Hi,
I have a 2 day lay over in Istanbul in December and since I've visited Istanbul several times before, I am planning a day trip outside of Istanbul to see a new part of Turkey. The only places I've been to in Turkey are Istanbul & Edirne. Would appreciate any suggestions for nice day trips from Istanbul. Is Izmir / Ephesus do-able in a day trip? I found some reasonable plane tickets from Istanbul to Izmir and the flight is under an hour.

Thanks!

If you can get the flights early and late, then Ephesus would be perfect because you can visit the site in from two to four hours. There are other things to see there, but it depends on how much time you want in Ephesus. The site is large and everything is interesting. We spent about three hours and would like to have had about another hour. It is one of the most beautiful archeological sites I've visited. I would do it.

That flight I looked at would get us into Izmir at 10 am and we could leave Izmir as late as 9 pm. Would that be enough time for Ephesus and how long does it take to get from Izmir to Ephesus? Thanks!

What are your interests?

1 Hour from airport and if you leave with evening flight you can cover all the must see places of Ephesus & environs.

Happy Travelling,

Murat