. Drove to Izmir, turned the car in and flew to Istanbul for another couple of days before heading home. We took the Bosphorus ferry cruise, it was a delightful experience.<BR>We felt very safe the whole trip. Turkey is a very clean country and the people make you feel comfortable and go out of their way to assist you. You will be approached by carpet salesmen - a lot - but they are just trying to make a living and are never rude.<BR>We do want to thank the many forum contributers who took the time to answer our numerous questions.<BR>A special thanks to Patrick Ashton! (The Antique Theater Hotel was fantastic).<BR>Marcus Denbrow and Paule Your advice and suggestions regarding restaurants, hotels, and sitesmade our trip both fun and easy.<BR>We would be happy to answer any questions from you forum readers.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>

Sounds like you had a great trip, Terry. And glad you enjoyed the Antique Teatro Hotel. It's a special place, isn't it?

Dear Terry,<BR>Good to hear that you had such a great trip to Turkey, and I'm glad that some of my suggestions were helpful. I think of our trip to Turkey last summer as one of the most wonderful trips I've ever taken.

Terry.<BR><BR>Sounds like you loved Turkey. There are three of us traveling there in a couple of weeks. We are still on the hotel search. Where did you go from Cappadoccia and how did you get there? Did you make it over to the coast? We are trying to figure out how to get to the Med. Sea from Cappadoccia without flying...any suggestions?

OK. If you really want to answer a question so many people want to know.<BR>Why do Turkish men hold hands or fingers as they walk?

Jenna - <BR>We flew from Istanbul to Kayseri where we picked up our rental car (We found it very helpful to have a car on this trip since we wanted to see so much of Turkey) Drove to Cappadocia and used the car to see all the sights in that fantastic region. We drove to the Med. Coast in 7 hours. Had planned to stop in Konya for a night to break up the drive but were told it was an easy drive to the coast and Konya looked like a rather large city which did not appeal to us. The drive was very easy. We did go up over the mountains - great views snow patches but quite warm, no car problems - it is really very easy to drive in Turkey, the signs are logical and most are in English as well as Turkish. Roads are just about the same as here in the States, some good some pot holes, etc.<BR>After driving 7 hours with some stops along the way we came to the lovely town of Manavgat (This is the town at the end of the road from Konya to the coast) Stayed at the Villa Lapin which we highly recommend email www.villa-lapin.com<BR>WE drove all along the Med and Agean coast stayed in Kas, (An easy drive from Manavgat) Oludeniz (great beach and lagoon $19 a night hotel with lg room and beautiful pool - Lots of good food and even found Full English Bfst), Fethiye, Dalyan, Bodrum and finally Selcuk which is a great site from which to visit Ephesus.<BR>Good luck on your trip, I know you will enjoy Turkey. Please don't hesitate to ask any other questions, believe me we wore out our keyboard on this trip and it really paid off. Terry & Karen<BR><BR>Marc - Not ssure what your getting at, we never noticed men holding hands but you must know that this is not all that uncommon in Europe.

Thanks Terry and Karen...<BR> People have been telling us to cancel our trip because of safety issues right now...did you both feel safe? Do you think its something to be concerned with?<BR><BR>Also, are there any restaurants you can recommend anywhere?

I would like to give shortly information<BR>abot Cappadocia, Cappadocia is very fascinating and interesting. Fairy<BR>Chimneys,Underground Cities, and Churches are placeses which are need to visit as soon as possible in Cappadocia. I recommend you a hotel<BR>Akkuzun in &Uuml;rg&uuml;p. Please have a look at the page " www.erkotours.com.tr" for <BR>getting more information. If you go to<BR>Turkey, Visit Cappadocia

salih ([email protected]<BR><BR>Have you solved YOUR VIRUS PROBLEM?<BR><BR>

Jenna, we didn't feel unsafe anywhere in Turkey. The Turkish people we met were very friendly and glad to see Americans, especially down on the Med. coast where they don't see a lot. There are people all over trying to sell you carpets, etc. as Terry mentioned but they weren't aggressive.<BR><BR>There was a long thread on the topic of safety in Turkey not too long ago, if you do a search for Turkey you should find it.<BR><BR>And I'll second Terry's recommendation for Suleyman from Cappadocia Tours. He gave us a wonderful tour, was very informative and stopped to show us things that we wouldn't have otherwise seen (women making bread, potato storage, a mosaic that had just been uncovered).

Those carpet salesmen and other touts drove us absolutely crazy last time we were in Turkey. NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!<BR><BR>How many times can you say NO!

When we went to Turkey last summer, we, too found the carpet salesman overwhelming. But after a while, we developed much more of a sense of humor about it all, occasionally joking with them and not taking it quite so seriously. I found it helpful to think about them as working very hard at their job to sell carpets-- and at a time when tourism is down and the economy has fallen, every one has been hard hit.<BR><BR>About Konya-- we ended up staying there for one night between Cappadocia and the coast, and though it was a shock to arrive in such an urban setting, we found it a fascinating town (small city) to be in. It is a very traditional and conservative town, the home of the Mevlana Muzesi & Tomb of Rumi, the founder of the whirling dervishes. Our visit to the Muzesi, standing among many observant families looking at the tomb, was amazing; you could feel the spiritual connection. We also ended up buying a beautiful kilim at a very reputable shop (Karavan); Konya, we were told, is the center for kilim work. We found Konya to be a wonderful stop, a real non-touristic region. The coast is beautiful, but it is a resort region, which, to me, feels more international (or general resort) in flavor than anything very local. <BR><BR>I'm also very glad to see that other people have had good experiences with Suleyman; maybe I can mention his name now without being accused of advertising!

Terry,<BR>What is the name of this $19 hotel in Oludeniz & is it far from the beach? My husband & I are heading that way in Sept.

TO:April ([email protected])<BR>OLUDENIZ RIGHT NEXT TO ONE OF THE BEST BEACH IN TURKEY<BR><BR>ABC

Terry, we were in Olu Deniz in September 2000. The area has loads of hotels and we had no trouble finding a place that cost about $27 CAD for a night - that's about $19 USD. I can't recall the name, but as I said, there are lots of hotels in the area. They all seem to include breakfast and taxes, and a lot of them have pools.

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April, Our Daughter's name is April!!!<BR>It is the Hotel Oludeniz which is on the left just as you start to get in the busy area (Though nothing is really that busy in the area) My wife and I have wondered if ;the $19 rate would hold for September - probably since that is the shoulder season as we were also on the shoulder season. You will love Turkey. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask or email me direct - we received so many good suggestions and so much advice - all of which helped us a gfreat deal and made the trip that much more enjoyable. By the way if you haven't planned to stay in Manavgat I suggest you consider at least a night there - we stayed at the Villa Lapin www.villa-lapin.com and it was one of the most memorable experiences of our trip.<BR>Cheers! T.

Sounds like a great trip. We are planning to fly from Istanbul to Cappadoccia, then drive from there to Antalya, heading west up the coast, and flying out of Izmir back to Istanbul. Does anyone have any thoughts as to whether it is preferable to do the trip in the reverse order (Istanbul to Izmir, along the coast to Antalya, then up to Cappadoccia and back to Istanbul)? Thanks in advance.

Melissa, you might want to check the flight schedule in/out of Izmir and Kayseri. I think there were only a couple of flights to Kayseri a day so that might impact your travel plans. Otherwise I can't think of a reason to do it one way or another.<BR><BR>We normally don't take extra insurance when we drive but we did in Turkey and were glad for it. We had a flat tire and got sideswiped by a bus (fortunately no damage) while driving in Antalya. Make sure your credit card covers CDW specifically in Turkey. And be sure to check the car for damage before driving away from the rental place and make sure it gets noted on your contract.

Turkey is a very safe place and the people are wonderful, especially along the coast. I just returned from a 10 day trip most of which was in Antalya (specifically Beldibi and Kemer) with 3 days in Istanbul. Antalya is a big city with hundreds of hotels dotting the coast, kinda ugly if you ask me. I stayed at the Renaissance Antalya in Beldibi and would recommend that hotel to anyone who wants a really nice relaxing vacation and a wonderful place to stay. Beldibi is about 45 Km from Antalya airport. The meals were very elaborate and included in the room rate. The hotel has a private beach that overlooks the ocean but so do the other hotels. However, this is one posh place on the Beldibi stretch with wonderful staff. It was easy to take a local bus outside the hotel and get to Kemer and surrounding areas. I greatly recommend the Lycian trail to those people that are into hiking. The reason why there are a lot of German tourists in Antalya is because they have about 4 charter flights from different cities of Germany every day. The tourists get off their flights and get loaded onto big buses to be whisked away to their hotels. A friend of mine flew from Istanbul to Izmir and rented the car to get to Beldibi. She loved the drive along the coast and fell in love with Fetiye. Lots of people get to Antalya from Izmir and then fly to Cappadochia and back to Istanbul. While in Istanbul, I learnt to avoid the carpet salesmen in a day. They are just trying to sell their stuff but beware when you go to buy a carpet. It can take hours. Istanbul has a lot of history but it is a very crowded city. I wouldn't spend more than 3 days in Istanbul.