We are planning the following roadtrip arriving in Izmir at noon on Monday 11 Oct and departing Dalaman on Friday 15 Oct at 7:30PM. Please advise if we have over planned. Please forgive my spelling.

Monday - Ephesus stay in Sirince
Tuesday - drive Pamakkule stay Pamakkule
Wednesday - drive to Fethiye to Kas?
Thursday - Kas stay Kas
Friday - drive to Dalaman drop car at airport. 7:30PM

We would make the stops between Pamakkule, Hieropolis etc. I wanted to do a glass bottom boat tour in Kallan or Kas. Any suggestions? Restaurants along the way?

Kas, one of my favorite places, does offer day long boat tours to the Lycean ruins. Our tour had 3/4 swim stops (from the boat), and included lunch (quite good) at a small island, and cruise around locations with both ruins and underwater artifacts (seen by glass bottom, really liked amphora).

We stayed at Otel Kas. Like other places, no beach but did have a ladder and diving board for swimming.

Sandie:
On way to Pam, I suggest you turn (right) off the main highway a few kms. after passing Nazilli, and visit <b>Aphrodisias</b>...beautiful surroundings, quietly spectacular..not crowded (we were there utterly and eerily alone in springtime)...red poppy fields along the way are very colorful. Easy to get back to the main Pam higheway after the visit.

In Kas(Kash), harborside <b>"Restoran Mercan"</b>, complete with flower-filled boat, is excellent with primarily sea food offerings...also meat dishes and salads. Have a great trip.

There are private, cheapo Kekova boat tours available at village of Ucaygiz (on dirt road off the main Turquoise Coast highway to Antalya). Ours took us over one of the submerged Greek towns..amazing sight..no need of glass bottom, just lean over the side for great views. Road may May be paved by now.

Stu (thumb through these Turkey pickings and you'll find what I suggested above)

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/ScenesOfTurkey#

Dear Sandiej,

Yes, you have over planned. You have slightly more than 4.5 days. You will be driving about 16-19 hours total, sightseeing in Ephesus, Selcuk, Aphrodisias and Pamukkale will take about 8 hours. Add time for food, rest, sleep, lounge, scenic stops, etc. And i will definitely not recommend driving at night.

Daytime is not long, and you may have some rain and cooler weather than we had last year, if you believe the weather reports.

I strongly recommend either the Selcuk-Pamukkale region or the Antalya region only or the Fethiye Dalaman Kas region only. There is more than enough to occupy you fully during your short stay in each of these regions.

Thank you for your input. I did look at the distances in Rough Guides and realize that each day we will drive approximately 2-3 hours except Pam to Kas which may be about 5hours. We will definitely make the suggested stops by tower. I am not a good daytime "lounger" and must keep moving. We will not drive at night time, and then I can enjoy a nice dinner suggested by others with red wine. Any suggested restaurants and places to stop will be greatly appreciated.

Don't trust the distances you find in Rough Guides.

On some of your routes you are going to see spots you want to stay a bit or side roads with the brown signs which signify historic sights which you may want to discover.

Do not forget, you will not be commuting or just getting from point A to point B. If you want to see something of the country you should consider 20-30% more driving time than given on the Rough guides.

Just from PAM to Kas there are two or maybe even three different routes, some of which will be longer than they look.

We will be driving from istanbul to demre through Burdur and Elmali and are probably looking at 11-12 hours of driving on Oct. 6th.

Decisions,decisions! I'm trying to choose between Izmir or Madrid (or another Spanish city - have only seen Barcelona) as part of a RTW ticket for next Jun-July. Have been twice to Istanbul,and adored it, but nowhere else in Turkey, so am reading this thread with great interest. I won't have time to do a lot of research before we book, but lots of time after.

So,Sandie, may I share your thread? My initial thoughts are

Izmir 1 night
Pammukele 1 night
Aphrodisia 1 night
Izmir 2 night

Can someone suggest a central town, from where day trips could be made to both Pammukele and Aphrodisia?

If we hired a car in Izmir, this gives us two chances of going to Ephesus, and extra time to drive around the sights of Izmir.
We're from Down Under , so don't need a lot of time on the beaches.But an undersea city! Which is the closest undersea city to Izmir? Many thanks in anticipation.

carrabella,

You do not want to stay in Izmir, which is a bit like Barcelona without Gaudi.

- aphrodisias is on the way to pamukkale.

- stay at Selcuk as a central location for sightseeing.

- selcuk to Aphrodisias is about 2.5 hours. Aphrodisias to pamukkale about one hour.

- You can stay one night at Pamukkale and return to Selcuk for the other sires (lots of trip reports on Ephesus, etc.)

- The two underground cities i know of are in Kekova and phaeselis, not too fat from each other. Swimming over them is alloved, diving is not.

- You can reach these either from Dalaman or Antalya airport.

We are currently at Ucagiz and will take boat over to Kekova and other bays tomorrow. arrived late but it looks terrific.

I will start trip report in a few minutes at Fodor's lounge.

Carrabella,
We are leaving NYC for Istanbul on 10/8 so my response is based upon my endless hours of research. I agree you do not want to stay in Izmir. Selcuk or Sinrice (sp) which are close to Ephesus, Aphrodisias and Pam (2-3 hours). We booked a small in in Sinrice and also in Pam. This is doable, I think in 2 - 2 1/2 days. In June-July it may be quite hot. However, if you are from down under it may not be an issue.

After Pam, you could drive to Fethiye or to Kekova. We choose to fly back to Dalaman rather than Antalya because we could take a late flight back to Istanbul.

Bottomline, Ephesus, Pam, Kekova offer more than Madrid or Spain in general. I will let you know after the 18th more details.

Sandie...have a wonderful trip!!

stu

Thank you, otherchelebi and sandie. Have had time to do more research, and we have now decided to plan for a much longer trip around Turkey at a later date. There seems to be so much to see, and so I will continue to monitor this site with interest. (Today, our little Aussie dollar is almost on parity with the mighty greenback, so it may be a good time for another US holiday instead!)

Do have a safe and happy trip, Sandie. Best wishes.

Three couples are traveling to Turkey from Oct. 22nd - Nov. 8th. Will we need heavy coats...or just light jackets? We will be traveling on a small tour so don't need info on sites, etc. as that is taken care of...but could use info on where to purchase rugs other than bazaar, also good local resturant in Istanbul? I'm guessing the weather is cool, but not cold??? Thanks so much. D

Dear Rollinalong, please start a new thread with your questions. (copy-paste will do) so that i and others can respond in detail.

Three couples are traveling to Turkey from Oct. 22nd - Nov. 8th. We will be traveling on a small tour so don't need info on sites, etc. as that is taken care of...but could use info on where to purchase rugs/jewerly other than bazaar (honest dealers), also good local restaurant in Istanbul? I'm guessing the weather is cool, but not cold that time of year. Wondering what to take as far as jackets and such. Thanks so much. D

bookmarking

That looks like a nice trip. Personally recommend a blue cruise (yacht charter) between fethiye and kas.

Some known agencies:

http://www.atlasyachting.co/

or

http://www.erayachting.com/