Suggestions for 25 day Trip starting in Istanbul
 

Hi,

I will be taking a 25 day trip to Europe later this summer (late July). I will be flying into Istanbul as it is by far the cheapest place to fly into. I would like to fly to Budapest from Istanbul and then travel back to Istanbul, visiting the countries in between. I am looking for suggestions on if this is a feasible trip, what cities I should visit/ sights to see (I would love to see natural beauty, especially hikes), and how much time to spend in each place. Thanks so much for your help in advance!

Why fly into and out of Istanbul? Consider your open jaw options (i.e., options for flying into one city and out of another). The costs are rarely higher than the costs of getting back to your city of origin, and may actually be lower.

I spent 25 days just in western Turkey and wish I had been able to spend more time there! You find my trip report by clicking on my name.

OK so you're flying into and out of IST. So why fly any more? It's a headache. If you want to go to eastern Europe, get the train or bus to Plovdiv and Sofia, another train into Romania, go to Bucharest, Sigisoara, then train to Budapest. From there you can take trains to almost anywhere inEurope. Seat61 will help. Then you can get Pegasus back to IST for your return trip.
Or you might like to see spectacular Turkey, in which case plan a 25 day trip around the Aegean coast. The Lycian Way is a brilliant hiking route. Turkish buses are the way to go. Limitless possibilities.

Check the following Turkish Airlines page for very cheap promotional tickets for the Summer:

http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-tr...&class=economy

The seats are usually rather limited and will disappear if you do not purchase quickly.


Turkey, of'course does deserve 25 or more days and has very different types of climate, geography, history and fun places tovisit, as kja has suggested.

Another alternative could be taking a short ferry to one or more Greek islands from the Turkish Aegean coast. But this could actually become costly in July.

Taking a train from Istanbul to Europe is not possible at this time and a bus even to Bulgaria, Serbia or Romania would be too time consuming because of time spent at borders.

IME, no guide is necessary in Istanbul -- it is VERY easy to visit on one's own.

kja, the OP says the guide is very good but repeats it as her first entrance post to Fodors at four different threads. So this is a plug and not a genuine post.

Why recommend a guide when nobody is asking for one?

Have you or I ever recommended a boutique or a hairdresser or an airport shuttle out of the blue?

On the other hand, the guide apparently has telepathic abilities because she knew what the OP was expecting to see in Istanbil. :)
That might be useful but also rather scary. :)