joh

We will spending 15 days in Turkey. We are a young couple with one toddler. So far the we have the following intinerary:

Day 1 Arrive to Capadoccia at night. Pick up rental car
Day 2 Full day Capadoccia - Hot Air Balloon
Day 3 Full day Capadoccia
Day 4 Leave Cappadocia by flight at 1:00 PM to Izmir. Rent car. Stay at Nissayan.
Day 5 Esphesus all day and then drive to Bodrum or Fethiye. Suggestions for places to stay in the coast? That is centrally located, we want to minimize changing lodging due to our child. We prefer to stay in a centrally located area and do day trips. We are trying to decide between Dalyan, Bodrum or Fethiye.
Day 6 - Day 9 Coast area day trips. Day 9 drive to olympos/cirali. Stay in Cirali. Recommendations for hotels? We like unique boutique hotels with character.
Day 10-Day 11 Cirali/Olympo
Day 12 Fly from Antalya to Instanbul in the morning. Rest of day in Instanbul
Day 13 Instanbul
Day 14 Instanbul
Day 15 Instanbul

What do you think of the above. Any recommendations on hotels for the coast area? Should we add a day to Cappadocia and remove one from the coast? Right now we have 2.5 days in Cappadocia and 6 days for the cost between Izmir and Antalaya. Should we do 3.5 in Cappadocia and 5 in the coast. What are your thoughts?

Thank you in advance.

Michel_Paris

If you can, go to Kas. It is on the med, small fishing village. You can do day boat trips to Lycean ruins, including lunch and several swim stops. Kas Otel was great, right on Med, no windows, just looking out over bay, restaurant right at ocean's edge.

We stayed in Goreme and really liked it. Nice town, couple of minutes to Open Air museum, some nice shops and restos. While there we did a night time dance evening at local place...wwhirling dervishes,etc...

Antalya is quite developed, bit too "western" for our tastes. Marmaris is another Med port town that we could have spent more time at. Busy harbour with loads of restos, boat cruises,etc.

joh

Thanks Michel. Do you think we should spend more days in Goreme and less in the med coast? I will look into the Kas Otel.

Michel_Paris

We spent way to short a time in Cappadocia. We had a car and drove from Istanbul as far east as Goreme, south to Antalya then back along Med to Istanbul. Goreme would be worth 3-4 days, using it as a base for exploring the region. You could spend 1/2 day doing the Open Air Museum, at least 1/2 day hanging around town, then the pottery places, the underground cities, hot air balloon,local dance night, etc.. We did a hike in the Ihlara valley on our way south from there. The Cappadocia area is quite barren, yet this valley, with a small stream appears as a respite from the heat. Enter from the norht going thorught this small small village ram-shackle houses...and then you get into the greenery. You can leasurely hike along the small stream for about 1/2 to 1 mile (flat, but with some areas you need to shimmy around boulders...) and you get to visit some cave churches. Neat. And there is a nice resto that has a platform over the stream, covered in oriental carpets, you take your shoes off, and they serve you nice meal of fish. Good memories.

Kas is my little secret. Walk everywhere, we had spaghetti there which the kids liked, ice cream cones, and the scenery,woo. Watch from hotel window as local goes spear fishing for his meal. The hotel has a patio with deck chairs and a small bar. Note that there is no beach here, but they had a diving board and ladder into the ocean. The restaurant is elevated above the entrace, with no walls and overlooking the ocean. staff were friendly and cost low. many boats in harbour offering cruises. The cruise we took (arranged by hotel owner) had 4/5 swim stops where the boat would stop in middle of bays and lower a ladder. Included was a stop at an island that had a pre-arranged meal (included in price) and chance to do a bit of steet shopping) Then a cruise along coast looking at tombs along shore and, being a glass bottom boat, areas where you could see columns, amphoras,etc..

The Med is very scenic. Note that driving takes a lot longer than the map indicates since the road is really winding, and you go up and down side of mountains. Just west of Kas was our secret beach..if you drive, you cannot miss it.

I could see spending at least a couple of days in Kas, then maybe same in Marmaris, which is more bustling, with more tourists and restaurants, along wiht a nice harbour.

We drove along Med till Ephesus, then headed overland to Bursa, so did not sea Western part of Med.

My dream Turkey package is Istanbul, Goreme and Kas. The first for culture, history, food..the seoncd for chilling out in an area with unique landscape, and the third for an ocean relaxation in the sun, lazing about.

Michel_Paris

Trip Advisor has some reviews of Kas Otel, we found it in our Lonely Planet guide. In Goreme we stayed at the Ottoman House, from our Fodor guide

joh

Michel:

Thank you for the advice. It sounds like I am take your advice and add one day to Cappadocia and spend 5 days in the Kas area. We love hiking so we will probably enjoy staying a little longer in Cappadocia.

Did you go to Cirali? Do you have the website for the hotel that you stayed in Kas? I cannot find it. Also, where did you stay in Goreme. We are considering Kelebek or Garamisu. What are your thoughts? Did you see Bodrum on the way? Is Bodrum considered Marmaris?

NickiM

The Medusa Hotel in Kas was GREAT! We would recommend it to anyone - great location, great view, inexpensive, pool and private "beach." We wish we would have allowed more than 2 days in Kas.

propertravel

Adding another day to Cappadocia is a good idea. If you wish to explore areas of interest Fethiye is a better option and also later to go to Olympos it will be easier. By the way when is this tri,p planned for, that is also an important piece of information. Kas is beautiful and my little secret is Kalkan ( Hi Michel I agree with you )

Happy travelling,

Murat

joh

Thank you all for the information.

Murat, the trip is for mid August. Now I am thinking that we will stay two nights/2 days in Oludeniz, two nights/2 days in Kas/Kalkan and one night/2days in Cirali. I did not want to move hotels that much, but since our flight leaves from Antalya back to Istanbul, if I stay all the time in Oludeniz or Kas then I will be loosing a lot of time driving. What are your thoughts again? Thanks.

joh

Murat or others:

One more question about the Capadoccia hotel. We were planning on staying in Kelebek to save money for the balloon ride, but the only room availables are the suites at 90 Euro. The price is now similar to the Gamirasu, Yunak and even 4ODA. We are looking for tons of character and a nice garden to have our daughter run around. View is a plus also. Which one do you recommend?

Michel_Paris

Not sure if they have a website. Funny, we arrived in Kas looking for hotel, while SIL was over looking at one, we got out of car and were standing in front of Kas Otel, and I remembered it was in Lonely Planet. Owner came out, we talked and booked it while SIL was still gone. Our choice was hotel not on ocean versus on ocean...we took the latter!

Something about a room overlooking ocean, no windows just wide opening, sea breeze...

And yes, there is no beach.

hotels.lonelyplanet.com/hotel/Kas-Kas-Otel-P1000449455.html

brenda66

I would like to say that just one night only in Cirali is hard pressed and very rushed to try and see all the sights...you are better with a minimum of at least 2 – 3 nights...you will need time to visit the ruins of Olympos along the beach and as well possibly time to visit the Chimaera in the evening...to do all of this within one nights stay is very rushed and tiring. You would benefit by staying a bit longer in Cirali if your plans allow.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/canmom/...7607782865275/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g3...st-Hotels.html

If you stay in Kas..I can recommend the Hideaway hotel

http://www.hotelhideaway.com/en-Home.html

propertravel

Your itinerary is doable. From Kas or Kalkan in 2 hours you will reach Cirali. If you have a later flight to Istanbul you can enjoy a bit more of Cirali. Than about 1,5 hours driving time to be calculated to Antalya airport. My Land Nature or Canada Pension would be good budget options there.

For that money you can also stay at Esbelli as well. Yunak or 4Oda is fine too.

Do the 1 hour balloon flight in this case and stay somewhere nice and niche.....

Happy travelling,

Murat

Patrissimo

HI,
We are leaving New York at the end of July and practically have the same itinerary!So,I think that it works. The only diffrence is that we are staying in Istanbul first and have 2 grown children. We are staying at the Giramsu Cave Hotel and renting a car. I like the idea that it is in a less developed town. After Ephesus, we drive to Fethiye and are staying in Calis beach and than driving to Cirali and leave from Antalya to Istanbul. I have obsessed over this and I am hoping all will be great!

Patrissimo

Oh, as for hotels we are staying in the Oykun in Calis beach, and Canada hotel in cirali

reets

Everything you are planning sounds wonderful the only problem I see is the time of year its so hot now (end July and its in the 90s) with a toddler could be a nightmare. Kalkan beautiful but very steep hill from the harbour. Fethiye good centre to take many trips from and lots of boat trips on offer remember to haggle with the boat owners. Calis good place to stay very cheap pensions and many restaurants to choose from in all price ranges and a water taxi over to Fethiye where all the boat trips start from. Olu Deniz big centre for hang gliding would suit the older kids. enjoy!

lawrenc

get the rental car during daylite, you don't want to drive in the dark. was there a direct flight to izmir or do you have to return to istanbul first ??

joh

Thank you all for your responses. We have added a night to Cirali for a total of two nights. We reserved Okkakoy for our nights in Oludeniz and have left it open for Kas/Kalkan in case we want to stay longer in Oludeniz or Cirali.

Murat, I received a quote from Esbelli for 150 Euro, do you know how I can get a better rate? Esbelli is my first choice.

In Cirali we are looking at Myland Nature, Kibala and Arcadia because we will love to stay in a bungalow. Hotel Canada has great reviews, but I am not sure that they have bungalows.

Patrissimo, I have also obssessed with this. I am sure that we will have a great time.

Thanks again.

Michel_Paris

Another alternative for staying along Med is Marmaris. We stayed there one night, couple blocks north of harbour. Busy place, lots of restaurants. We would have stayed another night to explore city.