Calling All Turkey Experts!
 

Hi,

My partner and I have 21 days available in late May/mid June 2014. We're thinking this would be the perfect amount of time and time of year to visit Turkey. We're interesting in staying in 3-4 different locales. We like to 'settle in' and savor each place (versus changing hotels every few nights). We're thinking:

1. Istanbul
2. Ephesus
3. Cappadoccia
4. Beach (possibly a Gullet in lieu of the beach)

We'll get our International Air SFO/Istanbul on either Lufthansa or Swissair, they both have decent schedules.

Any suggestions for a basic itinerary? Interested in sites, hotels (3-4 star, at around $100 p/night) and any air/car suggestions.

BIG Thank you!

David
San Francisco

You might want to take a look at my trip report which covers what you want to do except for the beach/gullet option; click on my name to find it.

And my trip report might prove useful to you, too. I also spent 3 weeks there (actually, a tad more), mostly in May -- a glorious time to be in Turkey! I moved around a lot, but one could have seen most of what I visited by using bases, if that is one's preference.

We also did a near-identical trip in 2011. If you decide on a beach area I would strongly suggest Cirali. It is an amazing place. For my trip report search here or for the report with pictures see:

http://members.rennlist.org/imcarthur/turkey.htm

Ian

Check out Turkeytravelplanner.com

Thanks everyone for your quick responses, Michael, kja, Ian, leuk2 !!!!

Ian- your trip looks just like what we were thinking! I'm looking forward to reading through ALL later this evening.

No me. Me. Me. My trip report.

We did a similar trip at the same time of year. Turkish Air is an excellent airline. Esbelli Evi, a cave hotel in Urgup is one of our favorite places. Take a look at Cesme as a possibility of a beach stay.

We stayed at a hotel called the Tan in Istanbul, modern, clean, international clientele, and decently priced in teh Sultanahmet.

The hotels in Sirince are up a death-defying road.

Try to get to Topkapi early, it is a zoo.

Turkish cuisine is underappreciated in the USA.

Here are some pictures. The old woman in black and a group at a table were taken in Chios, all other in Turkey.

We loved Turkey


https://plus.google.com/photos/11352...553?banner=pwa

https://plus.google.com/photos/11352...073?banner=pwa

Be adventurous!
Do not read any trip reports!
Why repeat things others have done?
Do your own!

Joking, of'course.

Turkey is easy. Roads are good. Food is decent. Free Wi-FI everywhere.
Be prepared to drive at Cappadocia and on the Mediterranean.

You are not required to follow Big Al's recommendations!

Wait, I took most of my recommendations from you Other!

So, I guess you are right, don't follow my advice!

(To the OP, we are friends or we were friends.)

>No me. Me. Me. My trip report.

It did read like that didn't it? But it is the best way to get a 'boots on the ground' perspective. I read Michael's report (and many others) while I was planning our trip . . .

David: As you can see, we are all eager to help you with your questions.

otherchelebi: Ahmet, I owe you a dinner. When are you coming to this side of the Atlantic?

Ian

99% of trip reports are filled with minutiae.

Just tell the guy what he wants to know and don't punish him by making him read that you arose 7:47 on the third day and had a boiled for breakfast.

Turkey is an extraordinary, varied, and vibrant country.

<i>99% of trip reports are filled with minutiae.</i>

But that's where useful information that might not exist in guidebooks can be found.

<i>Turkey is an extraordinary, varied, and vibrant country.</i>

Agreed, but the statement is not particularly useful for the reader who is trying to organize a trip.

The power of traveling independently is discovery on your own. That is the major reason people do not go a tour.

Mundane information, colorless description, and minutiae sap all the joy and strength of traveling espcially a country like Turkey.

Traveling is not about the individual who is traveling it is about the places and people they encounter.

<i>Mundane information, colorless description, and minutiae sap all the joy and strength of traveling espcially a country like Turkey. </i>

Amazing. What one reads perhaps months before traveling will completely ruin your actual travel experience.

No Michael, the joyless pursuit of inconsequential data that revolve around the traveler rather than the place is not instructive as to how wonderful a moment, a site, a person, a food, a smell may be.

To you, BigAl, to you . . .

Some of the rest us realize that it's a big world out there & we want a tiny bit of help before we go to a site at the wrong time, or eat at a seriously crappy restaurant etc. Vacations are short & why waste time & dollars? Yes, we can weed through thousands of posts on TA (many from one post wonders) or we can ask here or just read a trip report by somebody who has been there/done that. And some of us are more inclined to believe a person who went to the effort to write a trip report to communicate their personal impressions & feelings.

You obviously, want to have nothing but your own experiences & there is nothing wrong with that. Your choice: Don't read them. But don't criticize those of us that do.

Ian

Awww, BigAl, I've cherished all the info I've gotten from other people's trip reports. I guess I just like advance research; it primes me for my trip.

David, if you feel like splurging, Turkish Airlines premium economy class ("Comfort" Class) is great. They fly out of LAX though, so you'd first have to make it down there. Also, they land in IST at a rather inconvenient time, around 5:30ish PM. However, they're pretty reasonably priced compared to similar offerings, and the extra legroom and amenities are wonderful given the long flight.

I do extensive research for trips and always like the advice given on Fodor's, but I find 99% of trip reports stultifying. They are cyber version of watching unedited slides of someone's trip. Once I see the empty words amazing, awesome, and yummy, the time someone woke up, or flight number, I hang up.

I did not single out someone for attention, thus the criticism is one person's version of what is and what isn't interesting.

Big Al the chopped liver at 2nd Avenue Deli was not Yummy!

The Pastrami was great until you distracted me so that Eser could gulp down most of the sandwich.

You and I write trip reports to share feelings without using many adjective or adverbs. Those who can empathize, we hope, will laugh, cry or sing with joy with us when they read our reports. If they also pick up something useful for a future trip, that is an additional benefit.

however, informative and factual trip reports are very useful especially if the OP has given some information about himself (herself) so that the reader can identify and tell whether and what he (she) should follow or not.

Unlike TA there is room here on Fodors for all of us, and I hope the readers will appreciate that they can get, answers to questions, funny travelogues and informative trip reports without changing web sites.

I also give direct facts to help trip planners to Turkey without value judgements since i have no idea what the readers' values are.

I appreciate your thoughts OC.

Ian, I got as far as Niagara on the Lake, last October (see my trip report, Sinner and Angel......)

Coming year, I will be in Chicago and Denver in early or late March, depending on availability of frequent flier business tickets and will speak at a Denver Council on Foreign Relations meeting.

If you can arrange for me to speak in Toronto, about that time on the "Arab Mirage" , "The Next 100 year history of the Middle East" or "The Ottoman Military band and Turkish democracy" or,
"Enterprise Risk Management Framework for Ventures in Turkey", you can also pay back that preferably fusion dinner. -:)

If you can arrange for me to speak in Toronto, about that time on the "Arab Mirage" , "The Next 100 year history of the Middle East" or "The Ottoman Military band
__________

If you will wear the full regalia and play "Com'on Otto, man" we will come up to Toronto.

OC...one thing I've learned after readng of your exciting topics. I'll be on tour wth my new novel next month and I don't expect any competition from you. Your tweets are puzzling enough for me. How come you're being so nice to BigAl for a change? I expect the same treatment.

I do not write trip reports...I have enough publisher's deadlines to be concerned about...I do agree with BigAl (one of my illustrious book previewers), that some TR's do tend to be exceptionally wordy and too personal. My monster of an editor would have a red-letter day with a certain few Fodor TR's appearing here.(In my tour of duty here, I've written one in 2006 and a two-minute report with pix after an Alaska visit.

David Dunn: Instead, I just offer my amateurish pix to help familiarize Fodorites with the place they are heading. I've been fortunate enough to "taste" Turkey twice for fairly in-depth visits of one month and two months (as a consultant to the Turkish Airforce) OC, I think I'm one of a few Fodorites who enjoyed the Ottoman band performance at the military museum.
...
https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...nesOfIstanbul#
http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/ScenesOfTurkey#

Stu, are you going to be in sf?

The reality is that I write Trip Reports for ME, I just happen to post them here because I like to give back to the community. As my spouse & I age, I wanted to have an intact account of our adventures together. It will be very helpful when we are beating each other with canes (insert irony tag) & arguing about which restaurant we ate in in some remote country twenty years ago. In fact, it has already become very useful . . .

OC: Niagara-on-the-Lake is only just over an hour away. Next time you are that close I will expect an email! I will work on that lecture for you. ;)

Ian

sf....pub is setting dates now..will start in last sepember mosly in SoCal, to be followed ny NoCal...then back to the east coast. Wife's daughter who hosted a gala for my more recent book will probaly do that again. Aline (Shanghainese has alresady "rsvp'ed" even with no firm date yet. Will keep you informed, unless you would like to host your own literary event. Many people end up doing that on my tours...so beside the book stores, temples, organizations, I do many private gatherings. Planning one in Massachusetts for a GTG in October. (Please excuse the hijacking David...but I wanted to answer Sf's query)
stu stuarttower@aol

The reality is that I write Trip Reports for ME,
__
But you post them for public consumption.

>I just happen to post them here because I like to give back to the community

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Ian

David: I too want to apologize for the hijack.

David,

My husband and I spent 15 days in Turkey in 2009 and basically went where you are planning to go. It was 15 days we'll never forget; Turkey is an amazing country.

I read lots of trip reports and did lots of research (we planned it totally on our own). We did a combination of flying and driving. Take what you want from the trip reports and disregard what isn't helpful to you. I found them mostly helpful.

This is the link to my trip report: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-in-turkey.cfm. It's hard to say what was the best experience we had because it was all stunning, but Cappadocia is hard to beat.

I HIGHLY recommend the Melekler Evi Cave Hotel in Urgup. It was heaven; I didn't want to leave it. Here's the link to their website; trust me, you won't be disappointed. http://www.meleklerevi.com.tr/.

If you have questions about anything in my trip report, I'd be more than happy to answer them. I'm envious; I'd return in a second!

Ellen

OC wrote: "there is room here on Fodors for all of us, and I hope the readers will appreciate that they can get answers to questions, funny travelogues and informative trip reports without changing web sites."

Well said, OC -- kudos!

Wow... thank you for ALL of the wonderful advice/trip itineraries, etc. I've got a lot of homework to do... I'm looking forward to diving in deeper reviewing your Trip Reports, etc. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions. Many thanks!

If you can stand incorporating one more trip report, please check out mine. I spent 17 days in Turkey in late Aug/early Sept. 2012. I absolutely LOVED Turkey, visiting Istanbul (my second time there), Ephesus, Cappadocia (you have to do the balloon ride!), Sumela Monastery and then the last 4 days along the Mediterranean coast, based in Fethiye.

Do go through my trip report here: http://ashwinbahulkar.wordpress.com/...o-turkey-trip/
Check out the South East section..there's less information available on the web,see if the area appeals to you.