Turkey: Driving to Ephesus from Istanbul. Advice?
 

We are trying to do three points in Turkey in 10 days -- Istanbul, Ephesus, Capadoccia -- for an upcoming December trip. That's a lot of local flights -- lots of going back and forth to airports and checking in etc. So perhaps we should drive to Ephesus? How long a drive is that? How are the roads? Any advice?

Taking the early morning ferry to Bandirma from Istanbul, it will take an additional 5 hours to Selcuk (ephesus)
The ferry will be 135 minutes or so.

The roads are excellent. Except for getting out of Bandirma area upto the Bursa-Balikesir highway, you will have almost all divided highways and some 100 odd kilometers of motorway.

If you rent car, make sure they give you a OGS or KGS with some credit in it because tolls do not accept cash.

I would not drive in December ! Ferries can be unpredictable to rely and best is to fly and get rental cars at locations. 3 times weekly flights also run between Izmir and Kayseri.

Hope you will see some snow in Cappadocia as well, it is rather impressive and beautiful.

Happy travelling,
Murat

That's a long drive. You will waste more time driving. Why not fly to Izmir to go Ephesus? I returned from Istanbul after visiting Ephesus, Pamukkale and Kas. I noticed in Istanbul the travel agencies offer day or two trips. Save yourself the hassle and book with an a group if you are short on time.

We flew to Izmir from Istanbul and started our driving from there. Found a cheap flight with Onur Air.

I agree with the other posters. We considered driving from Istanbul to Ephesus, too, but opted to fly. My experience is that driving always takes more time than anticipated.

Ten days for those three areas isn't a lot of time. We flew to Izmir and rented a car for the 45 minute drive to Selcuk. Maybe we were lucky, but our flights were on time and hassle-free.

Do you know where you'll be staying in Cappadocia yet? You might already know this... but there are two airports that serve that area and you'll want to try to fly to the one nearest to where you'll stay.

Enjoy - you'll love Turkey!

Ellen

Thank you everyone! We are not driving -- it's cheaper to fly, and quicker too. I think we're going to stay at Yunak House, although Anatolian does look so beautiful, albeit remote? Any hotel recs in Cap'ia? Thanks again / p

You might want to read my trip report. We stayed at a small hotel/B&B about 5 km. from Ürgüp in Cappadocia.

Yes, the Melekler Evi in Urgup! It means House of Angels and it's more than heavenly. It's a cave hotel remodeled within the last few years by a husband and wife team of architects who moved with their daughters from Istanbul to Urgup. I can't tell you how wonderful it was. You can read my trip report here: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-in-turkey.cfm

We left for Turkey a year ago this Friday - I still miss it.