I've booked a trip to Istanbul in late March and plan to stay for 8 nights. Which excursion should I take to get away for three or four nights? I'd like to see Ephesus but don't know how to do it...-Christine

anyone able to help her?

Christine, if you type Ephesus into the box just to the right of the "search this forum" at the top of the page, hit enter, it will bring up a bunch of threads that have information that you may find helpful. I believe some of the responders (Murat, Sinan) are located in Turkey and have included their email addresses. Good luck with your planning.

We visited in 2000 and Ephesus is not to be missed.

I can't help you with excursions we stayed in Cesme and went to Ephesus on a day trip. We also saw the House of Mary and soaked in a hot spring.

Best trip? - a boat cruise that we decided not to book through the hotel, we were traveling with children and didn't want a 'booze cruise'.

So! we booked a trip on the Sunday and were the only non-Turks on the ship, we were used for English practise

When the owner realised we were on board he produced a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses - the other passengers only had one plastic cup of wine with their lunch :-S

Turkish Grandmothers jumping off the ship and swimming in the sea in their dresses was a sight to see.

Wonderful country, wonderful people.

Even if you don't get arrangements made before you arrive there are a lot of travel agencies in Istanbul that can arrange such excursions for you.

Hi All;
March is a good time to travel around. 3 /4 days away from istanbul would give you couple of different opportunities
1 Drive along also see iznik, bursa, canakkale /dardanelles)troy, Pergamum and finally efes.
2- Fly to izmir, if pree arranged someone would pick you up and drive about 50 min to Selcuk. Spending a whole day around would give you enough joy of daytrip there. Further you can go to Pamukkale and return in a day, or go more down south to Bodrum to enjoy seaside. Prienne & Miletus will be your bonus on the way.
3- If you do not mind another flight within this timeframe : Fly to Ephesus in a day have a guide and fly back to istanbul. Catch the connection to Cappadocia for another 2 days.

Would you like to get more ideas ?

Happy travelling,

Murat

I thought I'd let you know that we booked a trip to Athens which was a short flight and stayed for 3 days. While there we took the train (like a subway really) to Pireus and then took a Catamaran style boat to my favorite island, Hydra. It was a wonderful daytrip on top of a wonderful side trip from Istanbul and the weather was gorgeous compared to a rainy stay in Turkey.