9 Days in Turkey

With 9 days, I'd spend 4-5 days in Istanbul and 3-4 days in Cappadocia (sleep in Goreme with day trips to sites in the area.) To save time, fly between Istanbul and one of the airports in Cappadocia.

Agree with Sharon. To do justice to each place you really don't have time for more than two areas. We spent 7 days in Istanbul and 5 in Cappadocia. The scenery there is great! We flew from Istanbul to Kayseri in Cappadocia. Our hotel was in Goreme and we found a shuttle service that took us from the airport from our hotel.

Thanks Sharon & Carol. So you suggest Istanbul and Cappadocia? How about Istanbul and Antalya/Marmaris? Jes did some reading and they seemed nice beach cities. Have you or anyone been to these places? Or forget about them and just do Istanbul and Cappadocia instead of Istanbul Antalya/Marmaris? sorry for coming back with questions once again. I am just so confused right now. Thanks for your suggestions earlier.

Hi seems!
I didn't go to Marmaris and just saw Antalya from the bus station. I think that you couldn't go wrong with just Istanbul (we spent 7 nights) and Cappadocia (we were there 4 nights.) We went to Cirali on the coast but it was more difficult to get to. If you want to find a good beach location you could re-post your question to get other opinions. Goreme in Cappadocia is very relaxed with lots to see and great hiking in the area if you like that kind of activity! I used this site (http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/) when we were trying to decide where to go in Turkey. Best wishes!

Marmaris or Antalya beaches are a very different type of scenery and experience from Cappadocia. You would have to decide if you want beaches with some historical and archaeological sights nearby or if you want the scenery and walking of Cappadocia with historical and archaeological sights and with possibly a hot air balloon ride. If you go to Goreme, renting a car to drive to the various sights will give you more flexibility. Antalya town has a small beach. Cirali has a great beach in addition to the ruins of Olympos and the Chimera, which is fire coming from several spots in a hillside and great to visit at dusk. Turkey has so much to offer that you will have to decide for yourself which of the two options you're considering would be best.

Cappadocia deserves at the minimum 3 full days. 1 day will be for travel that leaves 5 days for Istanbul which is what you need to do justice to Istanbul. Flights between kayseri and Istanbul or Nevsehir and Istanbul are cheap and frequent ! I will highly recommend Goreme suites ! It felt like we were coming home every day !

Thanks Sarah. So with that you are saying Istanbul and Cappadocia and not Antalya and Marmaris?

I'm jumping in a bit late, but I agree with the suggestion to focus on Istanbul and Cappadocia first. Four days will let you see the top sites in Istanbul. Three will let you see the best of Cappadocia. That does allow two days to go somewhere else. You could fly to Antalya for a quick visit. I do have two other ideas. From Istanbul it's a short flight to Izmir which gives you access to the western coast and all of the beaches and sites to either the north or south. If you have a car and want to explore, south over the mountains from Cappadocia and west of Adana there are a number of nice beaches and sites between Mersin and Alanya. Have fun!

Thanks Rob. No you are not late at all. Also thanks for your input, it sounds interesting, I will look up the places you mentioned on the net and letz see how it goes.

SO depends what kind of travaller are you. You can do Istanbul in 4 days and cappadocia in 2 if you want to squeeze in Izmir. There is not much to see in Izmir its a small town, but you can take a 1 hour train to EPhesus and it is a treasure and the next day schedule a tour of Bergama which was also pretty amazing. It works out best if you have an open jaw flight So this is what your itinerary will look like. July 31st Day 1 Istanbul Aug 1 Day 2 Istanbul Aug 2 Day 3 Istanbul Aug 3 Day 4 Fly to Izmir Early in AM and take a train to Ephesus Aug 4 Day 5 Izmir ( tour to Bergama best done with a guide ) Aug 5 Day 5 Fly to Cappadocia Aug 6 Day 6 Capadoccia Aug 7 day 7 Fly to Istanbul late in the day Aug 8 Day 8 Istanbul
Aug 9 Day 9 Fly back to Dubai So if you go with above you will be doing a lot of running along will see a little of everything but may not get time to immerse yourself in a city relax and take in the culture. I would still stick with just Istanbula nd Cappadocia.