lkj2

I have been inspired by so many posts and trip reports about Turkey. Planning a trip at the end of May. Here is our tentative itinerary. Any advice/ recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Day 1 & 2: Fly to Antalya, stay 2 nights (Hillside Su Hotel)
Day 3: Travel by car to Kalkan - 1 night (Hadrian Hotel)
Day 4: Not sure how far we can drive and the best place to overnight
Day 5: Ephesus (Kismet Hotel in Izmir?)
Day 6: 10:00 a.m. flight from Izmir to Istanbul. Istanbul-- four nights (Sari Konak Hotel, Tom Tom Suites; I also can use points at Park Hyatt but I question if we shouldn't stay in the Sultanahmet area.)

Any advice regarding don't miss sights, recommended hotels, etc. would be helpful. (We enjoy ruins but also love small towns, beaches, picturesque sights, etc.)

Lastly, we have driven in Croatia, Amalfi...but are unsure about renting a car on the coast in Turkey. Some have described driving as "hellish." Any firsthand info. on this particular drive (basically Antalya to Izmir) would be extremely helpful. Thank-you!

otherchelebi

Dear Lkj, here are some suggestions based on your post :

1. If you like small towns, stay only one night at the lovely Hillside Su.
2. prefer to stay at the more authentic and scenic town of Kas rather than Kalkan (Hideaway hotel seems to be indicated on TA)
3. Having gained a day, either use it to o/n at fethiye or push on to Selcuk (Ephesus) to spend an extra day there.
4. Kismet is not in Izmir (heaven forbid) It is a nice hotel on a tiny private peninsula in Kusadasi. the food is not very good, but just below the hill there are some good restaurants near the marina.
5. You may prefer to stay at one of the authentic scenic hotels in selcuk or Sirince, instead of Kusadasi which is a larger town.
6. Check the "small hotels of Turkey" web site for almost all your hotels. we have never had one we did not like and we must have picked at least twenty hotels from that site.
6. The restaurants in sirince and some in selcuk, like the restaurant of Bella Hotel serve excellent regional fare with great salads of local greens.
7. If you prefer Kalkan to Kas, check the hotel Villa Mahal, small, very private and the rooms on a similar standard to those of Hillside Su.
8. An alternative to fethiye could be gocek
9. Another alternative could be Gokova/Akkaya just below the mountains of Mugla.

Driving is not hellish at all. Although a resdent of Turkey, we must have traveled more than ten times in those areas, e have also driven in spain, France, Italy, UK, germany, austria, switzerland and many times all over the United States, and we find Turkey definitely asier than Italy or Spain, or even UK.

lkj2

Otherchelebi,

Thank you for all of your wonderful advice. I have changed our stay from Kalkan to Kas.

We are trying to get reasonably close to Ephesus the next day (after Kas). We thought about taking a car ferry from Datca to Bodrum and overnighting there and then driving to Ephesus in the morning. Would you recommend spending one night in Bodrum? Any possible hotel recomendations near the water? We don't mind spending more money here for a great room.

(Found multiple websites for Villa Mahal which looked great, but it appears they may be closed--unable to book a room on TA or access their own website. Selcuk and Sirince look very quaint, but after the long drive I thought we may want a slightly larger hotel on or near the water...is this a mistake???)


Thank you again for all of your help.

Michel_Paris

I LOVED Kas. We drove from Antalya to Ephesus, and Kas was our overnight. Nice town to wander, good food and shops. We did a cruise to Lycean ruins out of here.
I liked Kas Otel, no pool, but superb views over Med. Just west of Kas is a 'secret' beach. Well worth a stop to cool off. Road from Antalya is very scenic and winding and...bit exciting.

lkj2

Michel,

Thank you for your response and the information. I didn't know if Kas to Ephesus was a reasonable drive in one day.

Could you tell me how long the drive was from Antalya to Kas, and then Kas to Ephesus? I would appreciate it. Also, any stops along the way you would consider "don't miss"?

Thank you again!

Michel_Paris

Ooops, a mistake on my part

We did drive from Antalya to Kas one day, then Kas to Marmaris next day, with stop for lunch and shopping in Fethiye
Then Marmaris to Ephesus in morning, on to Bursa as our stop that night, ferry to Istanbul next day.

The drive is slower than the distance travelled,since you won't be moving at 60 MPH...at times we were down to 10-15 MPH.

Marmaris is a good stop also. Nice and busy waterfront.

lkj2

Thanks again, Michel.

Do you remember roughly drive times:

Antalya to Kas
Kas to Marmaris (with stop in Fethiye)
And particularly Marmaris to Ephesus

Your information having done this firsthand is invaluable!

Michel_Paris

We had a morning swim in Antalya (hotel beach), and made it to Kas late afternoon. We left Kas, had a swim at the secret beach, got to Fethiye, ate lunch, walked around shopping, to Marmaris by dinner time.

I have a travel journal I need to update

ellen75005

ilkj2,

We drove from Selcuk to Antalya. We stayed in Fethiye which was a nice, small resort town. Regarding the roads, all of them were fine. I'm not a fan of winding, no guardrail roads and I had no problem with the coastal roads. It was just beautiful. I've pasted what I wrote from my trip report, below. You can read it (under my former screen name "ellencmog"); the report is called Two Continents...etc. Here's a piece of it.

"...and we set off for Antalya. That was the first cloudy and sometimes rainy day of the trip. The Mediterranean coast is beautiful. The roads wind up and down, but they’re well-maintained and there wasn’t much traffic. Much of the drive reminded us of the rugged beauty of the Pacific Coast Highway in California. We loved Kas, a seaside town a couple hours west of Antalya. We also loved seeing shepherds with their goats and sheep along the way. Look out for unattended goats in the road!"

I think I posted some pictures in that section of the report, too.

Ellen

otherchelebi

Antalya-Kas is a leisurely 3.5 hours, with a short stop at Phaeselis. if you stop to visit the fires of the Chimera at Olympus, you should add another hour or less. The only part of the road where you could not manage an average speed of 60-80 k/hour is 30 kilometers around Finike, but the last time we drove there two years ago, the road was being widened although the curves could not be smoothened.

Kas to Kusadasi can be done in one day, although you would miss out the chance of seeing some interesting antique sites and the natural beauty of Fethiye, the Dead Sea and Butterfly Valley. Kas to Kusadasi seems to be about 400 odd kilometers. Visiting Letoon and Patara on the way and stopping for meal and coffee/tea at some of the very scenic roadside places, it will take you an easy eight hours.

The drive to Datca to catch the Bodrum ferryboat is too long. Unless you overnight at one of the wonderful coves of Datca, it is not worth it. Also the ferryboat is only once a day if i remember correctly.

Staying in Bodrum would require a detour, however a night at one of the upscale hotels at Turkbuku could be nice for a rest. If you so decide, i recommend divan Palmyra.

Kismet has a pleasant location for sea breezes, good view, no beach because it is on a promontary, nice rooms and nice garden. You can swim from a concrete platform over the rocks. Kusadasi is only 20-25 kilometers from Selcuk, so going to Ephesus and the other sites around Selcuk is not any trouble.

I definitely do not advise Marmaris, which will mean another detour. It is a crowded concrete jungle.

Fethiye would need an overnight to be enjoyed, because the detour from the highway and the distances to Olu Deniz and Buttrfly Valley and Kayakoy, etc. are not short.

Kas to fethiye would be about 3.5 hours if you do not visit the sights.

Unless you go into Marmaris or Fethiye, there are absolutely no stretches of road where your average speed will be below 35 miles/hr. Also, May will not be a busy month. I believe about half of your route will be divided highway, where, except for the traffic signals, you can do the speed limit of 90 + 10% kilometers/hr.