Considering Turkey at the end of August with 4 kids
 

Originally, I was planning on going to Greece in August after visiting Israel. I have been discouraged by people on the forums because of the great number of tourists at that time. Would I be better off taking my family to Turkey for a week? What itinerary would you recommend for a family of six with kids ranging from 6-13 years old?

We went to Greece in August. From Greece we went to Turkey. Then to Egypt. Then to Spain. With 3 kids. Great trip.

Sorry forgot the last line. If you want to go to Greece in August, go to Greece in August.

A week is not very long for Turkey. It would help us to know what you would want to do and experience in that time.

colduphere - do you have any trip reports that I could read? Where did you go in Greece in August? How about Turkey?

I am interested in kid friendly experiences in Turkey. I wouldn't mind some beach time.

Adventure6 - I have four trip reports but not for that trip. Trip reports on the Europe forum disappear so quickly. And besides people would've thought we were crazy with the trip we took.

In Greece we went to Athens, Olympia and Nafplio. Nafplio has two nice beaches and a wonderful castle to climb up to. In Turkey we went to Istanbul for five days and Cappadocia for three or four. This is now several trips ago so my memory is getting a little foggy. I think just about every kid enjoys Cappadocia. An underground city, balloon ride, strange rock formations, cave hotels. It really is quite the place.

We think in terms of visiting places, not countries.

"Trip reports on the Europe forum disappear so quickly" -- they don't actually disappear, they just move off the list of recent postings. To find trip reports on this board, go to the country that interests you and then the section on trip reports. Voila!

You have to consider that Turkey is in the middle of a major political and financial crisis. The government may not last through the summer, so have an alternative plan should the situation deteriorate over then next few months.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/wo...rkey.html?_r=0

By the way I think our youngest was nine for our trip to Japan and China. Your's are a bit younger. So I can see the wisdom of a beach here and there.

Nope, it just depends on the place you go, believe me I travel every Summer Greece and the Greek islands. First of all the beaches are unsurpassed, and kids love beaches and water more than anything. The People are very friendly, especially to kids, the sceneries are gorgeous, charming towns great food, what else a family may want? In the end of the day, Turkey is full of tourists during August, and they are everywhere, especially the beaches, since there are no off the beaten track beaches, the Turkish riviera is a long coastline, as opposed to Greece, in which you can find gorgeous beaches you had no idea that existed. Also, if you want to go to Istanbul, consider that there is a political and financial crisis which has just began, there are people in the streets which fight with the police in demonstrations, and consider the ultra Islamist environment (I once got spit in Istanbul, for no reason, I was just walking)... It's better to go alone, without your kids it's not safe. Greece on the other hand, is part of EU and Eurozone, the economy has just began getting better, there are no Religion craziness, it's a thousand times safer than Turkey for the kids. What you want, is no many tourists in Greece during August. Piece of cake. Here are some recommendations: Sifnos, Amorgos Folegandros, Koufonisia. All of them are fantastic.

We spent the last two weeks of August 2012 in the Dodecanese islands. Apart from Kos the islands were blissfully free from hordes of tourists.

I truely regret seeing a xenophobic, racist post as the one above by PetrosB3.

If Greek islands were populated by such people, I would not visit them, but fortunately most Greeks are fun-loving and hospitable people just like most Turks, because they have shared the same environment for about a thousand years and possibly have similar ancestors who have inhabited Asia Minor for thousands of years.

I have a continuous thread on visiting Turkey which I update regularly. There are no problems for tourists (31 million visited Turkey last year)

Island vacations and mainland vacations are very different creatures.

Turkey will provide direct combination of beach and antiquity, especially at places like "Side", "Patara", "Cirali", Assos, "Olympos", Kusadasi, Didyma, Dalyan.

I believe that the whole region will be rather busy at end of August.

Turkey will provide more tours to interesting sights than the islands and the Greek islands will provide better watering holes in the villages and towns.

Transportation to Turkey will be easier than to a Greek island.

You will have a huge selection of All Inclusive Resorts in Turkey, priced for all budgets where the beaches, the food and the environment are excellent and where the kids will be able to attend mini and kids clubs and love it with special pools, slides, play, sports activities, animation and entertainment. There are also a few similar resorts in Greece, but not as large a selection.

Hope you have a good vacation whatever you decide. I am sure your kids will remember it for a long time.

I suggest you buy a few copies of Gerald Durrel's "My Family and Other animals" to read for the whole family before and during your Greek or Turkey vacation.

You may be interested in some of my trip reports. Here's one on some of my suggested areas :

http://www.fodors.com/community/fodo...lykians.cfm?57

@otherchelebi, you say that because you are a Turk, but this is reality. Turkey is not safe, especially for kids, and especially now that Turkey is in a major crisis, I've been to Istanbul for the second time some months ago. You need to calm down and understand. Turkey is becoming more Islamist day by day, dangerously Islamist, even kisses are outlawed in the streets. If you just jump a street off the tourist track, thinks may get really bad, heard many stories. Greece is safer, no doubt as it is part of EU and Eurozone, and has greater variety than Turkey. There are the Greek islands which are world famous as one of the most beautifoul places in the World, there is Athens, an ancient metropolis with everything you may want, the Peloponnesus with the gorgeous towns beaches and ancient sites, Epirus with the stone villages and the serene nature, and Macedonia with the rich byzantine and ancient imperial macedonian monuments.

A good Itinerary is: Athens, Santorini, Rhodes, that would be a great trip for a family.

Here are some great sites, to see some great family destinations in Greece:

http://www.visitgreece.gr/en/destina...y_destinations

http://greecewithkids.info

http://www.truegreece.com/vacation-p...ys-greece.html

otherchelebi - the link to your trip report did not work for me.

My husband is really drawn to Turkey. He would love to visit Cappadocia. How do we get there with a family of our size? Night bus doesn't seem very practical with small children.

It wasn't long ago that Greece was on the verge of collapse and tourists still went.

Admitting it has been a couple of years since we went to Turkey, I would go again tomorrow and would take my kids. Problems? Sure. We have plenty here too, but people were really wonderful and kind everywhere. As a matter of fact, DH and I loved it so much (and this is from devoted Italy fans), we decided that if we were a little younger, we would try to live in Turkey part of the year.

Cappadocia is an amazing place, mind blowing landscape, very intersting history, and fabulous food - would be great for kids to experience.

Turkish air has pretty cheap round trip tickets from Istanbul to Cappadocia. With kids, that is probably what I would do. Hotels do pick ups at the airports there. You could rent a car and drive yourselves around. Good roads.

Greece is lovely also. I liked Corfu and Rhodes more than Santorini and Athens, but it is all beautiful. Depends on your needs and interests.

If your guide book doesn't cover the transportation options you need, I strongly recommend that you get one that does, perhaps The Rough Guide or The Lonely Planet.

Good luck!

I agree with Sassafrass, we were in Greece mid-2011 with all the strikes, protests, etc, but it didn't stop us from haveing a wonderful time. In fact, some of the demonstrators at Syntagma Square took pictures with us. We spent 10 days in Turkey last Sept/Oct and saw protests in Taksim Square, but nonetheless we are going back again in June. Almost all countries are going through some kind of economic and financial crisis these days but for the most part I find people to be friendly and helpful towards visitors, one just needs to be sensible and exercise caution.

Coming back to the OP's question you'll love Turkey, especially Capadoccia, we missed it last time but have planned 3 days there this time.

adventures6, I believe that those who cannot access Fodors Lounge will not be able to read my trip report.

This will probably be the case for my other trip reports which were posted on the lounge.

If the moderators do not mind, I will repost some of those reports on the Turkey forums, to help new visitors, starting tonight.