WTnow

"I am curious as to whether you have felt at all unsafe while in Turkey. I have to confess that my eagerness to see the country has been tempered by the issue of perceived safety. "

I wanted to answer the above question that was in a thread that got really side tracked, as I think it is an important question.

We were interviewed by a newspaper when we were in Turkey ( because of our unusual multi-year trip around the world) and I mentioned that Americans for the most part ARE afraid to come to Turkey.

We travel with our 6yo child and before going it did seem like "exotic" travel and we were nervous about many things. Our families were nervous about us being there as some how just the mention of Turkey makes people nervous.

We have gone to Morocco and I expected it to be more like that, but even tho we loved Morocco, we found it MUCH harsher than Turkey.

Turkey seems like Europe only cheaper and more interesting in some ways with the best hopitality in the world. Istanbul at first glance seems like San Francisco or Barcelona and is much more like Paris or Rome than any Moroccan city.

We enjoyed our gulet cruise and loved Cappadocia. The ancient sights are absolutely amazing ( there are more ruins in Turkey than Greece or Italy).

We felt very safe in Turkey even tho we were there right before the elections and there was some tension supposedly because of that.

I think one must take precautions where ever you are these days, but Turkey is no more unsafe than anywhere else. You can plan Turkey on your own and travel extremely cheaply there...the food and people are wonderful.

My husband was not that interested in going, but now he and all of us are so glad that we had this very rich experience.

I am uploading our experience on our blog now if you want to read more:
http://www.soultravelers3.com/blog/blog.html

It might give you ideas and has lots of photos ( look in archives as I already have 14 entries with pics and info up on our time in Turkey.

We purposely avoided Marmaris and Kudasi and that type of place as we like more authentic places and we try to avoid places that might attract terroists. (Personally I would not take a subway during rush hour any where in the world these days, just to be a little more careful. )

There is no place one can be perfectly safe, but I really feel ones chances are probably better in Turkey than most places. It is a great country to see and most Europeans delight in it while most Americans miss this gem that is easy on the ever falling dollar.

worldinabag

Hi

Had a look at your blog. Can you tell me more about the gulet trip. Who did you use? Do they have a website? What was the cost? What did you think of it? Thanks

audere_est_facere

Turkey is lovely - and safe enough. The attacks that have occured have been against British targets (we are "The Little Satan" after all).

Weadles

Another recommendation for Turkey. We just got back, and while even at first glance, I would never compare Istanbul to San Francisco, Rome or Barcelona (!), we just loved it. Istanbul is a complex, fascinating city, which felt much more foreign to us than any other European capital that we have visited. The diversity of the city, and the exposure to many things we knew nothing about was worth the trip.

We weren't as thrilled, as I've posted before, with the south coast ( Kusadisi, Bodrum). But we certainly never felt afraid there or worried about terrorism. Frankly, I feel much more worried about that in my own hometown, which is only 20 miles from midtown Manhattan.

WTnow

I must not have tagged this one with a Turkey destination, so it seemed to disappear and I just now found it again.

Too bad it is an important topic as I think those of us who have been to Turkey need to inform others. It was certainly a big help to me to talk to others who had been there.

Actually I am not the first person to compare Istanbul to San Francisco.We met another family from SF area like us, who have a daughter that is teaching there. One of the reasons she picked it is because it has similarities to SF ( hills bay etc and from the water or views from sultanahmet it really looks like it could be SF).

I have several guide books that compare it to Paris and Rome and while it does not look like them, I found the accomodations and restaurants similar ( but not the same food of course). We have spent much time in many European cities and found it VERY similar to other European cities which surprised us as I was expecting something more foreign like Moroccan cities.

As far as gulet, I just booked it thru our hotel The Daffodil in Fethiye and we mostly loved the experience and our captain and crew. I have lots of pics and info on the blog. We booked it thru Compass and you should ask for Ishmael with the NZ girlfriend and they should know the boat if you want that one.

I did not care for some of our fellow passengers who were very rude to the crew and the epitome of "the ugly American" but we avoided them as much as possible.

If I had to do it again, I would do a private tour just with our family and crew as we loved the crew and gulet experience.

It was extremely cheap, but my dh is not around me at the moment and he handled the costs. We just got a cabin and we are not drinkers,so it was ridiculously cheap.

I would not do more than a 4 day cruise with others and maybe even alone as we were ready to get off then, but will always remember the experience.

There were people on our boat who had done it repeatedly as they loved it so much.

We were warned to skip Kusadisi, Marmaris and Bodrum and glad we did. It appeared to be a similar glut like Costa del sol and does not appeal to us as the high rises could be anywhere.

The small towns on the Touquoise coast are divine!! We were thrilled that we saw that, took the gulet and would do it again in a second.

That said, check your boat and crew out thoroughly before booking. There are a ton, so you have endless choices.