Itinerary Help please critique
 

A group of friends and I will be in Turkey at end of May for 8 days. We'd like to spend 4 in Istanbul and 4 down south and see Ephesus. Beyond that we need help. We would like to maximize our time. Please critique the following:

1. Fly Denizli-Rent a car. Spend a day and night visit Pamukkale, Hierapolis.

2. Drive to Ephesus. Spend a night and day there.

3. Drive to Pergamum spend a night and day there. Then fly back to IST from Izmir where we would drop off the car.

Or
Do something similar with our 4 days by flying into Izmir renting a car then going to Ephusus 1 night, 1 night Bodrum, 1 night Fethiye for a day cruise on the Agean/Mediterranean, and Flying back to IST from Dalaman.

Also do the above Itins sound too aggressive? We do want time to explore each area. When I mapped it out the distances they didn't take too long but we don't want to spend most of our time driving.

Please critique.

If you can fit in Cappodocia then I would highly recommend it. spending 4 days in Istanbul may be a bit much so maybe you could trim a couple of days from each place and get a few days in Urgup. It was a highlight of my trip. Do a search on this board and you will get others opinions on Cappadocia.

I dunno about 4 days in Istanbul being too much, esp. if you're including days you arrive and depart Turkey. I loved Istanbul.

We had our base in Selcuk and from there visited Ephesus and Pamukkale. They're both musts. We did day-trips to each and since we were backpacking, we just took buses. So if you're driving, you should have no problems doing both in two days. The other two days are free to choose - Bodrum/Fethiye/Pergamum.

We also loved Gallipoli but I'm not sure if that would be of interest to you (ww1 battle-ground between turks and anzacs - aust+nz troops). We found it to be a very moving experience - esp. since the trenches on both sides are still there.

3-4 days in Istanbul is good. 1 day in Sirince (recommneded), Selcuk or Kusadasi is good to visit Ephesus. If I were you I would drive 2-3 hours south from Ephesus to reach Bodrum peninsula. No need to go all the way to Fethiye. It is too far and you can see more in Bodrum and then fly back to Istanbul from Bodrum airport. There is a great hotel in Yalikavak Bodrum called 4reasons hotel+bistro. It is managed by a young Turkish-Canadian couple. I highly recommend it. While in Bodrum peninsula you can visit the Bodrum town and castle, go to Gumusluk for a great fish meal (Mimoza and Cumhur's place are really good), drive from one town or from one beach to another. Bodrum peninsula also has great local markets. The one in Yalikavak is one of the best and it is on Thursdays.

If you want to see most interesting sites in a shorter period :
3 days istanbul, fly Cappadocia 2 days. Fly back to istanbul and continue izmir for Ephesus and Pamukkale.

You can easly organise and enjoy both places plus istanbul
Have a great time in Turkey