Am starting to plan my spring trip (haven't taken my fall trip yet, but...) and have decided on Turkey. I will be celebrating my 50th during the trip (yikes!) Am wondering if I should go on a tour or go alone and hire guides. Have never been on a tour. For those of you who went alone, what was dining out in the evenings like? Suggestions? I will be going next April for about 14 - 15 days...

GO TO TURKEY, <BR>and Don't worry BE HAPPY there. You can go to Turkey with group or by tour self it up to you. Turkish people so warm and they all welcome foreiners and help many times. If you go to TURKEY FORM of this you can find many message there<BR><BR><BR>ABC

Sandy, I went on my own and was fine. My suggestions that I have given before on this board are to stay in Taxsim instead of Sultanhmet while in Istanbul. I got alot of men hitting on me/hassling me/selling to me in the sultanhmet area but only had that happen once while wandering around the Taxsim area. Taxsim also has nicer restaurants. The majority of the tourist sites are in Sultanhmet but a cab is very cheap in Turkey and shouldn't cost you more than $3-$4 for the 20 minute ride. <BR><BR>I hope you are going to Cappadocia because it is amazing. I would suggest joining a tour while you are there and you can either arrange that when you arrive or ahead of time. The only beach area I went to was one night in Marmaris and that was nice. Dining out in the evenings was fine, again in Sultanhmet the waiters wanted to chat it up but I didn't have that problem anywhere else. It is too bad because it discourages you from just being friendly with people. And don't misunderstand I never felt threatened by anyone, it just gets old. Let me know if you have other questions.

Sandy---Good advice from Deb; but I would go farther and advise that you go with a group. Some tour companies specialize in small tour groups that will still allow you to feel somewhat independent. And regardless of how safe you really might be, I think you will not FEEL very safe in Turkey when you are traveling all alone. Can't you find a tour companion? I have to believe there are others who want to be independent but wouldn't mind some company.

Check out companies like Exodus.co.uk - which organises small group tours, including some walking tours. You'll get off the tourist path, meet interesting people, enjoy the benefit of a knowledgeable guide and pay a reasonable price for it.

I'm not really worried about Turkey from the safety perspective - it's more from the perspective of "comfort" and ease of doing certain things like dining out alone. I do plan to go to Cappadocia. I will also check out Exodous..a small group would be okay with me too.

topping<BR>

I was on a Cappadocia tour with a 50's woman who was doing independent travel (as we were) except for the 2-day Cappadocia tour. She kept up with the mostly university student crowd fairly well, although not as well as us (early 40's). However, many 50 and 60 year olds are more fit than I am!<BR><BR>Turkey "feels" very safe. It is a question of whether you feel like the flexibility of independent travel, or the busy schedule and comraderie and pampering of the tour.<BR><BR>I intend to start taking tours when I get to the age when I no longer want to fuss with my own bags, driving, etc. My 86 year old grandmother and her older sister are both enjoying travel this way!

Take a look at this article written in the Washington Post about this very question... <BR>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2002Jul5.html

Sandy, I went to Turkey at the age of 52 and had a ball. I combined both - to get to Cappadocia I joined a 1 week tour with Pasha Tours. They were excellent. That tour ended on the Aegean Coast at Antalya. From there I travelled alone, using bus companies.<BR><BR>I never felt unsafe. I found waiters in restaurants very friendly and chatty but did not feel they were hitting on me - just regarded me as an "aunty" type.<BR><BR>In Kusadasi I went to a travel agency and said I wanted to get to Ephesus and they organised for me to join a "small tour group" which turned out to be just me, a couple from America, and our guide; and what he didn't know about Ephesus wasn't worth knowing! A wonderful day.<BR><BR>In terms of evenings, fairly often I'd find that after a day of walking everywhere and enjoying meeting the local people (who were wonderful) and seeing the sights, and having a nice lunch somewhere, I was quite happy to take a "picnic" of fruit, pastries, yoghurt etc back to the hotel room for the evening and relax.<BR><BR>You are going to really enjoy Turkey. I'd go back in a minute.<BR><BR>Oh, just one thing, I went in April and a few times I found a day-tour I wanted to do, was not yet operating; as "the Season" did not start up properly till mid May. However, the weather was wonderful, and there were no crowds.