Just got back from two weeks in Turkey. Istanbul, Ephesus & Cappadocia. Unfortunately my actual trip report is going to take some time to write up. If there's any fellow budget minded travelers out there I can try to help out in the meantime please feel free to ask away.

Cheers, the turnip

Perhaps just a hint about the 'Wow !' part ?

Incredible history, stunning scenery and the friendliest people that I've met in any of my travels.

Thanks.
Exactly as I experienced it in Oct. 2006.

Looking forward to reading your report.

M.

Turnip:

I agree with your comments. The scenery is magnificent and the people are so friendly and polite! I urge
those interested in history to give
Turkey serious consideration. They will not regret the decision to go.

We went in May 2008-a lovely time to
visit. We were not budget travellers,
but a budget traveller will enjoy the same scenery as we did.

Pat

Looking forward to your report!

We are headed to Turkey in February so I'm axiously awaiting your trip report!

Best wishes,
Tracy

Welcome home turnip--

You might have already seen the sticky about our Turkey contest but I'm personally inviting you to participate.
http://www.fodors.com/contest/turkey/

You can check out recent entries here:
http://www.fodors.com/contest/turkey/entries.html

Turkey is high up on my list of "where next". I'm looking forward to your report. How long was your trip for starters? I'm looking ahead to '09 and trying to figure out where I could take a longer bit of time off.

Katie,

Many thanks for the invite. I'll be sure to submit a photo or two.

Our trip was two weeks in length. We spent six days in Istanbul, two in the area of Ephesus and four days in the Cappadocia region.

Looking back, as much as we enjoyed Cappadocia I think I would have pulled a day from that section to spend another day in the Ephesus area.

Cheers, the turnip

I too agree with the comments about how great Turkey is. We were there in 2000 and were very impressed with the beautiful scenery, history, and the friendliness of the people. Loved it. We were in Istanbul, and Ephesus, and cruised thru the Black Sea. Next time we'll include Cappadocia also.
Looking forward to your report.

I Hope Mike will contribute his Dark Church photos from Goreme Open Air Museum too....

This photo contest is a great idea....

Happy Travelling,
Murat

Hi turnip,
Turkey is on our to-do list as well. Everyone we know who has visited Turkey has loved it.

We wouldn't want to hire a car, did you get around by public transport? And if so, was it easy?

Thanks,
Kay

'Incredible history, stunning scenery and the friendliest people that I've met in any of my travels. '

I couldn't agree more, Turnip.

One of my favourite holiday destinations ...

Steve

Kay,

There is NO WAY I would try to drive in Istanbul, besides public transportation there was wonderful.

In Sulcuk/Ephesus the hotel provided free transportation for the short jaunt to the site of the ruins.

Cappadocia is a different story in my opinion. There were some buses and little van/buses for public transport but I wouldn't want to be forced to rely on that system. We rented a car while we were there and loved it. There is little traffic and while the way finding, or public direction signs, left quite a bit to be desired we did just fine with the car.

I wouldn't want to drive in Istanbul either. However, we had no problems driving from Izmir to Cappadocia, including driving into and out of Konya.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35151861

Thanks turnip and michael, there is no way we would ever drive in Istanbul but what about getting from one place to another? There are no trains I believe, did you do internal flights or catch longhaul buses?

The distances must be quite long between places, as Turkey is a big country. Or have I got that wrong?

Kay

Totally agree with what you said - friendliest people, beautiful country - and great food, may I add.

driving in the towns and cities would take a lot of concentration, but between them wouldn't be bad.

The idea of buses didn't appeal to me so we did internal flights. I went to THY.com and after a little trial and error I was able to the website to work for me. We found very reasonably priced flights. We flew from Istanbul to Izmir (near Selcuk/Ephesus) and then from Izmir to Kayseri in the Cappadocia region. From there we flew back to Istanbul. The total for the three flights was around $250.

In my opinion there comes a point when time is money and I felt that being able to see the things we really wanted to see without spending entire days for just travel justified the minor additional expense.

Cheers, the turnip

Good to hear all worked out well Turnip, look forward hearing your report....
Have a nice sunday
Murat

PS: As a local I also do not dare to drive in Istanbul. using public transport or taxis just fine....
driving at other places are just fine

turnip, I'm anxious to read your report as I'm leaving Dec 3 for Turkey. Please post a report soon, I hope getting a report from you isn't like getting blood from a turnip.