My wife and I have just returned from 2 weeks in Turkey and 1 week in Greece. We have traveled extensively throughout Western and Eastern Europe (and I have been to Greece before), but this was our first trip to Turkey.
We arrived in Istanbul and stayed at the Seven Hills Hotel - a small boutique hotel immediately adjacent to the Four Seasons and ideally located between Haghia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. We had a "Deluxe Suite" at about 1/2 the cost of a standard room at the Four Seasons. The suite was L shaped and consisted of large, tastefully appointed sitting area and bedroom. The bathroom was adequate and contained a jacuzzi. The high point of this hotel was the roof top restaurant and terrace. The food was only fair but the view was spectacular. As we were finishing our early meal the "Son et Lummierre" show on the Blue Mosque in English started. We ordered another bottle of wine and enjoyed the spectacle from the ideal vantage point.
After dinner,though dead tired from jet lag, we decided to savor the city and took a stroll through Sultanahmet. We stumbled across a small cafe where a Dervish was whirling away and almost every man was smoking a water pipe. We sat for about 1/2 an hour and were entranced by the music and the dancer. A magical first day in a truly magical city. In fact I am now sitting at my desk typing and listening to Sufi music, to which I have developed a fondness.
Should anyone be interested I would be happy to relate our further experiences in Istanbul, Cappodocia and the Agean Coast along with comments on the cuisine, accommodations, sites, and the friendliness of the Turks!!

I am going to Western Turkey Oct 12 for 3 weeks with a tour company out of Vancouver Canada. about 30 people. I have travelled quite abit and look forward to this trip. staying at Lamartine Hotel in Istanbul. any comment??
going on to Cappadicia, Antalya, Ankaraa,
konya, Antalya, Pamukkale, Bodrum Kadasa and wind our way back to Istanbul.
I am trying to find a map on the internet to print off. the ones I have are tooooo small.
what's the weather like at this time??.
thanks for any info as I just joined this page from Fodors and travel around the world here and there on my own.

Im trying to figure out which to do next spring....Greece or Turkey. I will do both eventually but which first? I hear Greece is shutting and fixing up many sites and museums...did you find this to be true? They are getting ready for the Olympics, I know, and I plan to go in early May. But I would be very disappointed to get there and not be able to view the historic sites etc. What did you find to be happening? Thanks!

Hi CharlieB

Nice to hear you had nice trip in Turkey.

TO BUNNYBAER ,

October in Turkey is little bit cold, now I am in Ankara before departure my last destination which is Istanbul to NYC and temprature in Ankara is 20 C (almost 60 Degree F). When I go back to NYC I will prepare a digital map for tourist. I will let you know on this forum.

TO LEANNAT,

I don't know anything about restoration about Greece ruins BUT I I were you I would go to every each country one by one because their have own beauty. If you have long trip for Turkey you may get some idea about Turkey because Turkey is small country BUT has many thing that you can not imagine. At least 16 days you need for your first trip for Turkey.

ENJOY TURKEY and HAVE A NICE TRIP

Sinan Akdeniz
[email protected]

Charlie- thanks for the wonderful feedback. I am travelling by myself in mid-Oct to Istanbul and am curious to know if you joined any local tours. I am single female and am not sure whether I should join a tour from the US or if I should get a local tour guide. Do you have any recommendations for good hammans? Shopping esp, jewellery, leather, belly dancing accessories? Thanks so much! Enjoy the rest of your trip!- Sarah

Sinan...oh yes yes..I thought I made it clear..of course of course...ONE COUNTRY AT A TIME!!!! That is the way I always do it. I will try to get the tour that goes to the most places and for the most days..and before I go I will read up and study the itinary so I know as much as I can even before the tour guide starts to talk!! So far this has been my plan and little by little I"m seeing the world...now if I can just live to be 204!!! Meanwhile..which first...Greece or Turkey? Thanks!

Malika - we did not join any tour groups, this on the advice of my 2 daughters who had visited Istanbul earlier. Indeed most of the major sites are in the Sultanahmet area and most sites are easily done on foot or by tram. We used the tram to get to the Grand Bazaar. You can do all of your shopping there. Everthing from high end and expensive jewelery, leather goods, ceramics, carpets and antiques, to curio, T-shirt and other tourist shops. It is a fabulous "mall" and you could spend all day there if really into shopping. We then took a taxi to the "spice market" then strolled along the Golden Horn back to the Trolley stop. We did take a guided tour through Dolmabache Palace in English, but like most tours some people were not at all interested and kept carrying on conversations making it impossible to hear the guide. Taxis are plentiful, metered, and cheap. We much prefer buying good guide books and spending the time we feel we should at each site. We had no trouble getting around Istanbul on our own and enjoyed it immensely.

Sarah, there are a couple of tourist oriented hammans in Istanbul. If it's your first experience you may feel more comfortable there as they are used to seeing tourists. We tried Cemberlitas and really enjoyed it.

Shopping, definitely check out the Grand Bazaar and be sure to haggle.

I wouldn't sign up for tours before you get there. Istanbul is easy to get around on your own and there are plenty of tour operators once you get there if you decide you'd like a guide.

TO LEANNAT
If you want to see the whole Turkey you have to spend at least a month BUT first time you may spend 16 days. If you want some tour itinery you may see under my name. If you can let me know.

Sinan Akdeniz
[email protected]

Charlie - please post more about Istanbul - I'm going in about a month. Just dropped my passport off at the Turkish Consulate to egt my visa - the tourist office there has plenty of brochures and cd roms.

marktynenyc- We spent only 3 days in Istanbul. I would suggest 4 to 5 days minimum. You could definitely spend an entire day at Topkapi. Allow a full day for Aghia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Hippodrome and Cistern. Another day for Dolmabache and Bosporus, and another day for the Bazaar and Spice Market. In addition to the hotel I mentioned in my initial post there are a few restaurants I would recommend. We had a delightful dinner at the Mosaic Restaurant, adjacent to Rumelli Cafe where we were headed, but the menu looked more appealing. I had a swordfish kebap which consisted of swordfish chunks seasoned with Turkish spices and interspersed with lemon slices and bay leaves. Simple, but very delicious. It must have been good because all the cats in the neighborhood soon congregated at my table. The second night we dined at Haci Abdullah. Dinner was buffet style, with a very helpful staff describing each entree. No alcoholic beverages were served so I had my first taste of Cola Turka. For our last night in Istanbul we dined at Sarnic Restaurant. The food was only fair, but the ambiance was magnificent. It is in an old cistern with a high vaulted ceiling illuminated only by candlelight. The ideal spot to celebrate our 30th anniversary before heading off to Cappodocia. I hope you enjoy magical Istanbul as much as we did.

Hi Charlie,
I've been to both.But I would rather prefer Turkey first.That's great.And a lot to see.I'm not on the same page with Sinan.He says Turkey is not a big country.It's one of the largest in Europe as far as I know.That's why you first had better visit Turkey.In fact it's cleaner than Greece.The ruins in Greece were not in good condition 3 months ago.I do not know now.If you need any help for Turkey,I can recommend our tour itenary,guide,hotel and more...
Enjoy your time in Turkey

Leannat, I would also vote for Turkey over Greece, I just thought it was a magical place, where you can go from a large city to a seaside resort to Roman ruins to desert like conditions all in the course of one vacation if you choose. I thought the ruin sites, particularly Ephesus, were among the best, if not the best ruin sites I've ever seen.

Once you get there food, lodging and some attractions are very inexpensive.

Turkey is not a huge country if you compare it to the US, I think it is about the size of Texas, but there is more there even in the Western side of the country than you could possibly squeeze into a week or two. Istanbul alone is worth at least a 4 day stop in my opinion.

You guys this is all so neat. Ok....so for Turkey Im thinking of Insight, or Pacha Tours...or one called Curtual Folk Tours led by Bora Ozkok..they have a 30 day tour that sounds amazing. Anybody know anything about any of this. I also posted this under another Turkey heading...sorry for the repeats but just trying to gather info. Thanks all!

Are you traveling by yourself Leannat? I originally was looking at Pacha but decided it was just a little too much together time as almost all of the time was planned. We ended up traveling independently and I can't tell you what a great decision that was.

If you do feel compelled to do a tour, try to find one with a little free time so you can try some of the wonderful restaurants without being herded into the tourist oriented ones and have time to browse at the Grand Bazaar, try a hammam, etc.

Also check the hotels and make sure you're not so far out that you have to rely on them to get you into town.

I just did a group tour to Russia and I'm a little sour on them at the moment.

Leannat - I generally agree with Kristi. You might try this alternative. My wife and I did Istanbul independently, the flew to Cappodocia where we joined a three day tour with Argeus Tourism (excellent service and tour). We then flew to Izmir and joined another 2 day tour to Ephesus and other sites with a different agency. Both agencies provided minivans and were limited to a maximum of 8 people - usually only 4 to 6. We had the same guide at each location, but our fellow tourists usually changed. The smallness of the group allowed for more interchange with the guide and allowed for more time at each site (no waiting for stragglers). We allowed 1-2 days at each site for relaxation or indepentent exploration. The last tour from Izmir dropped us off at our hotel in Kusadasi. We then traveled by public bus to Bodrum and then Marmaris -an inexpensive and easy way to travel throughout Turkey

Charlie's suggestion is a good one, smaller more manageable groups instead of a large tour group. Our group in Russia was 30+ people and we spent lots of time waiting for people who were late or got lost.

We hired a private guide in Cappadocia and it really was a good way to see the area esp. since we were short on time there.

I do travel alone....hubby hates the entire idea of packing a suitcase. Anyway tours are the best for me...BUT by traveling alone on a tour I do end up w lots of nice time alone and I enjoy it. Thanks all for your good ideas though....they all sound amazing!!!! So any more comments on Pacha, Insight or Cultural Folk Tours???

All-thanks for all your feedback. I'm finding some great deals on hotel.com however I'm not sure which streets I should look for hotels since I'd like to stay in the center of Sultanahmet. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

HI LEANNAT,

The travel agencies you mentioned are the same they have same tour scheledue BUT they use different HOTELS so they may have different prices. Cultural Folk Tour (BORA OZKOK)is much different then other 2, because (if you want to travel with Bora Ozkok you have to pay almost double price and everyday you may get some special musics and everything what you need on you tour are included the tour prices

If I were you and want to get SPECIAL TOUR I would choose BORA OZKOK.


Hi malika2177

You don't need to look for street name JUST look for SULTANAHMET. and you will get many hotels in that area

Have a nice trip

Sinan Akdeniz
[email protected]