Hello all, Me and my wife are 28 year olds from India and are planning a trip to Turkey from 27th September to 6th October. We arrive and leave from Istanbul on the above dates but wanted to see a few more places other than Istanbul on our trip. Here's what we were thinking: Sept 27th, Friday: Reach Ataturk airport at 1 p.m. Take a flight to Izmir directly from airport. Go to hotel at Selcuk and overnight. Sept 28th, Sat : Day on our own to explore Selcuk and Sirince. Sept 29th, Sun: Ephesus and onto Bodrum. See some other sights on the way if possible. Is Pamukkale possible to do on the same day? Check into hotel at Bodrum Sept 30th, Mon: Day at leisure. Oct 1st, Tue: Checkout and flight/Train/Bus to Kayseri. Check in to hotel at Goreme. Oct 2nd, Wed: Hot air balloon ride early morning. Rest of the day tours. Oct 3rd, Thu: Checkout and fly back to Istanbul. Checkin to hotel at Istanbul. Oct 4th, Fri: Istanbul Oct 5th, Sat: Istanbul Oct 6th, Sun: Checkout and fly back. Please note that we can start at Kayseri/Cappadocia and fly back to Istanbul from Izmir if that works out better too. Need your suggestions on the above itinerary and some questions below: - Should we skip Bodrum altogether and stay in Seluck all the while and do a day trip to Kusadasi instead? We heard Kusadasi is better and less commercialized than Bodrum? - Is there any overnight train/bus from Seluck/Kusadasi to get to Goreme relatively cheaply but comfortably? - How is the weather going to be around that time (Late Sept- Early oct)? - Is it safe to travel in Turkey given the protests etc? - Also any mid to low range hotel suggestions at the above places? Thanks a lot in advance! Cheers,
Biraja
Posted by
Honolulu/Seattle, HI/WA, USA
2787 posts
First, I would recommend you get two guide books if you do not have them already: RS Istanbul Guide Book & Lonely Planet Turkey Guide Book. Both can be ordered elsewhere on this web site. Second, you might want to go to the Tours heading and check out "RS Turkey in 13 days Tour" to see where that tour took us when we went there 2 years ago. Happy travels
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
For lots of Turkey information, look at http://turkeytravelplanner.com/. For a hotel in Selcuk, I recommend the Hotel Canberra http://www.hotelcanberra.net/newsite/. The rooftop restaurant was great for breakfast (included) and dinner (extra cost and worth it), and the staff was extremely helpful (loaner books about Ephesus, arranging taxis, free ride back to the train station, etc). To find flights within Turkey, use http://bulucak.com/Default.aspx. Then English option is disabled, so you need to use a translator for the months. You then book directly with the airline. If you have a choice of airlines, note that Atlas Jet (and possibly others, but not Turkish Air) have free shuttle service from Izmir Airport to Selcuk. We did this in one direction and it was very easy and pleasant. Going back, we took the train from Selcuk to Izmir Airport, and it was PACKED and not fun.