Kevin

I'll have the opportunity to hook up in Turkey with my brother for about four days. I know it's not long, but that's all the time we have.<BR>Can we see Istambul and environs as well as a trip to Eph.? Is it easy to travel between the two cities?<BR>What would you do if you had only 3 or 4 days?

kathy

I spent five days in Turkey by myself about a year ago. (Technically, it was a week-long trip but travel to and from the States took up two of those days.) I went to the two places you mentioned, Istanbul and Ephesus (Selcuk). It depends on your tastes, but I enjoyed Ephesus a lot more than Istanbul. I spent three days there and could have spent another day or two, while I found my two days in Istanbul so hectic I would have preferred skipping it altogether. <BR><BR>Travel between the two towns isn't difficult, but it does take time and it isn't particularly cheap. I landed in Istanbul and took the next plane to Izmir, then the bus from Izmir to Selcuk. Altogether, I guess that took half a day. There is a train from the Izmir airport to Selcuk, but it's not as frequent as the bus. There's supposed to be a way to flag down the bus at a stop near the airport, but I couldn't find it and took a cab to the nearest commercial bus station--not the main Izmir station all the way downtown--instead. Booking flights on Turkish Air was amazingly easy: I just went up to the ticket window and asked for the next flight about 20 minutes before it took off, and that took care of it, for about $60 each way.<BR><BR>If you stay in Selcuk, I recommend the Artemis Guest House. Twin rooms are about $12 a night. They're very basic but clean and comfortable and have big private baths. The Australian and Turkish staff is VERY friendly and VERY helpful, and offers a free daily shuttle to the Ephesus ruins. Also, if you can, make sure one of your days there is a Saturday. That's the local market day and it's not to be missed.

ronald

Hi.<BR>I spent 5 nights in Turkey (4 in Instanbul, 1 night in Bursa, and made a day trip from IST to Edirne near Bulgarian border). I absolutely loved Turkey-and the food is totally sensational. With that said, I truly enjoyed Istanbul a lot, and wished I could have hade more time to spend a few more days there. Hectic, yes; but fun to explore, absolutely. Hectic doesn't turn me off. After Greece, I got very tired of seeing a few piles of lonely stones called ruins. I like to see areas that have life, where people actually exist like in markets and general sites like the traditional Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, etc. So, if you are really, REALLY into ruins, then the long trip to Eph may be what you want. But if you have only 4 days, I would consider making the most of them in Instanbul, which has a lot to offer, including its close environs like the Black Sea, or a day trip to Edirne.<BR><BR>Ronald<BR><BR>

Kathy

In Selcuk (Ephesus) I would highly recommend the Hotel Kalehan. I stayed there in November and found the hotel delightful. Here's their website http://www.kalehan.com/

Sue

I will recommend you www.kusadasionline.com for Ephesus Tours. They can also arrange a hotel for you if you contact them. Wonder how they manage to have the tours that cheap when the quality of their service is real high!

lo

tp

Grandma

We drove up the coast of Turkey after flying from Istanbul to Antalya. I second Ronald's suggestions: Istanbul and environs. Ephesus is fantastic, but I'd save it for the next trip. Once you've been to Turkey you'll want to go back.

Geographically-challenged

Is Turkey in Europe?

kelly

Part of it sure is, divided between Europe and Asia in Istanbul.

excuseme?

"Kathy" must be a ringer. Unless one is a professional archeologist (sp??) I don't see how one could spend three days at Ephesus( vs the delights of Istanbul).