appletea

For cappadocia for 2 nights, would it be more convenient to rent a car or take private tours?

Here's a rough itinerary based on the fodors guide. Am I missing anything?
Day 1
-fly from izmir to kayseri in the morning
-goreme open air museum,
-rose valley for sunset?

Day 2
Rose valley guided tour
Underground cities- Regarding the underground cities, is it less tiring to hire a driver to drop you off and pick you up on the other side?

Day3
still on the fence for a hot air balloon ride.
Head to kas- prob not too late since we need to drive from antalya to kas. And after reading Ian's trip report and driving experiences, a lil weary of getting lost.

Still also deciding whether to stay in urgup or goreme. Goreme seems more convenient for more of the sites? Urgup seems more charming and less touristy, maybe the kelebek in goreme or the esbelli evi in urgup? Would it save time to stay in goreme?

Regarding Istanbul, otherchelebi, thanks for your descriptive info on both areas. Think cihangir sounds perfect.

Thanks again for all of your feedback.

appletea

For cappadocia for 2 nights, would it be more convenient to rent a car or take private tours?

Here's a rough itinerary based on the fodors guide. Am I missing anything?
Day 1
-fly from izmir to kayseri in the morning
-goreme open air museum,
-rose valley for sunset?

Day 2
Rose valley guided tour
Underground cities- Regarding the underground cities, is it less tiring to hire a driver to drop you off and pick you up on the other side?

Day3
still on the fence for a hot air balloon ride.
Head to kas- prob not too late since we need to drive from antalya to kas. And after reading Ian's trip report and driving experiences, a lil weary of getting lost.

Still also deciding whether to stay in urgup or goreme. Goreme seems more convenient for more of the sites? Urgup seems more charming and less touristy, maybe the kelebek in goreme or the esbelli evi in urgup? Would it save time to stay in goreme?

Regarding Istanbul, otherchelebi, thanks for your descriptive info on both areas. Think cihangir sounds perfect.

Thanks again for all of your feedback.

appletea

Trying to figure out if it's feasible and not hectic to do only 1 night in Ephesus and add another to cappadocia?

Arrive Istanbul ataruk at 1015 on saturday, customs 2 hrs? So then likely fly to Izmir around 1-2? Then arrive in seljuk 3-4? So prob visit museum if it's still open.

Sunday go to ephesus early in the morning, then would u reccomend taking a late flight out to cappadocia? Then we'd have a little more time in cappadocia and spend 3 nights, 2 full days + potentially half day.

appletea

Ok, after much research, think we're going to drop Kas. We would like a more leisurely trip and be able to sleep in, relax at hammans and have more time to appreciate the sites.

so now we're thinking:
3 nights in selcuk, ephesus, maybe day trip to aphrodisias
3 nights in cappadocia
5 nights in istanbul

in cappadocia we're looking at potentially staying at the kelebek (subject to avail) or maybe the mdc hotel. any opinions on those? are there farmer's markets in the area (kind of like in the south of france)?

would that be too much time in istanbul?

otherchelebi

We have lived here since 1985 and also until 1980. We never felt it was too long.

Istanbul is like Rome and New York combined, in size, sightseeing, entertainment, walks, history, art, fashions, dynamism and unfortunately also in the number of tourists.

Note: Cihangir area in Istanbul was chosen as one of the best 5 plces to live in the world by the Guardian.

yorkshire

5 nights in Istanbul will fly by--there is SO much to see and do, plus just hanging out is great because there are many varied neighborhoods. Really all you could ask for. Plus, there are some nearly day-long things such as the Bosporus ferry trip, so I think 5 days is a minimum.

Kelebek is fantastic. I don't recall a market, but the restaurants in Goreme are quite good. Something I really liked about Kelebek was the breakfast--it is a huge spread. They also arranged my airport transfer and a driver for a day trip.

appletea

Any opinions on the location of natureland efes pension? It's in sirince and seems a bit farther from the center of selcuk. http://www.booking.com/hotel/tr/natureland.en.html . would it be on the way if we wanted to visit aphrodisias? Otherwise looking at Bella or urkmez in selcuk. We have 3 nights in the selcuk area.

appletea

if we land at ataturk at 10:15am, based on your experiences, will it be difficult to make a flight to izmir at 1pm? we're allowing 2 hours to get through customs and then go to the terminal to fly to izmir. is the airport too big for us to make that in time? thanks!

the next available from turkish airlines is at 4pm.

otherchelebi

If your flight lands without a longer than 30 minute delay, you should have no problem.

It usually takes about 5-10 minutes for visa (left of passport control), 5-15 minutes immigration and 10-30 minutes baggage arrival.

The walk to the domestic terminal is 10-15 minutes, to your left when you come out of baggage claim and customs. There are also ATMs immediately on your left if you want to withdraw some Turkish Lira with your debit card.

You will have to go through another check-in procedure at the domestic terminal and one possibly two more security checks unless you are flying THY both legs and manage to check in all the way to Izmir airport.

appletea

Thanks. Got throught the airport within one hour just as you had suggested. Was a little worried about economy car rental but they met us outside and it all worked out smoothly. Tired from a very long day of travel but so happy to be here.

We were able to stroll through the little charming village of sirince before it started to rain on us. Thanks for all the tips.

Any recs on dinner in sirince? I've searched around but didn't see too much other than Artemis. Any other opinions? Also we are thinking of aphrodisias tmrw. Anything on the way there worth stopping for? Thanks!

otherchelebi

Glad you made it without any mishaps.

You may wish to try Sirinyan hotel restaurant at Sirinca but have only heard and not eaten at Sirince myself.

On the way to Aphrodisias, just pick any scenic and nice looking roadside restaurant and go for simple and cheap "gozleme". Try one with wild greens, or cheese. Cop sis (choep sheesh) (tiny lamb pieces on reed skewers) or kofte, grilled meat balls are other options. The standard meal at simple village restaurants is Kuru fasulye and pilav, meaning great northern white beans and rice. Can be quite tasty.