places to visit on day trips from Selcuk Turkey
 

We will be spending several days in the Selcuk area. After we see Ephesus, what other places of interest can be visited from this location? Thanks for advice.

There's a national park along the coast that is nice, with a few beaches--but you need a car for that. Click on my name and you will find my trip report on Turkey that mentions it.

Definitely find your way to the quiet, traditional village of Sirince about 30 mins away by car. Better yet, base your stay there. You can spend hours wandering the quiet backstreets, visiting shops, and having a nice lunch or dinner.

Selcuk itself houses the nice Ephesus Museum, and no trip to Ephesus is complete without a visit.

One of my favorite mosques in all of Turkey is the sublime Isa Bey Mosque. You will see many Ottoman mosques throughout Turkey, so don't miss this chance to see a Seljuk Turkish one. The grounds of the Basilica of St. John's is just above on the hill, and easy 5 min walk away.

Regards, Bruce
Turkey Travel Images -- http://www.brucegcollier.com/galleri...level2_all.htm

My husband and I spent three nights in Selcuk in March and absolutely loved the town and the area. In town, don't miss the Ephesus Museum, Isa Bey Mosque, and especially St. John's Basilica-- we spent hours wandering around this place, we found it fascinating.

Pamacuk Beach is ~7km west of Selcuk; we brought a picnic lunch here one day and enjoyed seeing the Aegean and the islands in the distance.

The ruins of Priene and Miletus are an easy daytrip south (Didyma is the third ruin that is often grouped with the first two but we ran out of daylight and didn't make it that far)-- we enjoyed both but especially loved Miletus-- there were an astounding number of ruins to explore. I really can't say enough good things about this place!

Sirince is also close by and nice to visit; we went for dinner one night and enjoyed ourselves.

Driving was very easy and people were so friendly. Have a great vacation!!

Thank you for your replies. We are staying at the Hotel Bella. Lots of good reviews, but I wonder if they are all real? I hope so. I looked at Sirince but I'd have to look again for hotels because the one most reviewed is substantially more expensive than the Hotel Bella.
I have seen day trips to Pamukkale, but it sounds like a 3 hr. bus ride. Any comments on this?

If you're into geological wonders, Pamukkale would be the ticket. Barring that, I'm not sure it would be worth spending the day on the bus plus the couple of hours you would need to hike it. The ruins of Hierapolis are nearby, too, but you can get your fill on ruins around Ephesus just as easily.

I've traveled to Pamukkale from a different direction but still out of the way. I liked it, thought it was very unique, but would probably not make the trip again.

Regards, Bruce
Turkey Travel Images -- http://www.brucegcollier.com/galleri...evel2_clr1.htm

We stayed at Hotel Bella and loved it. We found the owner a bit... overbearing at times, but it's definitely a great place to stay. Rooms are comfortable, great breakfasts, ideal location-- for a great price. I wouldn't hesitate to book, especially since I understand it fills up fast.

Oh, and p.s. -- Hotel Bella is literally RIGHT across the street from St. John's Basilica-- a nice view in the morning when you're eating breakfast on the hotel rooftop. :)

Thank you for your reply. To Bg_collier, my sentiments exactly,but my husband would like to see Pamukkale. To Kris0602 and others who have stayed in Selcuk, how can you get to Sirince? We're reluctant to rent a car, neither of us are spring chickens and though we've driven though Spain, Portugal, parts of France, and up the coast of Croatia, we're not as adventurous on the road as when we were in our 50s and 60s. So other than our flights between Istanbul and Izmir, I'm beginning to think more of local transportation. Again thanks for advice.

take along a bathing suit if you go to Pamukkale. For what I saw, many people enjoy paddling around the hot spring pool which is in the Hieropolis site.

We did have a rental car but many others who we met staying in our hotel did not, and they managed just fine. Hotel Bella staff will take you to and from Ephesus and also, I believe, the Virgin Mary house (free! no charge). I'm almost certain there's local public transportation to/from Sirince but don't know details. If you do book Hotel Bella, I'd email the owners and inquire-- they were very helpful and would probably have good information to share. I believe they can also provide info about bus tours to places further outside the Ephesus area.

(Incidentally, the road to Sirince is mountainous and very curvy; we drove it at night and it was a little nerve-wracking. In retrospect, public transportation may not have been such a bad idea!)

Again, thanks, we'll ask at the hotel about Sirince. I believe there is a bus, but we'll get the details.

You can pick up a dolmus to Sirince from the bus station at Selcuk. A few lira and about 30 minutes. They seem quite frequent in each direction.

Great information. I'm planning on 3 full days in Selcuk this fall and will probably stay at the Hotel Bella, too.

I'll have a car and likely visit many of the places everyone's recommended, including Sirince. But no one's mentioned Aphrodisias as a day trip. Although Pamukkale is in the general area, I wouldn't try to do both and less interested in it. Has anyone been to Aphrodisais? Although after three days, I may be ruined out. Any thoughts?

Bruce - Your photography is truly outstanding!

Kris0602 - About the Bella, does "overbearing" mean he tried to sell you rugs and tours? Any room recommendations? Was there a problem parking?

We visited Aphrodisias on our way to Pamukkale. It is definitely worth a visit. Click on my name for my trip report.

Jeff- No problems parking at the Bella-- we parked on the street across from the hotel and had no issues whatsoever. We were in room #5, facing the street but it was plenty quiet and comfortable... not a big room, but perfectly fine. I think we paid 70 YTL a night? Not the cheapest but also not the most expensive rooms they offer.

No, he didn't try to sell us rugs, surprisingly, he was good about that. The issue was that the hotel provides transportation to/from Ephesus and he was beyond insistent that he drive us there himself, despite the fact that we obviously had a rental car and wanted to use it and be on our own-- insistent to the point that the conversation became unpleasant. The thing is, when you're ready to be picked up after Ephesus, you're supposed to visit this particular store at the exit and use their phone to call the hotel for a ride back. After that very weird interaction, the only thing we could figure was that he gets some kind of kick-back from that store for bringing in potential customers. So, in the end we just relented and let him drive us, and it was fine and we didn't buy anything at that store. :) But we just felt like there was some ulterior motive, some reason he was acting that way, and we didn't appreciate being made to feel bad or guilty for wanting to do our own thing on our vacation. Also, we were lead to believe they accept credit cards and then he balked when we wanted to pay with one-- had to make another stop at the ATM, which was a bit irritating.

Not a huge deal, and I would definitely still recommend the Bella. In fact, the rest of the staff went above and beyond, so don't hesitate to book it. Have a great vacation, whatever you decide. :)

Michael - Great and useful trip report.

Kris0602 - Your comment sounded familiar, so I checked Trip Advisor and guess that it was your review where I read it. Anyway, that would annoy me too, but now I know what to expect so I won't let it bother me. I'm flying to Izmir direct from the States, so this will be my first Turkish experience. Thanks for the information and good wishes.

A day trip to Prienne, Didyma and Miletus would be wonderful experience,

Murat

I understand that the Epheses site itself requires either walking up or walking down, depending on where you park your car. If Hotel Bella drives us there, I'm hoping you will confirm that we would get dropped off at the top, so that we would merely just have to walk downhill to that shop for the phone call. If true, that would make me eager to accept his free offer!

wow bg_collier.. what photos. Absolutely amazing. Thanks for sharing. I have sent them around!