turnip

We have 11 full days to spend in Turkey. Day 1 starts with us in Istanbul and on day 11 we need to be back in Istanbul to catch our early morning flight out the next day.

So far our must see's include Istanbul itself and also Cappadocia and Ephesus. I'd rather not add anymore major destinations or I'm afraid we'll do nothing but travel and not have time to see the actual sights.

I'd love to have suggestions on -

1. The best way to get between the destinations.

2. How much time of my 11 days is needed at each location to fully explore the sights.

3. Am I missing out on a true "must see" while in Turkey by choosing the above destinations?

We love history, shopping, and visiting small towns to get the local flavor of the country we're visiting.

Many thanks in advance for your suggestions.

the turnip

propertravel

11 days and 3 destination is fine. Ofcourse there are many more must see places but leave it as a reason to come back.

Typical itinerary can be drawn; Arrive Istanbul stay 3 days if not continue to Cappadocia if a good conncetion available....

3 days Cappadocia, fly directly to Izmir and stay 2 days or so at Kusadasi, Selcuk or Sirince village.
You may add another day to relax or continue to Pamukkale. Return Istanbul from Denizli or Izmir at least a day before your flight back home.

Cappadocia fits to your description with its small towns, villages and plenty of chance to get local flavor. Shopping: do a study in Istanbul and do not buy especially carpets at the first stop. Look around and also check in Cappadocia. If you still want to get the one you found in Istanbul day before flying you can still buy.

While in Ephesus area, take a tour or hire a car to visit Priene, Miletus and Didyma, easy to reach and magnificent sites as well.

In Ephesus go to Selcuk museum before Ephesus. In Ephesus also visit Terrace Houses.

Happy travelling,
Murat

yorkshire

On #1: Start checking asap on flights From Istanbul OR Izmir to Kayseri or Nevsehir for Cappadocia (and vice versa). Figure out if it is best to go to Cappadocia or Ephesus first.

tonyr

We spent ten days in Turkey 3 years ago in April. We used Credo Tours in Istanbul for our arrangements and they were terrific. We flew between areas and had private guides in Istanbul and private and shared guides at other places, never more than 6 other people.

We spent 3 days in Istanbul at the beginning and 1 at the end. From Istanbul we flew to Kusadasi for 2 nights. Went to pergamum the first day and Ephesus the second. We then flew to Ankara and visited the archeology museum. had lunch, and drove to Cappadocia where we stayed at the Esbelli Evi in Urgup for 4 nights.

4 nights in Cappadocia seemed like it was long to us before the trip, but found it was perfect. It gave you time to see everything and time for some hikes and long walks along the river. I would definitely recommend you stay 4 night and the hotel was wonderful.

I would have liked and extra day in Kusadasi and an extra day at the end in Istanbul, but would not have traded them for the 4 nights in Urgup.

The cost of everything was about 11 or 12 hundred a piece for my wife and me as I remember not including air to Istanbul which we used FF miles for. I'm sure you could do it for less, but for us it seemed reasonable. Credo used Argeus tour guides in Cappadocia and they were wonderful going to local places for lunch that were great. The guides in Istanbul and Kusadasi were also first rate. We developed a close relationship with our guide in Istabul, who we had for 3 days. I would think 2 days would have been sufficient with the other 2 days on your own.

If you have any questions please ask.

Tony

brenda66

Truely the Lycian coastline is spectacular with many worthwhile places to visit along the way. Here are some important places to visit along the Lycian Way - Phaselis, Cirali / Olympos, Myra, Demre, Kekova, Kas, Kalkan, Xanthos, Telmessos, Fethiye, Oludeniz, and Kayakoy.

But you may have to leave this area out as it sounds like your time is a bit limited..

One can easily spend 10 days just exploring the Antalya coastal areas ( Lycian coastline ) with the vast amount of historical and rural villages. Hopefully you might get a chance to visit a few places..

NWWanderer

The Lycian coast *is* amazing. I spent two weeks on a gulet last May exploring it with an archeologist guide and it was fantastic. But with the amount of time you have, I'd save that for your next trip to Turkey (and you will want to go back!).

If you can stay in Sirince at Nisanyan House, you should as a base for Ephesus and as a marvelous place to relax and enjoy (we were in one of the cottages). It is a fabulous place and we wished we had more than one night (but we were trying to fit Ephesus and Cappadocia in at the end of our 3 week total trip and just didn't have more time). The Didyma, Prienne, Miletus day trip is worthwhile (we visited them on the way from the end of our gulet trip at Dalaman to Ephesus).

We also stayed at Esbelli Evi but just for 2 nights (another night or two would have also been great here). Great place and Cappadocia is amazing--do the hot air balloon ride for sure.

We had 4 days in Istanbul at the beginning of our trip and felt that was a good amount of time to get a good sense of the city (Dersaadet Hotel, which is also great). I think 4 nights Istanbul, 3 or 4 nights Cappadocia and 2-3 nights Ephesus area would work.

I agree with the suggestions to fly, although we had to connect in Istanbul to get between Izmir and Cappadocia--there weren't direct flights that worked for our schedule.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn near the airport our last night after flying back from Cappadocia because we got in late that evening, and were flying out early the next day so figured it wasn't worth going back into town. It worked out fine.