Been on this site before but didn't quite get our questions answered... We're leaving for Turkey mid May and have figured out part of our itinerary but don't know what to do with the first 4 days... Itinerary 1 fly from istanbul airport to Izmir Monday May 9....(already bought the flight ticks) then what?... we definitely want to see Ephesus rent a car and drive down the coast.. We hear Bodrum is a little sleazy and not that great...feedback? what about some of the other coastal towns? we want to fly back to Istanbul on Saturday morning and are staying in Beyoglu until Thursday the 19.... Things we are thinking about doing.. a day possibly overnight on a gullet....
drive along the coast, but how far?
Posted by
Dunwoody, Georgia
338 posts
Let your interests guide where you spend your time. If you like archaeological sites, you could spend one day north of Izmir in Bergama visiting the ruins of Pergamum, the Asclepion, the Bergama museum and the red basilica. You could spend 2 days south of Izmir in Selcuk visiting Ephesus, the ruins of the Temple of Artimis, the Basilica of St. John, the Ephesus museum, Sirince Village, grotto of the Seven Sleepers, etc. You could spend one day further south visiting other ruined Roman cities (Priene, Miletus, Didyma). If you have other interests you could spend a couple of days in Selcuk then catch a ferry to the Greek Island of Samos and visit that island for a couple of days. I have not visited many of the beaches, so I can't speak to that. I know that they are all pretty nice along the southwest coast. If you are flying out from Izmir and planning to go to Bodrum you will spend at least one of those 4 days driving down and back, so I would set that as your maximum distance. Just some thoughts. Good luck.
Posted by
Cary, NC
687 posts
Bodrum's not that bad, at least that early in the season. I stayed here - http://www.suhotelbodrum.com/home - nice and quiet. The castle's quite good, and I had a good Turkish bath - all locals. You could take a day trip to Kos on the ferry.