We are planning a trip to Turkey in April. We wanted to fly from Cappadocia to to Antalya, and then rent a car and make our way along the coast to Bodrum. Unfortunately, we can't get a direct flight from Cappadocia to Antalya. We are considering renting a car from Cappadocia and making the 500 mile drive to the coast. Any thoughts or suggestions?

We did it last summer and were glad we did. We allowed far too much time thinking it would be a difficult and slow journey. We left Urgup in Cappodocia about 11:00 in the morning and went out to the Ihlara Valley for about a one hour hike down into the valley and had lunch, then drove on to Konya, arriving around 4 PM. We enjoyed our evening and night there, eating dinner at a wonderful little place where no one spoke a single word of English, but we got along fine. The next day we drove to Lake Egridir where we had booked to stay the night. Surprisingly we arrived before noon. This was a complete waste of time as far as we were concerned. We should have gone all the way that day to Antalya. The drive from Egridir to Antalya the next day was quite beautiful and on a very good road that wasn't even on the brand new map we had just bought in London. We arrived at Antalya well before noon and went on to Aspendos to visit the theatre before going to Side for lunch and then going back to check into our hotel west of Antalya mid afternoon. Any further questions?

I'll be doing that same drive during the summer, and everyone who has done it has said that it's very manageable for a one day trip. I was given a figure of 575 kilometres for the distance from Urgup to Antalya, which comes to 345 miles. All in all, I've heard it's very doable.

Paule, I have corresponded with Argeus Travel and found them very responsive. I am wondering why you used Suleyman instead. How did you get in touch with him initially.

Tony, <BR>Suleyman was originally with Argeus and left to start his own agency (Cappadocia Tours). I had oroginally gotten a referral to Argeus through someone I corresponded with on another travel board, who had worked with and raved about Suleyman when he was at the agency. My correspondence with Argeus, however, wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped for, and, in the meantime, I was given Suleyman's name/address. I found Suleyman much more responsive, returning my e-mails quickly and answering my questions directly. I think that Suleyman was the primary agent for Argeus, and when he left, there was a big hole in the agency; I'm glad to hear that it's getting straightened out. I felt that the person I was corresponding with just wasn't answering my questions/needs, and it often took quite a while between e-mails. I can't say enough good things about dealing with Suleyman; he responds quickly and always answers whatever my questions are as best as he can.