Turkey in 9 days - May 2011
 

My husband and I are traveling to Turkey for the first time (from San Francisco) in early May . We will be there for 9 full days and want to see Istanbul, Ephesus, and Cappadocia. We don't want to be rushed but want to see the main highlights of Turkey.

Here is one idea for our itinerary:

May 5 - arrive IST at 10am, fly direct to Izmir, night in Selcuk
May 6 - explore Ephesus & rest of area, night in Selcuk (or night flight from Izmir to Kayseri?)
May 7 - early morning flight from Izmir to Kayseri (if we don't fly in the night before), explore Cappadocia, hotel in Goreme
May 8 - hot air ballon, explore Capadoccia, hotel in Goreme
May 9 - explore Cappadocia, evening flight from Kayseri to Istanbul, hotel in Istanbul (or spend another night in Goreme)
May 10 - early morning flight from Kayseri to Istanbul (if we don't fly in the night before) explore Istanbul
May 11 - Istanbul
May 12 - Istanbul
May 13 - Istanbul
May 14 - leave Istanbul at 12:15pm

Here are my main questions:
-Does this sound doable? Is this a good order for visiting these different cities/towns or is there a better way to do it that's more efficient?
-Are we spending too many nights in Cappadocia or Istanbul and/or not enough time in Ephesus?
-Is there a fourth must-see location we should try to squeeze in to this trip?

Any and all feedback is welcome...thanks in advance!

Hey Katie, I would love to help you out with your Trip. I'm from America myself but I have been living in Turkey for bout a year and have been to just about everywhere in Turkey. Those three locations are all great but if your beach people South Western Turkey is a must see. There are a lot of incredible places down there that are ten times better than Cancun. Also when you go to Selcuk/Efes make sure you go to Sirince which is only a couple miles away from Selcuk. Its a quaint little greek village in the mountains with wine tasting and good Olive Oil. And as for getting to Selcuk you can take an hour train directly from the airport to Selcuk for around four lira (2.50 US) If you need any other help or have any questions feel free to email me at [email protected]

Awesome
Enjoy your trip

Hi Katie -- How exciting! You & your husband will have a wonderful time.

For Ephesus, I would suggest:

May 6: Ephesus museum (opens at 8:30am), Ephesus ruins, Virgin Mary's house (closes at 7:00pm), night in Selcuk
May 7: St. John's Basilica (early), nearby fortress (if it's open; it was closed for renovations in March), Sirince (small wine-growing town nearby) for lunch, then travel to Izmir to go to Capadocia

This shaves off just a little of your time in Capadocia, but would let you see more of Ephesus without being too rushed.

I assume you'll be relying on taxi in Ephesus, so given your schedule be sure you are very clear where you want to go and what your schedule is, and don't let yourself get roped into a "tour" or stop off at a restaurant, factory or store.

When in Selçuk, go to Ephesus first thing in the morning. Start at the bottom so that you see the amphitheater and the library before the crowds arrive. You might want to take a look at my trip report; just click on my name to find it.

Thank you so much for your messages! We've decided to revise our itinerary a bit to take jet lag into account. With this version, we start and end in Istanbul instead of landing in Istanbul and going straight to Ephesus. This way we'll have a few days to get settled (and get over our jet lag) before getting back on a plane!

May 5 - arrive IST at 10am, afternoon and night in Istanbul
May 6 - explore Istanbul, night in Istanbul (or should we do a late night flight to Izmir?)
May 7 - early morning flight from Istanbul to Izmir, explore Ephesus, night in Selcuk
May 8 - explore Ephesus/Selcuk/Sirince - late night flight to Cappadocia, night in Goreme
May 9 - explore Cappadocia, night in Goreme
May 10 - hot air ballon flight, explore Capadoccia, night in Goreme
May 11 - morning in Cappadocia, afternoon flight from Kayseri to Istanbul, hotel in Istanbul
May 12 - Istanbul
May 13 - Istanbul
May 14 - leave Istanbul at 12:15pm

This itinerary gets us:
4 days/5 nights in Istanbul
3 days/3 nights in Cappadocia
2 days/1 night in Ephesus

The beaches of Turkey do sound amazing, but I don't know if we'll have time to fit that in with only 9 days. Do you think we should do fewer days in Cappadocia and more days ineither Istanbul or Ephesus? Also, should we rent a car in Ephesus and/or Cappadocia, or is it better to rely on taxis, trains, and buses to get around and to get to and from the airport. It seems as if transfers from Izmir to Selcuk and Kayseri to Goreme will be rather expensive, so I like Scott's idea of the train for $2.50!

And does anyone have suggestions for hotels that cost around $100-$125 USD a night? Too bad we don't have a bigger budget...I appreciate all your help!

Best,
Katie

We generally paid less for perfectly acceptable accommodations.

Not sure the level of accommodations you're looking for, but you should be able to get something in Selcuk for much less. I stayed at the Hotel Urkmez for only 30 euro (~45 USD) a night. It had some downsides (weird issue with the shower getting the whole bathroom floor wet), but otherwise it was comfortable, the breakfast was quite good, and the staff was incredibly helpful. It was a very quick walk to St. John's Basilica and not much further to the Ephesus Museum.

On an earlier thread (http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-or-selcuk.cfm), a Fodorite named otherchelebi (Turkish native) recommended a couple other hotels in Selcuk, that as I recall were in similar price ranges (they were full when I was trying to book).

Transportation Izmir to Ephesus, I would not bother renting a car. My flight got in very late (after midnight), so I paid 45 euro for car service (arranged by hotel). Staying in Selcuk you can easily catch dolmus or taxi to Ephesus (or even walk, if you're up for it). Going back to Izmir I took at bus (actually, they are sort of mini-buses that leave every hour) for only ~8 or 10 lira. Again, the hotel called and arranged -- the bus actually stopped on the corner where my hotel was rather than me having to walk to the bus station.

Hey Katie I would have to recommend against your plan to account for jet lag as its just making a lot of work for you transferring from the airport to your hotel in Istanbul four times when you just need to do it twice. And transferring to your hotel in Istanbul is no easy task and will just make you more tired. Its very easy to catch a domestic flight to Izmir though from Attaurk Airport as Turkish airlines leave every hour.

Also if you come to Izmir earlier I would be happy to help you get to get to efes and the surrounding area as I will be having people visit me from the states at the exact same time who want to go there. I would also recommend cutting one night away from Istanbul. For as short a time as your spending in Turkey three days is plenty in Istanbul. With that gicing you an extra day I would recommend you spend it in the nice beach town of kusadasi right next to efes Because if you come to turkey without going to at least one beach its no trip at all. Also transportation wise in that area its really easy to take dolmus's and small buses to the different areas for a lira or two. Taxis are really only good for getting around in Izmir. I would strongly urge against taking the bus from efes as the bus is infinitely more comfortable, half the price, and drops you off very close to downtown Izmir where all the hotels are.

And for Kapadokya since your first time travelers there I would recommend hopping on a tour unless your very independent people who would rather go where you want in which case you should rent a car

Your itinerary is double both ways; allocating of dates are just perfect.
Happy Travelling,
Murat

so no to taking the train from izmir to ephesus? or no to taking the bus?

we've decided to go to cappadocia first, spend a few days there (not sure if we're going to rent a car or go on a tour), then fly to izmir and stay in epehesus for a day, and then on to istanbul. no beaches on this trip, but i think it's still a little cool for the beaches in early may, no? we don't have enough time to get down to kas or any of the nice beaches on the turquoise coast, and i've heard kusadasi is not a nice town. plus, we only have 9 days total. thoughts?

Good decisions all.

do not bother with Sirince, Didyma and Miletus at Selcuk but visit Priene if you have time. If you take one night and two days as you originally intended, and you have a rental car, heraleia on Lake Bafa should also be a consideration.

If you do not have rental car, forget both priene and Herakleia, take train from airport if schedule allows and ask your hotel to arrange a private tour to Ephesus and if you wish VM's retreat. Museum and Basilica are nice but you will not need guide or transportation.

For the Istanbul Bosphorus cruise check my recent suggestion for an evening commuter ferry or a tour boat plus ring ferry combination.

I hope you will manage to come back to this part of the world for beach and blue cruise taking about two weeks plus hiking and trekking of one week and/or antique site visits of another two weeks before it gets spoiled.