worldinabag

Thanks Jane. HappyCheesehead of course you can have a copy (how I can I refuse a fellow cheese lover . We also did what Fredonia suggested and covered the Dolhmahace Palace and the Military Museum.

worldinabag

Thanks Jane. HappyCheesehead of course you can have a copy (how I can I refuse a fellow cheese lover . We also did what Fredonia suggested and covered the Dolhmahace Palace and the Military Museum as they are in the same area. Highlight of this museum is definitely the Mehter Takimi, the Ottoman military band, which performs every afternoon between 15.00 – 16.00. My wife was really amused when she noticed some of the participants sported a false moustache - I think this was the highlight of the performance for her.

worldinabag

Ooops, it fawl down...

LowCountryIslander

Wow Tracy and Happy Cheesehead...seems like I also have similar travel tastes as you. I was in Croatia last year and I will be in Turkey this Sept/Oct for 2.5 weeks (6 of those days in Istanbul)...I will definitely post a Turkey trip report when I return!

Great minds think alike!

tcreath

worldinabag, your notes are excellent! Istanbul is a little daunting to me and your notes will certainly be useful. I just printed them off to take home to my hubby to discuss.

LowCountryIslander, I guess great minds do think alike! What is it about Croatia that is making us all want to go to Turkey?! Actually I would love nothing more than to go back to Croatia but I also feel the desire to see new places so in the end Turkey won.

Tracy

LowCountryIslander

Tracy...

I hear you with wanting to go back to Croatia...I LOVED it there! I had actually started my Turkey trip plans for this year back before I left for Croatia last year! I know, I take "advanced trip planning" to a new extreme!


Enjoy your trip to Japan...that's also on my list!

tcreath

LowCountryIslander, I understand completely. I'm planning for these trips (btw now we have decided on Romania and Turkey instead of Greece...we'll see how we feel next week!) and we are starting to think about Thanksgiving week next year and the possibility of Buenos Aires! What can I say? I'm a serial vacation planner!!

Tracy

Mathieu

Another like-minded traveller here !

Croatia and Wales and a brief stopover in Budapest in 2004, Egypt, Jordan and Budapest in 2005 and Turkey and back to Budapest in 2006 !

All wonderful destinations and I would go back to Turkey in a heartbeat. There is so much to see and do and enjoy there that it is impossible to cover the many areas that the country has to offer in just a few weeks.
So I'd suggest limiting your planning and enjoy seeing just a few places really well the first time, then go again and cover a different area.

Have fun.

tcreath

Mathieu, I have been trying to get my husband to visit Jordan for several years now. While he is pretty open most of the time, he is very hesitant to travel to that area of the world, especially right now. I would love to see Petra one day!

Tracy

tcreath

Mathieu, I also thank you for your thoughts. I think I am going to keep our itinerary in Istanbul fairly open and just see what happens. I learned long ago not too plan too much...I usually have a better time and discover things I wouldn't have found if I was sticking to a strict itinerary!

Tracy

LowCountryIslander

Ok...this is getting "spooky"...I have been thinking about going to Buenos Aires for Thanksgiving week 2008!

tcreath

Spooky indeed! If we do both end up there at the same time we could meet up and decide where to go in 2009 since we appear to be on the same wavelength and will probably be thinking the same thing!!

Mathieu

Tracy,

Yes Jordan was truly wonderful. I too was hesitant in 2005, but as often happens, my fears were allayed once I got there and I had a terrific time. It is a very interesting country - land, sea, desert (so many different types) and of course, Petra and Wadi Rum were the highlights ! Can't speak for the stability of the political and social scene there at present - and in the end it is a personal thing of how one feels about ones own safety - but I think Jordan is still one of the safer countries in the area to visit. I hope that you get to experience it some day.

With respect to Turkey, I covered what I call 'the western triangle' - Istanbul, Izmir and Cappadocia and back to Istanbul over 11 days (4, 3 and 4 days in each area respectively) and even though I could have done with more days in each, the time was sufficient to see and do a lot. I didn’t spend any time in Izmir but instead rented a car at Izmir airport and drove 75 Kms along the Aegean coast to Selcuk (Ephesus) and then Sirince. Easy driving and extremely enjoyable areas. Cappadocia is simply amazing. The landscape is quite unlike anything I’ve seen elsewhere before. My base was Goreme, but from there I travelled to Uchisar, Urgup, Nevsheir and other neighboring towns. In all the parts of Turkey that I visited, the people, food and general nature of the country were among the best I have ever encountered anywhere in the world.
I must also, in all fairness, mention the delightful services of Murat who arranged all my internal air connections, car rental as well as some accommodation for me. He posts a lot of helpful information on this board, and he may not be allowed to advertise his services here, but as a customer of his – and a very satisfied one at that – I only feel it fair to mention him. When I finally got to Cappadocia and met him, it was truly a pleasure and he was the perfect helpful Turkish host whenever and if ever I needed. So if he can be of help you and others, why not ?

As you can tell, I did not get anywhere near the beautiful Turkish Mediterranean coast, nor the Northern area of the Black Sea or the further Eastern part of the country. That’s all waiting for the second and third and fourth visits to this lovely country !

Have fun planning, and enjoy.

LCI : Buenos Aires is on my hit list too, but not before Sweden, Latvia and St. Petersberg, all next year perhaps.

Mathieu.

HappyCheesehead

Hiya LCI - Turkey for you, too??? I guess we should just go to the book store for our Japanese guidebooks right now since we will obviously be following Tracy there soon.

I spoke to my DH about travel to South America too, for a lower cost winter vacation from the US. As usual, there are waaay more places on the list than I have vacation time from work for.

WHY WASN'T I BORN RICH????!!!!!

tcreath

LOL HCH! Should I rent out my Japan guidebooks to you guys when we get back from our trip?!

I totally understand. There are so many places that I want to visit. I actually get myself all stressed out trying to pick a place to visit for my vacation! Why can't we be rich and spend our days travel??

Tracy

LowCountryIslander

Tracy and HappyCheesehead...

I always say..."I wish I had a million dollars"...of course that would only put a small dent in all my dream trips!

tcreath

LowCountry, you are absolutely right. I think that with a million dollars I could run out of travel money within a few years!

Okay, I think we have decided on 4 nights in Istanbul. I know its probably not ideal, but hopefully we will love it so much that we will want to go back to Turkey and spend more time in Istanbul and in other parts of the country.

Tracy

jlt6518

Four days will be just fine. Read my trip report on Istanbul in 3 days for a few specifics. Istanbul is fantastic!

WTnow

Fun thread, especially as we have spent the last 14 days in Croatia and were just in Turkey for a month.

I am actually surpised that I find the coast here very similar to the Turquoise coast in Turkey ( except the water is not as turquoise).

I think it is a shame to go to Turkey and miss Ephesus and Cappadocia which were highlights for us. We spent a week in both of those areas and could have stayed longer and were real ready to get out of Istanbul after 3 days.

We enjoyed it and saw all the highlights mentioned, but we found the joy and authentic parts of Turkey more exciting like our gulet trip, Lycium way, FABULOUS Greek and Roman ruins, travertines in Pumukale, sleeping in a 4th century cave in spectacular Cappadocia.

I am sure one can take years to know ANY big city, but the highlights of Istanbul can be seen in 2 days.

Sadly, if you only see Istanbul, I feel you mniss the joys of Turkey, as it is essentially a European city.

We find the best of a country is usually found outside the big cities and Turkey is no exception.

I don't think you need a million dollars to travel the world. We have found that it is MUCH cheaper to travel the world than live at home.