Friend and I planning on going to Turkey for about 10 days (maybe less) this summer. Where to go? How many days recommended in Istanbul? Fly to Cappadocia from there? 2 days? Fly to Kusadasi for a 2-3 days? How do we fit in Epheseus? Where is a good area to get a hotel in Istanbul? What about the beach area of Kusadasi? HELP!!! Need to plan trip quickly!!!!

Take a look at www.turkeytravelplanner.com - loads of info - as well as searching this board.

OK, I'm no expert as my trip is happening in June. But I can comment based on my research

You can fly into Istanbul, and then transfer to a domestic flight to the Cappadocia area for 2 nights. Then you could fly from that area to Istanbul, then Istanbul to Dalaman. You could rent a car and spend 2-3 nights in Kas or Kalkan. Then drive up the coast and stay 2 nights in/around Kusadasi as a base for Ephesus. Then you would fly Izmir to Istanbul and spend the last 3-4 nights.

What I laid out is kind of hectic, you could cut out the Kas or Kalkan part to make it less so.

There are a lot of good posts here, typr Turkey in the searchbox and check out turkeytravelplanner.com

Thanks for the advice Seamus. Do you think it is best to go directly to Cappadocia or should we stay 4 days in Istanbul first and then fly to Cappadocia from there for 2 days? Also, do you happen to know a good beach area near Kusadasi? Thanks.

I had NO luck finding an alternate seaside location near Kusadasi. I found 1 or 2 places, but all that they seemed to be were 5 star resort type places with nothing near it.

The alternates that sounded interesting are a bit inland, Selcuk and Sirince.

Hi Redlionny,

Istanbul two days
fly Cappadocia via Kayseri
3 days Cappadocia
Back to istanbul and fly izmir
2 days in Selcuk, sirince or Kusadasi
Back istanbul in ease two days and you are set.
Kusadasi does not have real cool beach areas but plenty of beaches around.
This is based on you do not want to drive and spend a lot of time driving...

Happy travelling

Murat