Any advise for our holiday in Turkey in April
Jan 29th, 2019 | 11:25 PM
#1
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Joined: Jan 2019
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Any advise for our holiday in Turkey in April
Hi there everyone, we are 3 sisters from South Africa travelling to Turkey in April and we are super excited. After much deliberation we decided on a final itinerary. We will really appreciate any input and tips, especially where public transport and buses are concerned. Also suggestions for local places (non-touristy) to eat.The Nitty Gritty
We are going to purchase a 15 day Turkey museum pass in Istanbul and we're going to make use of public transport. This is a budget holiday so keeping cost down is important. Also we are learnng a bit of turkish that will hopefully make things smoother. We will try to buy bus ticket a day or two in advance at the stations.The Plan of Action
7 nights - Istanbul
Sunday - arrival day. We are staying in Kadikoy on the asian side. We will be very tired after our long flight so will probably just explore the neighbourhood.
Monday - Grand Bazaar, Suleymaniye Mosque, Blue Mosque, Archeological Museum, Basilica Cistern
Tuesday - Galata Tower, Karakoy, Beyoglu, Modern Art Museum
Wednesday- Topkapi Palace, Aya Sofia, Mosaic Museum, Spice Market
Thursday - Chora Church, Old city wall, Eyup, Fener, Balat
Friday - Take early ferry from Kadikoy to Sariyer. Explore Bosphorus including Rumeli Hisari, Erdogan Park, Bebek, Ortakoy, Besiktas
Saturday - Kadikoy, Camlica Hill, Explore Asian side
Sunday - Cannakale - Taking earliest bus possible from the main Otogar in Istanbul to Cannakale. Visit Troy the afternoon with local dolmus. Explore town the evening.
Monday- Ayvalik- Bus to Ayvalik. Explore town
Tuesday -Bergama - Bus to Bergama. Visit the Pergamon site. Visit Haci Hekam Hamam late afternoon. Explore the town.
Wednesday- Selcuk- Bus to Aliaga, then IZBAN to Selcuk. Is this a good travel option? Visit Sirince the afternoon/evening
Thurday - Selcuk - Be at Ephesus as early as possible, Basilica of St. John. Ephesus museum. Explore Selcuk.
Friday- Pamukkule - Train from Selcuk to Denizli and then dolmus to Pamukkale. Visit travestines and Hieropolis.
Saturday - Fethiye- Dolmus to Denizli, then bus to Fethiye. Visit Kayakoy the afternoon. Eat at Fish market the evening. See lycian tombs
Sunday - Fethiye - Visit Oludeniz and take water taxi to butterfly valley. Explore Fethiye.
Monday - Wednesday - Kas - bus or dolmus from Fethiye to Kas. We are here for 3 nights and we would like to experience this mediteranean town at a leisurely pace. Activities includes a boat trip, Anthipello's ruins, maybe hike part of lycian way, exploring the town.
Thursday - Travel from Kas to Antalya with bus. Leave luggage at Otogar and explore the Kaleici neighbourhood the afternoon/evening before taking the night bus to Goreme.
Friday - Sunday - Goreme. We are here for 3 nights and are planning a hot air balloon ride (mais oui), doing the red tour and some hiking.
Monday - Istanbul - Fly from Kayseri to Istanbul. We stay again in Kadikoy. Will do some shopping
Tuesday - Last precious hours in Istanbul before we fly back home the afternoon.Any advice will be super!
Kind regards,
Linda
We are going to purchase a 15 day Turkey museum pass in Istanbul and we're going to make use of public transport. This is a budget holiday so keeping cost down is important. Also we are learnng a bit of turkish that will hopefully make things smoother. We will try to buy bus ticket a day or two in advance at the stations.The Plan of Action
7 nights - Istanbul
Sunday - arrival day. We are staying in Kadikoy on the asian side. We will be very tired after our long flight so will probably just explore the neighbourhood.
Monday - Grand Bazaar, Suleymaniye Mosque, Blue Mosque, Archeological Museum, Basilica Cistern
Tuesday - Galata Tower, Karakoy, Beyoglu, Modern Art Museum
Wednesday- Topkapi Palace, Aya Sofia, Mosaic Museum, Spice Market
Thursday - Chora Church, Old city wall, Eyup, Fener, Balat
Friday - Take early ferry from Kadikoy to Sariyer. Explore Bosphorus including Rumeli Hisari, Erdogan Park, Bebek, Ortakoy, Besiktas
Saturday - Kadikoy, Camlica Hill, Explore Asian side
Sunday - Cannakale - Taking earliest bus possible from the main Otogar in Istanbul to Cannakale. Visit Troy the afternoon with local dolmus. Explore town the evening.
Monday- Ayvalik- Bus to Ayvalik. Explore town
Tuesday -Bergama - Bus to Bergama. Visit the Pergamon site. Visit Haci Hekam Hamam late afternoon. Explore the town.
Wednesday- Selcuk- Bus to Aliaga, then IZBAN to Selcuk. Is this a good travel option? Visit Sirince the afternoon/evening
Thurday - Selcuk - Be at Ephesus as early as possible, Basilica of St. John. Ephesus museum. Explore Selcuk.
Friday- Pamukkule - Train from Selcuk to Denizli and then dolmus to Pamukkale. Visit travestines and Hieropolis.
Saturday - Fethiye- Dolmus to Denizli, then bus to Fethiye. Visit Kayakoy the afternoon. Eat at Fish market the evening. See lycian tombs
Sunday - Fethiye - Visit Oludeniz and take water taxi to butterfly valley. Explore Fethiye.
Monday - Wednesday - Kas - bus or dolmus from Fethiye to Kas. We are here for 3 nights and we would like to experience this mediteranean town at a leisurely pace. Activities includes a boat trip, Anthipello's ruins, maybe hike part of lycian way, exploring the town.
Thursday - Travel from Kas to Antalya with bus. Leave luggage at Otogar and explore the Kaleici neighbourhood the afternoon/evening before taking the night bus to Goreme.
Friday - Sunday - Goreme. We are here for 3 nights and are planning a hot air balloon ride (mais oui), doing the red tour and some hiking.
Monday - Istanbul - Fly from Kayseri to Istanbul. We stay again in Kadikoy. Will do some shopping
Tuesday - Last precious hours in Istanbul before we fly back home the afternoon.Any advice will be super!
Kind regards,
Linda
Jan 30th, 2019 | 12:55 AM
#2
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 5,330
Likes: 4
Exemplary planning.
- obviously you know that your Istanbul card will be on good on ferries also.
- thee are no commuter ferries to Sariyer or similar landings from Eminonu in the morning. So, you may need to take ferry to Besiktas from Kadikoy and then do your Bosphorus visits by bus.or take a tour boat from Kadikoy or Eminonu and asking to be let off further up the Bosphorus if possible.
- The Lycian tombs at Demre and the rest of the Myra ruins are spoectacular, do not miss from Kas.
- Kekova tour from Kas may be more interesting than water taxi from Oludeniz to Butterfly Valley (may not even be available in April)
- You can also consider making use of the ring refft between Istinya, Kanlica, Bebek, Kandilli, Arnavutkoy, Cengelkoy, providing you opportunity to eat yogurt at Kankica, horse mackerel (istavrit) at Sunanin Yeri at Kandilli boat landing and a nice walk from Bebek to Rumeli fortress. Sariyer may be left out alltogether.
- Drive to Antalya, although very scenic, may be avoided if you change your plan to fly to Dalaman- transfer to Kas - bus to Selcuk (via Fethiye if you must) - bus to Denizli - train to Selcuk (will be slow) - flight to Cappadocia. (I hope this flight willbe available in April)
Finally, April will be a very good time to rent a car (price and traffic) and considering that there are three of you, the rental cost of an economy diesel will not be much higher than bus tickets and will not only save you a great deal of time but will also give you flexibility and chance to visit many places you will wish you had not missed.
You may not even need to reserve rental car beforehand and try negotiating a a good rate at the airport, ( Izmir or Dalaman) . Should be possible as long as you return to same location. Check for rates on the web. Sixt, garenta may give lower quotes than Avis, Hertz, Budget, Alamo, Europcar. reserving through a broker may be problamatic in receiving and dropping off car.
- obviously you know that your Istanbul card will be on good on ferries also.
- thee are no commuter ferries to Sariyer or similar landings from Eminonu in the morning. So, you may need to take ferry to Besiktas from Kadikoy and then do your Bosphorus visits by bus.or take a tour boat from Kadikoy or Eminonu and asking to be let off further up the Bosphorus if possible.
- The Lycian tombs at Demre and the rest of the Myra ruins are spoectacular, do not miss from Kas.
- Kekova tour from Kas may be more interesting than water taxi from Oludeniz to Butterfly Valley (may not even be available in April)
- You can also consider making use of the ring refft between Istinya, Kanlica, Bebek, Kandilli, Arnavutkoy, Cengelkoy, providing you opportunity to eat yogurt at Kankica, horse mackerel (istavrit) at Sunanin Yeri at Kandilli boat landing and a nice walk from Bebek to Rumeli fortress. Sariyer may be left out alltogether.
- Drive to Antalya, although very scenic, may be avoided if you change your plan to fly to Dalaman- transfer to Kas - bus to Selcuk (via Fethiye if you must) - bus to Denizli - train to Selcuk (will be slow) - flight to Cappadocia. (I hope this flight willbe available in April)
Finally, April will be a very good time to rent a car (price and traffic) and considering that there are three of you, the rental cost of an economy diesel will not be much higher than bus tickets and will not only save you a great deal of time but will also give you flexibility and chance to visit many places you will wish you had not missed.
You may not even need to reserve rental car beforehand and try negotiating a a good rate at the airport, ( Izmir or Dalaman) . Should be possible as long as you return to same location. Check for rates on the web. Sixt, garenta may give lower quotes than Avis, Hertz, Budget, Alamo, Europcar. reserving through a broker may be problamatic in receiving and dropping off car.
Jan 31st, 2019 | 01:18 AM
#6
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 2,003
Likes: 0
Kadikoy is a lovely place to stay.....far from the Madding Crowds of Sultanahmet. And a beautiful 25 minute public fery ride from Eminonu.
You could have a day trip by public ferry to the Princes Islands. Inexpensive, and a lovely trip.
The weather can be a bit unpredictable in April from our experience. Had a very mixed week near Marmaris a few years ago, high winds, lots of storms. Then went to a place called Side for a week and it was perfect.
You could have a day trip by public ferry to the Princes Islands. Inexpensive, and a lovely trip.
The weather can be a bit unpredictable in April from our experience. Had a very mixed week near Marmaris a few years ago, high winds, lots of storms. Then went to a place called Side for a week and it was perfect.
Last edited by LancasterLad; Jan 31st, 2019 at 01:24 AM.
Jan 31st, 2019 | 01:31 AM
#7
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 2,003
Likes: 0
You might find this enduring thread I started on Trip Advisor worth a glance....
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTo...-Istanbul.html
Though it does go on a bit.
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTo...-Istanbul.html
Though it does go on a bit.
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Feb 6th, 2019 | 07:59 AM
#8
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Kadikoy is a lovely place to stay.....far from the Madding Crowds of Sultanahmet. And a beautiful 25 minute public fery ride from Eminonu.
You could have a day trip by public ferry to the Princes Islands. Inexpensive, and a lovely trip.
The weather can be a bit unpredictable in April from our experience. Had a very mixed week near Marmaris a few years ago, high winds, lots of storms. Then went to a place called Side for a week and it was perfect.
You could have a day trip by public ferry to the Princes Islands. Inexpensive, and a lovely trip.
The weather can be a bit unpredictable in April from our experience. Had a very mixed week near Marmaris a few years ago, high winds, lots of storms. Then went to a place called Side for a week and it was perfect.
Feb 6th, 2019 | 04:12 PM
#9
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 25,617
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Feb 7th, 2019 | 12:23 AM
#10
Joined: Mar 2014
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Feb 7th, 2019 | 03:40 AM
#11
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 5,330
Likes: 4
LancasterLad, Istanbul was dropped from list if cruise ship stops three years ago, possibly mainly because the whole cruise ship port area is being rebuilt.
Kadikoy municipality is a very large area. Best locations should be judged according to proximity to kadikoy ferry landing/ Otherwise traffic can take over an hour to get to historic sites.
Motrajas, Kadikoy has no easy access to Anadoluhisar or Rumelihisar. Uskudar has reasonable access via minibus to Cengelkoy and fing ferry from there.
Kadikoy municipality is a very large area. Best locations should be judged according to proximity to kadikoy ferry landing/ Otherwise traffic can take over an hour to get to historic sites.
Motrajas, Kadikoy has no easy access to Anadoluhisar or Rumelihisar. Uskudar has reasonable access via minibus to Cengelkoy and fing ferry from there.
Feb 8th, 2019 | 02:18 AM
#12
Joined: Mar 2014
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Jun 16th, 2019 | 01:41 AM
#13
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Propose to visit you Kemer next time
I was in Turkey on 2009 and I have visited Kemer.
I have very great memories!
it’s awesome! Nice city with its own history, beach, food! So next time you want to visit Turkey, please think about Kemer)
I have very great memories!
it’s awesome! Nice city with its own history, beach, food! So next time you want to visit Turkey, please think about Kemer)
