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Anyone planned a trip to Turkey? I need itinerary ideas...
in Travel
Instead of buying a guided tour package, my husband and I are trying to plan our own trip. We've never been to Turkey. We are wondering if it's easy to get around from city to city. We only plan on visiting the western region. We have allotted 14 days, but I'm starting to think that it's too much time to spend there.
Re: Anyone planned a trip to Turkey? I need itinerary ideas...
It's pretty easy to travel within Turkey. Domestic flights are pretty frequent and car rentals are a good option if you want to get out of the cities.
Why would 14 days be too much? There is SO much to see and do many regional differences. What do you mean specifically by "the western region," just the Agean coast?
How do you book flights from one Turkish city to another? Is there a website where I can book the trips in advance? Or is it better to buy tickets once we're in Turkey?
Oh, by western region, I mean western and central, sorry. Basically, the traditional tourist areas.
We took our honeymoon there in 2007 and spent about 13 days--it was too short! Here's our itinerary:
Day 1-3: Istanbul (Must sees and dos: Hagia Sofia, Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Grand Bazaar and spice mkt, day cruise up the Bosphorus)
Day 4: Fly to Selcuk in the AM. Take local bus to nearby Sirince village for wine tasting and best dinner of our trip at Restaurant Artemis.
Day 5: Explore Ephesus on our own.
Day 6: Bus to Fethiye in the morning. Walked around the city in the afternoon and evening. Must sees include the cliff-side carved coffins. Took our first and only Turkish bath (wish we had time for more).
Day 7-10: Blue cruise from Fethiye to Olympia (this is a must do?highlight of our trip).
Day 10: Overnight bus to Cappadocia.
Day 11-12: Cappadocia (open air museum, underground city, hiking in the Rose Valley)
Day 13: Morning flight back to Istanbul.
We booked the flight from Istanbul to Selcuk in advance (via Turkish Airline?s website). Everything else we booked through a tour agent in Istanbul, but you can certainly book them online prior to departure as well. If you don?t want to rent a car, buses and flights are very easy ways to get around. We had a great time and ate really well. Enjoy your trip!
Here's a link to my Turkey trip summary:
http://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/14564391.aspx
We were there for 9 days with the following itinerary:
Fly into Istanbul, arriving in the evening
3 Days / 3 Nights in Istanbul
Overnight Train to Ankara
1 Day in Ankara
Bus to G?reme (Cappadocia)
3 Days / 4 Nights in Cappadocia
Fly back to Istanbul
1 Day / 1 Night in Istanbul
Fly home
Since you have 14 days, I would definitely add a few days in Ephesus, and something around Bodrum. Maybe you could work in a short Blue Cruise, since some companies offer shorter 4-day options.
I would skip Ankara, because while I found it interesting having read some Turkish history, it's not really worth the long bus ride to Cappadocia. There's so much to see/do that it's worth saving time by flying.
Booking flights is relatively easy. I just booked ours through the Turkish Airlines website. I may have searched for them via Kayak, but I don't recall. Flying to Cappadocia, I would definitely recommend flying into Kayseri instead of Nevsehir. Nevsehir is closer to the main tourist centers like G?reme, but the airport is on the far side of town, so it takes almost as long, and it's not as well connected by mini-buses and shuttles. Aside from having more flight options, Kayseri would actually have been easier to get to.
I am in a rush, but real quick this was our itinerary . . .
3 nights in Istanbul
overnight bus to Goreme
3 nights Goreme
overnight bus to Selcuk
2 nights Selcuk/Ephesus
flight to Athens through Istanbul
After time in Greece, we came back to Istanbul and spent 2 more nights there before flying home.
The overnight buses were awful. I have taken them in other countries and they have been fine. I hated them in Turkey and wouldn't recommend them ever.
Check out Fez Travel (www.feztravel.com) for ideas on what to do. A friend and I used them and they were convenient for travel between places and booking stuff at each location, but you can still chose your hotel at each location. It's less hassle than booking from scratch, but the downside is that you're stuck with the Aussie backpacker type on the bus rides.
In any event, it will give you a good idea of the major things to see.
For me, itinerary would depend somewhat on the time of year as well. I'd love to hike some of the Lycian way but I'd want to do it in the spring or fall. And of course the beaches are lovely in the summer (if crowded).
In general though, I don't think you'd go wrong with 4-5 days in Istanbul, 4 days in Cappadocia and 3-4 days in Izmir/Ephesus. In the summer I'd add a night or two at the beach when in Ephesus. In a cooler time I'd like to visit Gaziantep, I haven't been, but I've heard good things.
And yes, it is very easy to book domestic flights on Turkish through their web site. I second the recommendation to fly into Kayseri rather than Nevsehir if you go to Cappadocia. Renting a car there is really simple as well and lets you see more of Cappadocia than one or two towns. My favorite part of Cappadocia was the Soganli Valley which was absolutely deserted, gorgeous and probably difficult to reach without a vehicle of your own.