trip girl...

The Kismet is a favorite of ours...hope you decide to stay there...great view over the harbor, beautiful grounds..plenty of restaurant choices in Kusadasi (koosh-a-desu).

How long will you be in Turkey? When? Let us know.I'd be hppy to send you some more suggestions at any time.

stu tower [email protected]

tripgirl, I always keep up on where you are headed next because you travel to some amazing places and now that I am pregnant I have to travel vicariously through others. I read in one of your posts that you would be going to Turkey. You will love it!

The Nisanyan sounded and looked lovely from what I've seen and read online. We almost booked there, but our major concern was that we were traveling in February and I was worried that restaurants and such in Sirince would be closed and/or that the roads would be bad because of possible snow.

We really liked Selcuk and Sirince both. Sirince is tiny but it's in a very picturesque setting. The drive from Selcuk to Sirince was beautiful and filled with fruit orchards. Sirince is known for its fruit wine and even if you aren't a big fan of fruit wines I highly suggest some tastings because they weren't all as sweet as I had anticipated.

There were plenty of restaurants in Sirince, although not all of them were open during the time of year we went, and the ones that were open were only offering a few items off of their menus. I saw a sign pointing towards the Nisanyan and we attempted to try to locate it with our car but we ended up turning around. I'm not sure if it's close enough to town to walk to the restaurants or not. You may want to do a search on here for the Nisanyan or make a separate posting about that.

Selcuk was nice and very pleasant, but it's definitely not upscale and where we stayed was about on paar with the rest of the lodging choices from what I gathered. It worked for us because our budget is more limited and we don't spend too much time in the room, but overall I don't think I would have chosen that hotel had we had more option.

I hope this helps some! If you have any other questions please just let me know. Also, tower was a wealth of great information for me, and was even so kind as to mail me copies of road maps to that region, so definitely don't hesitate to gain from some of his knowledge!

Tracy

Congratulations on your upcoming addition to the family. Mazel Tov!!!

I am sure you will get that little one traveling as soon as you are able!

Yes, stu is a wonderful source of info, I am e mailing him now.

You answered my question besutifully, many thanks

And have a great pregnancy and delivery and again good wishes to you and your husband!

Thanks tripgirl! I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to travel though...since I'm expecting babies (twin girls) instead of just the one we were planning for! But hopefully soon, as I'm not sure how long I'll be able to hold out.

Good luck planning and, as always, I look forward to reading a terrific trip report upon your return!

Tracy

Twin girls, Trace...how very nice for you guys...another congratulations! Just remember, a woman out here in California recently had 8.....e-i-g-h-t...now she has to shop for 4 two-seater strollers!

stu

tower, thank you! And oh my goodness I couldn't even imagine! Finding out that we were going to have two was one of the biggest shocks of my life. Every time I go in for an ultrasound I get nervous that they are going to somehow find a third! :)

Bookmarking, Wonderful report. Turkey is high on out list for May 2010.

bookmarking trip report!!

Thank you! Turkey really was an amazing journey. I was just going through our pictures today and daydreaming about a return visit one of these years.

Tracy,
Very descriptive trip report. my wife and I are planning on a trip to Turkey in September and are debating between staying in Izmir and Selcuk. Our interest in that area is in visiting Epheseus and Pamakkule. Would appreciate it if u could provide details on how long it takes to get to Pamakkule from Selcuk.
We don't like to drive on vacation and are looking at buses and trains as our mode of transport. Any information you could provide would be helpful.
We are keen on visiting Troy too. Ruins dating back to 1200-1500 BC sound exciting!
Would appreciate suggestions.

Pawan, so sorry for the late response. I unfortunately never did make it to Pamakkule so I can't really give you any advice. I would suggest starting a new post. You should receive a lot of great advice from fellow Fodorites/Turkey experts. Good luck!

Tracy

Pawan, I was also looking for that info and found it in this report. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...y-may-2008.cfm Actually I still can't figure out how much driving but I just started my research.
Tracy, thanks for writing the report. Sorry that you come across so much rain. I am trying to avoid the rainy season there.

mohan, the rain was a bit of a downer but we tend to prefer off-season travel and so we knew what we could be getting ourselves into beforehand. It wasn't really that bad, and there was definitely a lack of crowds (always a good thing for me!) but I can certainly see why someone would want to avoid it. The bigger issue was the cold weather! I knew it would be cold, based on the temperature averages, but with the rain it really made for some bone-chilling weather at times!

Mohan and Tracy, thanks for your replies. We will most probably postpone our trip to May 2011. However, I will start a new post on train travel in Turkey.