Here is our proposed itinerary for Turkey. The only things that are set are the arrival and departure dates. We are experienced independent travelers and would rather stay in hotels that are inexpensive but have a private bath. We also understand that the inexpensive option is not always possible. We also are adventurous eaters and are familiar with some Turkish cuisine as presented in the United States. Please feel free to offer recommendations of any stripe. We have read and printed out many previous recommendations including Thin's extensive list of restaurants.
It also seems that Pegasus is an acceptable airline.


Day 1-Arrive Istanbul stay over night. Is there a better section of the City to stay in for one night?
Day 2-Fly Kayseri and pick up car.
Days 3-6 are spent in Cappadocia. A good friend recommended Esbelli Evi as a place to stay in Urgup. We are spending this amount of time in Cappadocia because my wife is a watercolorist and I am photographer and we do not want to be rushed.
Day 7 Fly to Anatlya. Drive to Side (We also added this leg as recommended by the same good friend.)
Day 8-9 We could stay in Side and use it as base to see the area but we are open to other suggestions.
DAY 10 Drive to Pamukkale
Day 11 in Pamukkale or visit nearby town. All guide books say the hotels are slim pickings in Pamukkale.
Day 12 Drive to Selcuk
Day 13 visit Ephesus. Is there a problem with the lack of restrooms at Ephesus? And every guide book says either go early or late and avoid the cruise crowds.
Day 14 Drive to Cesme, drop off car, and take ferry to Chios. Since the trip is in October the ferries are limited. 5 PM Ferry to Chios
Day 15 Chios
Day 16 Ferry back to Turkey, taxi to Izmir, flight to Istanbul
Days 17-22 Istanbul. We usually do not like to stay in tourist hotels or areas but we have read that getting around Istanbul can be painful. Thus we are thinking of staying in the Sultanahmet. We will visit the major attractions, take a cheap boat ride on the Bosphorus, and wonder around some other neighborhoods.
Hotel Possibility-Deniz Konak, Tria,

Thank you in advance for your suggestions

I'd look at Kas as a good stopping point along Turkish Med.
Are you hiking in Cappadoccia? I liked the Ilhara valley and the cave churches. Easy hike, but a nice little pcokect of greenery.
We stayed in Goreme, it's a nice town with good shops, restos and the Open Air Museum (must see).
There are many underground cities in area. we visited a small one, way off the beaten track, between Goreme and Ilhara.
For Ephesus, we parked at the bottom (where buses park) then took shuttle to top, got a guidebook at the store across from the entrance and walked back down to car. The shuttle did include a visit to carpet factory, so be aware of that possibility.
Antalya we found a bit too developed. This was were we decide to splurge on a hotel, and paid top $ to do so.

Cappadocia: I was sad to leave Goreme (loved Kelebek pension) after 3 days, so you will be glad to have the extra time in Cappadocia. So much to see and do, especially if you like hiking.

Istanbul: On the contrary, I found getting around Istanbul superbly easy! The public transportation system is extensive--get an akbil pass to make it even easier. Or, if you are a major walker like me, you can conceivable walk from Sultanahmet to Taksim, with breaks throughout the day.
I stayed in Sultanahmet because that was easier for me on my first visit, but if I had found a place in "new Istanbul" I would not have hesitated to stay there.

Re the restrooms at Ephesus - there are toilets at the top
end and the bottom end but the only ones in the middle are
the Roman communal open-air ones - the bonus is that you'd
get yourself in a lot of photo-ops!

Agree with Michel re Antalya - big, noisy city. The Old Town
is pleasant but the rest not so much. IMHO

Thank you all.

We will hike in Cappadocia.
I'm not sure we can hike on consecutive days.


We are just flying into Antalya, but not staying there.

You could alternate some guided tours (or drive yourself) to break up the hikes--lots of small towns to check out as well. Great painting/photography opportunities of course. Scope out a spot for sunrise and sunset.

When you are in Istanbul you must treat yourself to a Turkish bath. At your hotel you can ask for a reputable bath. It was one of the most remarkably beautiful experiences I had in Istanbul. There is a huge stone slab in the center of the room, the same height as a bed, and it is warm! You lie there and relax and get warm until you are summoned for your bath. The ceiling is a huge beautiful dome with little openings so the light filters in in streams. There were no artificial lights where I went and the sunlight was magical as it poured into the bath from all directions above. All around the perimeter of the room are fountains coming out of the wall where women sit and bathe you.(Truthfully the soap was harsh and the washcloths were rough, so you might bring your own.) But the experience was enchanting, tender, and pampering. I went to a bath only for women and I would recommend the same.

We did a partially similar itinerary and our travel style sounds fairly similar to yours. Istanbul and Cappadocia were our favorite parts of the trip. We stayed in Esbelli Evi which was a bit above our normal accomodation level but absolutely loved it! In fact, we extended for a 4th night.

We flew into Istanbul and only had 12 or so hours before our flight out the next morning, so we stayed at a hotel in Yesilkov a very lowkey waterside suburb near the airport. We just walked around a bit and had dinner before going to bed for our early flight. Our hotel provided airport pickup service, but we had to pay for a cab to the airport in the morning.

We picked up the rental car in Kayseri and then kept it until we dropped it off in Dalaman, so we drove through the mountains to get to the coast. The coast was probably our least favorite part of the trip. I would not recommend Side at all; we spent one night, and it was more than enough because parts of it were a carnival atmosphere, neon-lit type place swamped with people. We are not beach type people, but we did enjoy 2 nights at a small, cheap place in Cirali which is a lovely setting and offers some fairly lowkey hikes.

One of our favorite experiences was our night in Owlsland about 15 k outside of Kalkan and in a completely different world fromn the coastal development. This is a small, rural village that takes you back about a century. You stay in the original farmhouse of the owner's grandparents. The price includes a dinner prepared by the owner who is a local restauranteur. The price is a bit higher than we would normally pay, but it was well worth it.

We did not go to Ephesus but flew back to Istanbul from Dalaman. We had 4 or 5 days in Istanbul, and we'd definitely return. Our hope for our next trip to Turkey is to drive east along the Black Sea Coast and then go inland a bit to explore eastern Turkey. Hope this helped.

Day 11 in Pamukkale or visit nearby town. All guide books say the hotels are slim pickings in Pamukkale.

I loved the travertines. We stayed in the Richmond Hotel; it has a large outdoor pool and hot mineral baths in a different building.

Cappodoccia is fascinating. And the hot air balloon ride was a highlight for me -- great photo op.

In Istanbul I stayed in the Dersaadet Hotel near the Blue Mosque. I think it was about $100 a night for room with bath including breakfast. I especially loved the rooftop terrace for the view of the Sea of Marmarra (sp?). It was a very short walk to the Blue Mosque, Hippodrome, Basilica Cistern, Aya Sofya, Grand Bazaar, etc. Other than the call to prayerm which I enjoy hearing) it was very quiet, I slept with the windows open in October and it was pleasant. It's about 30 minutes to the airport.

Turkey is beautiful and interesting. You'll have a great trip.

Thanks again for the suggestions. We are looking into a number of them.

Personally, I think it's a great itinerary. You don't have to defend spending 4 days in Cappodoccia - it's beautiful and you will love it. It seems like you will have a nice relaxing start to the trip there and then can save Istanbul for the crowning jewel of your trip.

One of my least favorite stops on my trip was Pamukkale. We were going to spend the night in town, but after we had seen the travertines, checked out Hierapolis, and spent a few hours at the bath, we were done.

We found the town of Pamukkale itself just not charming and hypertouristy. There are lots of touts on mopeds harassing visitors to come to a particular hotel. I loved my summer in Turkey, but I quickly realized that I had to get out of dodge once I had enjoyed the sights. We took a night bus to Cappodoccia and got a head start on the rest of the trip. I'd have to recommend making Pamukkale a nice day trip before passing along to your next destination.

Adventurous eaters? How adventurous?

http://www.parlafood.com/kokorec-turkish-street-food/

Dear Aduchamp1, you have enough recommendations to follow without mine to confuse you. also, you do not say much about your interests.

My overall comment is that, you have a good itinerary for a good standard tourist trip, so that you can write another standard trip report competing with those of Elaine, Ellen, Ms-Go, Ignutah, Michel, Michael, and the ones before, and we can all say, "how great!"

However, i truely believe your wife's watercolours will add another dimension and make a major difference.

Wish you the best of trips.

PS. you may have some logistics problems like dropping of your rental car at Cesme. Or not being able to find a flight from Cappadocia to Antalya in October.

Other:

We have deep interests in art, architecure, and food. I have had over two dozen photographic exhibits including a few in colleges and msueums. And my wife has had many watercolor exhibits and her works are in a number private collections. I like cities, while my wife likes hiking. Neither one of us likes to pay for luxury and shopping is of interest only if what is being sold is interesting. And we both like walking the cities just to see what we see.

We are also interested in literature and current and past events and how they are related. We are reading a great deal about the country, its history, and geography since we do not know most of the details.

Please also note, that we try to write trip reports that are irreverent and fun. If you are plagued by insomnia, you can click on my name and read a sentence or two of past trip reports to induce narcolepsy.

According to the Internet, and beleive me I udnerstand the limitations, we have looked for a car rental agency where we can drop off the car in Cesme and it seems Pegasus and Turkish Air both have flights from Capapdocia to Antalya but none that are direct.

Please feel free to offer any advice that you have, I am not that easily confused and it would be greatly appreciated. We already took your advice to another as we decided to spend our time in Istanbul at the end of the trip.

Thanks to all again for the suggestions.

What the heck, here's one somewhat offbeat Istanbul suggestion that I would normally keep to myself, but I'm inspired to share. You seem like you might appreciate it:

Take a ferry over to the Asian side of Istanbul (Kadıköy) and spend a half day wandering the quaint neighborhood. The ferry voyage alone is well worth it (it can't cost more than 2 or 3 TL) and you pass by the Kiz Kulesi on the way in. Kadıköy is a pleasant, non-touristy middle class neighborhood with some good restaurants, street cafes, markets, and shops.

But that's not really my recommendation - you should do that anyway.

What you do is...conclude the afternoon at the end of Moda Caddesi at the tea gardens along the Sea of Marmara, where you can take in some beautiful panoramic views. As dusk nears, walk northwest along the promenade by the water to somewhere around this point (so you can find exactly where I'm talking about):

Latitude: 40°59'28.18"N
Longitude: 29° 1'0.96"E

This is a short distance south of the Kadıköy ferry docks at a park/pavilion along where Sea of Marmara meets the Bosphorus. There is a rock jetty there that stretches west towards Old Istanbul. Facing east at this point, you will be able to see the sun set directly behind Sultanahmet across the river, with silhouette of Topkapi and the Aya Sofya and the rest of the skyline. A peaceful but stunning spectacle away from the bustle of the city.

I did this with a couple of travel companions and we were shocked at the understated beauty and calm, as we were the only ones around to behold this amazing sight except for a few fishermen, who were oblivious to this sublime view and our own wonder.

Take a peaceful early evening ferry back across the river. You will have seen the views coming across during daylight. Now you will pass directly by the Kiz Kulesi all lit up in her evening splendor ( http://tiny.cc/ez5wq ), an entirely different view.

End the evening with a lovely dinner near where the ferry lands at Eminönü/Galata Bridge.

From the sounds of it, this is something that your traveler's hearts and artistic eyes will enjoy. Bring your cameras AND your paintbrushes.

This might be a great thing to do on your last day in Istanbul, when you've already tackled the big city and all the sights and you want to depart with the world's most scenic (and cheapest) intercontinental cruise and one last image of your trip to treasure forever.

What do you think? It took a lot out of me to make this recommendation.

Let's keep this one our little secret...

***"facing east" should obviously read "facing WEST" - or else you'd miss the whole show. Sorry!

Adu, This summer there will be direct Cappadocia-Antalya flights possibly by sunexpress, but they may not continue to october.

Going through istanbul will mean:

-one hour to Kayseri or Nevsehir airport + one hour in advance + one hour flight time + one hour or more at Istanbul airport + 75 minutes flight to antalya = possibly six hours.

If you continue with your rental car, through Aksaray towards Karaman, visit Manazan Caves and canyon before Karaman, turn South at karaman to visit Alahan monastery before Mut and either continue down to Silifke or turn right at Mut to Ermenek, you will be spending a pleasant day with lots of different types of scenery plus antiquity that not many have seen.

There are both (three) natural wonders near Silifke (Heaven, Hell and Asthma Caverns) and some interesting antique sites, plus some nice swimming at deserted beaches on your scenic route towards Anamur, Anemurium antique city and Side.

If you take the Ermenek route, you will be drivinalong ant through some interesting parts of the Toros mountains and Ermenek one of then first important Turkish cities in Anatolia, the ncapital of Karamanogullari nation, and the location where the Turks had become Christian and stayed there until they were sent to Greece after WW1 because they were not moslem. The architecture of the old houses at Ermenek is unique, although not many remains.

You would then drive down to the coast at Anamur, the banana capital of Turkey and next to the very large unexcavated antique city of Anemurium, more interesting than some of those you will see closer to Side.

If you stay the night at Ermenek selcuklu hotel is your best bet. If you go down to silifke, stay at a hotel or B&B at Tasucu, past Silifke town towards anamur.

At Cappadocia, the Turkish ravioli, "manti" is famous, eaten with yoghurt and hot melted butter with red hot pepper flakes dripped over it.

At silifke, the regional dish is called 'tantuni' diced beef grilled or sauteed with tomatoes, green pepper, and also sold as fast food in a wrap.

Ermenek has some interesting soups and pot meals.

Thank you Woyzeck for taking the time, it sounds most intriguing. I have printed out your suggestion and will take it with us.

And thank you Other for all the suggestions. We wll be sure to try the manti and will weigh the alterabtive route.

Adu - nothing to add except have a great trip... We will go this weekend to Istanbul. I was there in March with my daughter and now will return with my husband. We had a wonderful trip. I preferred Sultanahmet to Bosphorus for accommodations just because the main attractions are there. We did not have enough time to wander too much further afield.

Do see the Cistern - that was my favorite and I think with the right lens you could take some amazing photos...This time I will go see the whirling dervishes as that was the one thing I wanted to return for. I hope it is not too contrived... Will let you know if this is of interest. The gardens around Topkapi might be of interest to your wife for watercolors...

I did not use the public trans but I would recommend you do if you do not stay in Sultanahmet as it can take a long time in a smokey cab to get from place to place.

We visited Ephesus many years ago and loved it. Fascinating.

Have a great trip...

gruezi

You might be interested in the exquisite Sakip Sanbanci Museum which is in a northern suburb of Istanbul.

http://muze.sabanciuniv.edu/main/def...ytLanguageID=2

They have a great collection of early Turkish paintings as well as calligraphy. Again, I'm giving you a slightly unusual suggestion, but I imagine you already have a list of the typical things to do in Istanbul.

Have fun!