Renting a car in Turkey

GabbyKnows

Has anyone rented a car for travel in Turkey?  It seems like a lot of interesting towns are only navigable by car.  My only concern is that gas in Turkey is ridiculously expensive.

 

mxolisi

We rented a car in Kayseri and drove to Cappadocia. We had it for four days, but didn't drive every day. I think we only had to fill up once--it was a tiny Renault that got great gas mileage. That included round trip from Kayseri to Goreme and a full day of driving on another day. 

I highly recommend it for Cappadocia. We spent a day exploring some towns off the tourist track and had the entire Soganli Valley to ourselves for an afternoon. We were there in the offseason and I still found the sites in Goreme and Uchisar to be thronged with tour groups. It was great to be able to get away from the bus loads of elderly Germans! 

GabbyKnows

Thanks.  I think we'll follow your lead and rent a car for the Cappadocia area.  Did you take a hot air balloon ride there?  Is it worth hundreds of dollars?

Also, how many days do you think we should spend in Istanbul?  We are taking a full 2 week vacation just to explore Turkey.

mxolisi

We didn't take a balloon ride. I'm sure it would have been fun, but the prices were so expensive. We were also there in mid-late November so it was FREEZING in the mornings (like 10-15 degrees F) so the prospect of getting up at like 4 am and going up in a non-enclosed aircraft wasn't terribly appealing! 

We did a lot of hiking that afforded us some pretty spectacular views so I don't feel like we really missed out.

For rental cars you can book in advance online. If you fly into Kayseri the cheapest rental outfits aren't actually inside the airport they are about 1km down the road in town. They will pick you up at the airport and transfer you to their offices for no charge. We rented through Eurocar and got a great deal. 

I think 4-5 days in Istanbul is a good amount of time, especially if you're a city person or into history. I also highly recommend taking an Istanbul Eats tour if you're foodies. We took a tour that lasted from 9 am to 3 pm and it was one of the best parts of our trip, and worth every penny of the $125/person we paid. It was just us, the guide and a couple from Singapore. 

GilliC

I did the balloon ride in Cappadocia, and I thought it was worth it. Especially if you've never done a balloon ride, since it wasn't really what I was expecting (I was expecting it to be peaceful, but it's so noisy)! The conditions there are supposed to be among the best in the world for ballooning, and they can do some incredible maneuvering, flying just up over the rocks and trees. Also, the landscape looks a lot different from the air, and the geology buff in me liked being able to see the bigger picture and how the cool formations only show up in the channels of the landscape that eroded away.

Plus, there are some wonderful photo ops of the sunrise and the other balloons, since everyone flies at about the same time. But it's definitely chilly! I was there in mid-April, and it was still quite cold. Worth it, but definitely have something warm to wear (and preferably layered, since it can be toasty if you're in the center of the basket near the burner). There are lots of companies, so I would wait until you get there to book it. Your hotel may have a deal with a local company to offer a slight discount (not much) and you can decide if the weather is warm/clear enough.

And I agree with mx that 4-5 days in Istanbul is a good amount, especially if you enjoy history and architecture.