julies

From reading some other threads I know a lot of you are planning trips to Turkey this year, and some of you have been there recently. That destination has been on my to do list for years and now seems to be moving up in priority since, due to he dollar's decline, western Europe has become much more expensive for those of us from the US. It used to be that Turkey was considered a bargain destination, but I have been reading that prices there have increased. I don't know if this is also due to the state of the dollar since prices are often quoted in dollars. I am just curious what kinds of prices for what types of things people who are planning trips are being quoted. The airfare just to get there is quite high so I am wondering about hotels, car rental, admissions etc. I should also note that we are budget travellers, not high end travellers so what may seem cheap to some of you may seem quite pricey to me. Thanks for you thoughts.

Intrepid1

"The airfare to get there is quite high...."
I'll chime in with my old refrain that you should look at EVERY possible airfare search engine/site to include mobissimo.com
onetravel.com
kayak.com
itasoftware.com

julies

Intrepid1--

Thanks for the tip about kayak.com. In my circle of friends I'm know as the queen of cheap airfares because of the great fares I've found. I've used all the others, but hadn't heard of kayak, so now I have another search engine to add to my list.

AP6380

In my research I'm finding that domestic airfares in Turkey (say from Istanbul to Dalaman) are about $100 pp. These seem to be the way to go since distances are so great in Turkey. I've been quoted through a travel agency in Istanbul, $87 US per day for an automatic car rental, I still have to check other sources. This is pretty equivalent to what I have paid in Italy. I'm usually a 3 star hotel traveler, but am finding that if I push my budget a little higher, for a portion of the vacation may get me into 4 stars. The hotels I'm looking at in Istanbul range from 99-120 US per night. In Kalkan, I will be paying about $72 a night. In Bodrum, about $80 a night, and in Kusadasi or Selcuk, I will be paying either $80 or $125 per night. The hotels are what seem to be significantly cheaper to me in planning this trip.

eurotraveller

First off I would like to recommend a great web site specific to Turkey. check out www.turkeytravelplanner.com. Great info!

I travel to Europe a couple of times a year. I also travel on a budget so I can spend more time in each country and I have done a lot of research for my trip in May.

When I have inquired into room prices for Turkey I am quoted a rate. when I email back that the quoted price is out of my budget the price has come down dramatically all 3 times.

In Istanbul I have found several that are willing to accept $40 per night USD fod a double ensuite after a bit of negotiating. Check out The Apricot Hotel, Hotel Poem or Side Hotel and Pension. Great locations, they look good on the website and they seem to be recommended places to stay.

In Selcuk there are many budget pensions. It seems you can get a double ensuite for $20-30 at many places.

There are many budget accomodations in Cappadocia as well.

We are not reserving anything during our 19 nights except for our 2 nights in Istanbul at the beginning and the 2 nights in Istanbul at the end of our trip.

Another good website for budget travellers is www.lonely planet.com

Good luck!