We are planning on spending a little over three weeks in western Turkey late September into October this year. We are forgoing Cappadocia and focusing on the Aegean Coast. We tend to move leisurely, spend three nights in most areas and base ourselves in towns to explore the surrounding area. We are primarily intersted in ruins and scenery, and are not interested in extended beach time.
The current draft of our itinerary is:
Istanbul 5 nights.
Fly to Izmir, pickup car drive to Akyaka, stay Akyaka 3 nights.
Pamukalle 2 nights.
Fethiye area 3 nights.
Ephesus/Selcuk area 3 nights.
Ayvalik/Bergama area 3 nights.
Drive to Izmir, return car, fly to istanbul, stay Istanbul 3 nights.

We welcome any suggestion/comments. Thanks ever so much for your assistance.

Anyone?

I only visited some of these places, and at a much more rapid pace, so I'm not sure that I can provide meaningful comments. Nonetheless, you might find some helpful information in my trip report - just click on my name to find it. I'm sure you'll see some awesome things!

Depending on what time you arrive at Izmir airport, I think I would start off with the Bergama area, then drive down to Pamukkale (maybe via Sardis), then down to Fethiye and return up to Selcuk. Think about Kapıkırı on Lake Bafa as an alternative to Akyaka.

@kja - thanks, GT & I have read your great TR.

@Croesus - thanks, we want to try and arrive at Izmir airport by 1 pm. we'll remap and see how that works.

Other suggestions?

It's a little over 2 hours drive from Izmir airport to Bergama, so that shouldn't be a problem. Make sure you get a toll card for the motorway.

Lake Bafa is a good base for visiting the ancient sites of Euromos, Labranda, Alabanda, Alinda, Iasos, Didyma, Miletus. Plus Kapıkırı village has the ruins of Heracleia within it.

Worth stopping off at Lagina and Stratonikeia on the road from Fethiye to Lake Bafa. Also Aphrodisias (and maybe Kibyra) on the road from Pamukkale to Fethiye.

I hope you don't get ruined out, they are all interesting sites. Plus down at Fethiye there are some good Lycian ones around.

For more information about ancients sites have a look at this website, it has accurate map placings of all those sites:
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=16425

Croesus has very good advice for you.

Otherwise, I have responded on TA.

Thank you all so much!
Does the car rental place give us the toll card?

I am a little worried about getting "ruined out" but we hope to also enjoy the beautiful area and take some nice drives.

I'll check TA

Thanks, all!

We reworked the trip as follows to avoid backtracking. We also like to keep days driving to 4 hours or less where possible.
Fly IST to Izmir.
Drive to Bergama area (3 nights)
Drive to Pamukkale (2 nights)
Drive to Fethiye area (3 nights)
Drive to Akyaka and/or Lake Bafa (3 nights)
Drive to Selçuk (3 nights)

Kas was suggested instead of Akyaka but we picked Akyaka so that we could do some nice day drives esp to the Datça Peninsula.

We could check out Kas from the Feyithe area.

Here's the link to some of our photographs from trips 2and 3 years ago :

http://esercelebiler.blogspot.com/

These are my trip reports to some of the areas I recommended :

fodors.com/community/…

and

I am afraid I do not find the drive up around Edremit bay tiresome at all as Robert writes but I can see it appearing as such at the last stages of a long drive. We are Assos lovers, visiting the area once a year for the last ten years or so, also attending philosophy conferences.( www.philosophyinassos.org )

fodors.com/community/…

Datca peninsula is lovely, but Akyaka is not a good base to visit it. because of the distance. Staying at Bordubet, Bozburun, Datca town, Palamut Buku, Hayit Buku, Orhaniye, Kiz Kum, Selimiye will be better for the peninsula and if you are "ruined out" and wish to do some serious hiking, photography and beaching.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...the-bees.cfm?8

we shall re-post our Datca photos from multiple visits within the coming week.

Thank you so much for all the info -- your photos are great!

Will research all the towns you suggest to stay.

I see your rationale now. The Datça peninsula is good, I once stayed 3 very pleasant nights at Mesudiye/Ovabükü. And of course a nice drive down to Knidos.

As OC says, better to stay on the peninsular than Akyaka, I reckon.

So many great places, even with 3 weeks you're going to be pushed!

I must say it's quite difficult, when one's been to all these places over a period of years/decades, to pinpoint the must-dos into a comparatively short space of time.

Yes, already it seems like we don't have enough time. We will stay on the peninsula and also in the Lake Bafa area. Thank you so much fo ryour tips.

sorry, some of the links did not work above for some reason. here they are again :

http://www.fodors.com/community/fodo...lykians.cfm?49

http://www.fodors.com/community/fodo...-travel.cfm?33


Croesus, I enjoy sharing the memories with you, although I never rode a motorcycle.

P.S. I think it's probably a bad side effect of the internet that one can now very easily seek out opinions/options, when before we just went to places (with a guide book maybe) and made it up as we went along.

My travel philosophy is still to go with the flow and very few preconceptions, and mostly not knowing where I'll be staying the next night - going where the road takes me and staying as long or as briefly as my mood takes me.

Here's also a short piece on Hayit Buku on Datca Peninsula :

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...tca-turkey.cfm

OC, 4WD is pretty good, 1WD better! (To paraphrase George Orwell).