zinfanatic

I am developing a plan but am still having difficulty with the order.
Choices:
Istanbul-Cappodocia-Izmir to see Ephesus, Hierpolis, Aphrodisias, and Pamukkale then by land? to Coast to probably go to Cirali and then area further west Kas, Kalkan then back to Istanbul from Dalaman. The main question is how to get from Pamukklae area to coast near Anatoyla?

Istanbul-Izmir to see Ephesus etc as above to Cappodocia- coast to Cirali and or kas etc.
The dilemna is transport from Pamukklae etc to Cappadocia.
Goal is to be on the coast as late in the trip as possible for better weather. Could you help me with the land part of either itinerary ? How long and by dolmus from Pamukkale Aphrodisias area to Coast or from Pamukklae and Aphrodisias to Cappodpcia?

I think I can get a tour to go from Slekuk to Pamukkale arethen how to the coast from there?

Thanks for your help, Zin

otherchelebi

Hi Zinfanatic.

You are spoiling me.

- Your first choice is easier and more time saving.
- No matter how little you like to drive, driving will save you so much time and give you such flexibility that you should not avoid it.
- After flying from Cappadocia to izmir airport, rent car
- drive to Selcuk (60 minutes)
- you have a choice of visiting Ephesus, sites in selcuk, Sirince and VM's retreat in one whole day.
- If you wish, you could visit Prienne, Miletus, Didyma, Heraklia in another whole day.
- Drive to Aphrodisias (2.5 hrs from Selcuk)
- Continue to Pamukkale and hieropolis (45-60 minutes from aphrodisias)
- Stay night at Pamukkale
- Drive down to Antalya (either through Dinar and Burdur or through Korkuteli) do not try to go directly to Kas from Kumluca. winding road and you will miss too much. about 280-300 kilometers and about 4.5-5 hours.

- At that stage, if you want to see Perge and Aspendos, you should drive East and stay at Side.

- another option is to visit Termessos, if you have picked the Korkuteli route. Afterwards you can stay at Konyaalti or Beldibi (recommend Beldibi) driving some 5-15 kilometer to the West of Antalya.

- The day after, you would have a leisurely drive to Kas, for your well earned rest.

-The rest would be as you wrote.

Hope this is useful.

zinfanatic

Wow, We have driven in many countries in Europe and also in New Zealand and South Africa, but I thought it would be too difficult with the language, narrow winding roads and reckless passing {that is everywhere on two lane roads}. Maybe we will reconsider.
Can we drive from Pamukkale to Cirali in one day? If so what route? I will look at a map and consider other options. I have heard of Side, but I am not sure we want to drive that far east, but I will consider it. I have to study more- ie. Perge and Aspendos.
I have found a map site www.kgm.gov.tr/indexe.htm which will acquaint me with the roads. I do appreciate your direction on how long each segment is, as the the kms. don't really matter as much as the time allotted for each trip.
Is it a good idea to break up the time on the coast into two destinations? Cirali and Kas or other or Side and Kas or other?
Thanks again for your time. Zin

otherchelebi

Zin, quite a bit of these roads are divided highways, even some motorways. On the Pamukkale-Dinar-Burdur-Antalya road there are not many curves and the curves are all properly banked.
The Pamukkale-Korkuteli-Antalya road is more winding and larger proportion two lane, but this road has much less traffic and is actually fun to drive.

in some ways, driving in turkey is easier than driving in Europe.

You do not need to speak Turkish to drive. the traffic signs have no writing on them and the destination signs just say the names of the towns (except "Sehir Merkezi" which means Town Center.

Sorry I missed out Cirali in previous post.

Side to Cirali will be about 3.5 hours.

If you do not go to Perge-Aspendos-Side and stay the night at Beldibi after a 5.5 hour drive from Pamukkale, Cirali will be just one hour or so away and Kas about 4-5 hours.

brenda66

Hi Zinfanatic.

<<<<Istanbul-Izmir to see Ephesus etc as above to Cappodocia- coast to Cirali and or kas etc.
The dilemna is transport from Pamukklae etc to Cappadocia.<<<

this is in my opinion the best direction..and then from Cirali move along to Kas and then up to Pamukkale either from Kas or from Fethiye..

If you do this route <<<Istanbul-Cappodocia-Izmir to see Ephesus, Hierpolis, Aphrodisias, and Pamukkale then by land? to Coast to probably go to Cirali and then area further west Kas,
from Pamukkale head to the coast to either Fethiye or Kas and then follow the D-400 coastline towards Antalya and visit Cirali..

IMO...other than the ruins in Side..there is not much else other than the resort itself and the hassle there is more intense than at other places along the coast..you can visit Aspendos or Perge from Antalya as well..

Also there is NOTHING to see in Beldibi..no historical ruins etc...only loads of 5 star hotels and one public beach..

from Denizli to Antalya: 221 km (137 miles) SE, 3.75 hours

Antalya to Cirali; 80 kms (50 miles) - 1.5 hours

Cirali to Kas; 116 km (72 miles) W, 2.5 hours

Selcuk (Ephesus) to Denizli: 190 km (118 miles) 3 hours

Fethiye/Ölüdeniz to Denizli: 200 km (124 miles) 3.5 hours

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/g...pos/trans.html

Denizli to Antalya by bus is 4 hours ( approx )

the price of the ticket is about 22-25 liras per person

there are buses almost every hour..you dont really need to book so far in advance..either 1 or 2 days before..or just show up at the bus station ( otogar ) of Denizli and you can find a bus to antalya..not all buses have internet web pages

bus service starts at 08:00 am til 01:30 ..but can vary from day to day..

crzn1

bookmarking, thanks