Turkey experts needed
 

Hi-

My husband and I are heading to Turkey for 16 days excluding travel days end of Aug. We will be travelling independently and like to move at a slow pace to soak up the culture and enjoy all that the area has to offer. Here is our itinerary any suggestions or comments would be welcomed....

Istanbul (4 days)
Ephesus/Selcuk (2days) car rental
Bodrum (2days) car rental
Kalkan (5days) car rental
Fly to Cappadocia
Cappadocia area (3 days)

I've only been there once and did basically the same route you're doing.

I stayed in Goreme in Cappadocia. A Planet-of-the-Apes style open-air museum is an easy walk from town. Goreme also has good bus connections and several regional day-tours depart from there.

Pamukale (sp?) is in between Cappadocia and Selcuk. It has those bizarre natural springs and calcium formations in a beautiful valley. There's also some great Roman ruins nearby in Denzili, I believe.

One last thing. The road system was spotty in 2000 when I was there, so that tended to slow down travel. Even though distances between towns may not seem far, don't expect to average much more than 40 mph -- unless, of course, they've upgraded the roads along your route. By "spotty" I mean 2-lane roads that are often in poor repair such that you'd fear for your safety if you tried to Sammy Hagar it.

Thanks Edward for the info. Did you drive all the way to Cappadocia if so how long did it take? We're thinking of dropping the car in Antalya and catching a plane to Cappadocia.

Try this website for LOADS of great information about traveling independently in Turkey.

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/index.html

Not sure if you can fly directly from Antalya to Kayseri--you may have to go through Ankara or Istanbul.

The buses in Turkey go everywhere and are very nice. That would be the best way to get from the coast to Cappadocia.

Have a nice trip. I am going in May :)

I took an overnight train from Istanbul to Ankara, then a bus to Goreme in Cappadocia. At that point I had not realized how cheap it was to fly within Turkey, as I later did from Izmir to Istanbul. The night train was pretty useless for sleep purposes.

Hi Kslana,

If I were I would cut Kalkan to 2 days instead of 5 days then add your trip 2 days in Antalya (if you haven't seen before) then drive to Konya visit whirling dervishes museum then drive to Cappadocia via IHLARA Canyon. Also Bodrum 1 day instead of 2 days and stay in Fethiye or Oludeniz.

Rest of your trip days are OK for the first visitors. Totaly your trip would be like this:

Istanbul (4)
Ephesus (2)
Bodrum(1)
Fethiye or Oludeniz(1)
Kalkan (2)
Antalya (2)
Konya(1)
Cappadocia (3)

Have a nice trip in Turkey

Sinan

Hi Do not miss Pamukale, the Virgin Mother House and Afrodite Temple.
Enjoy you trip :)

Hi Kslane,
Well here is my input to the itinerary;
From istanbul fly to Cappadocia via Kayseri airport.
In Cappadocia there are alot to do. Hot air ballooning, hike in the valleys, museums, semah shows, horseback riding and enjoy cave hotels tec.
From Cappadocia you can drive or driven to Antalya. If you do not mind about 6,5 / 7 hours drive via beautiful Taurus mountains with a stop in Konya you will enjoy the scenery. There is another option with flying back to istanbul and to izmir but I would not recommend so much if not in hurry.
Overnight in Antalya and visit sites. If you are feeling fit than you could drive further to Kalkan. Kalkan is my favorite town in the Med. coast and still love it altough a bit developed lately. There are still few very classy hotels even with beach access.
You can ofcourse break the road with a stop at Olympos and treat yourself within nature, beaches and some hiking to the ruins and Chimera the burning top of the mountain....Thre is a beautiful legend about it. There are a lot to see on the way to Kalkan and coastal road is fun. 210 kms. about 3,5 hours drive.

Spoil yourself at Kalkan perhaps add some easy day trips and a daily boat charter is recommended.

Drive to Bodrum with a visit to Dalyan.
From Bodrum to Kusadasi or to Selcuk.
You could even add Pamukkale day trip with Aphrodisias and Hierapolis while in Selcuk. A full day and attention is needed for Ephesus and other must see sites including Selcuk Museum.
You are very close to izmir airport to return istanbul.
Your proportions is good and 16 days is very good to explore your to do list.
Ofcourse according to your interest of nature, history, ruins, archeology and beach you can shape the itinerary.
This is one of my favorite itinerary I write for travellers and I am indeed going to visit all except istanbul next two weeks to freshen up my database and find new venues.

If you need more assistance your comments are most welcome.

Have a lovely time in Turkey.

Murat

Ps. August is the hottest season so be prepared and plan accordingly.

I went to Turkey last August. We had over 100 degrees the whole time, but it was pleasant. And I strongly recommend Pamukkale! Very amazing!

Between Bodrum and Ephesus it is easy to find a route and stop in Priene, Miletus and Didyma (we did all three in one day from Bodrum to Selcuk in spring 2003). The three are amazing and each completely different Greek ruins. Also in Bodrum I highly recommend Hotel El Vino (www.elvinobodrum.com) and near Selcuk in Sirence Nisanayan hotel. (www.nisanyan.net) Both are run by wonderful people who truly care about hospitality. El Vino is also a good choice in Bodrum if you have a car as it is on the main road (well at least the entrance is on the main road, the hotel spills down the hill below, with wonderful view of Bodrum from its roof top restaurant which is actually a better view than the hotels in the center of town, although it is an easy 10 minute walking distance down to the water, it is owned by two architects from Istanbul and their talent really shows in the hotel design and comfort. (www.nisanyan.net is also a booking site run by Mr. Nisanyan for other small hotels in Turkey, if you are interested in other locations.) Also, by e-mail Mr. Nisanyan was able to recommend a good travel agent for booking flights within Turkey and rental car in Turkey. We picked up the rental car in Marmaris after our sailing trip, drove through Bodrum to Sirence and left the car at the Izmir airport, the closest to Selcuk. It was all much easier than we might have imagined. Have fun planning your trip!

Just wanted to say that the overnight train from Istanbul to Ankara was the best overnight train trip I've ever had and I'm a light sleeper. First class sleeper was like sleeping in a hotel room and waking to a scenery made up of just bits of cotton-flower floating in the air outside was amazing. Made us think twice that it wasn't snow.

We were there for 2 weeks and we did Istanbul, Ankara (stop over for museum visit and also to change from train to bus), Cappadocia, Antalya (Tekeli Konaklari was a great place to stay), Olympus, Kas, Selcuk (for pamukkale and ephesus), Gallipoli. There was no rest in the two weeks except for the 2 days in Olympus. That was just heaven. :))

We didn't take any flights but a few night buses. If you do take a bus, don't sit right in front. It's better if you don't watch the road.

Have fun! :)