One month in Turkey - suggestions for itinerary with a car

Three of us did a driving tour of Turkey (well, part of it, anyway) a number of years ago. We used the Lonely Planet guide book. I hope you will arrange your car rental before you arrive in Turkey, by the way. We were advised to take good road maps with us, which we did, but perhaps now good maps are available in Istanbul.

We found hotels to be inexpensive, even in Istanbul, as long as American style hotels are not your standard. We never booked ahead except for Istanbul. We just looked for and found interesting little inns. One was down a steep and rocky road, right by the sea. In the morning, as we left we discovered the rocky road had given us a flat tire. Not to worry, 4 burly men looked the situation over, took off the tire, repaired it and put it back on again. They could not be persuaded to accept payment.

I hope you have a trip as full of wonders and fun as we did.

Thanx to Montreal. (incidentally, my husband is from Hudson, a little town outside of Montreal) Nice to know about inexpensive, and yes American style hotels are NOT my style. I am past the years of windowless cinderblock rooms and fleas; I want clean and hopefully a little cute, bute nothing fancy. I'll look for maps today at Rick Steves store otherwise on line.

We haven't yet been but hope to this year or next. I found the folowing link helpful:

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/

In addition to Rick Steve's book we always travel with a Rough Guide as they are more detailed and extensive.
Have a wonderful trip.

Carole, check out the website for the Empress Zoe hotel in Istanbul. We found it quite exotic and the middle eastern breakfasts were wonderful. It is in the Sultanhamet area and within walking distance of Topkapi, the Blue Mosque, etc. Cheap when we were there but who know what the years have wrought.

Hi Carole,
We're in Istanbul right now heading to Selcuk, the southern coast of Turkey and Cappodoccia in the next couple of weeks. I can give you more info once we complete our trip but I wanted you to know how wonderful Istanbul is--you might even want to spend more than 5 days here as there is much to see! We're enjoying our stay at Sultan Hill Hotel (in Rick's Istanbul book.) With his book which gives a 15 percent discount it's about 63 Euro per night including taxes and breakfast. It's in a great location near the Blue Mosque. The room is very clean and the breakfast is very nice.

I used this site, Lonely Planet Turkey guidebook, Rick Steves Istanbul book and the Trip Advisor forum to plan our trip.

I'll be able to provide more info as we continue our travels in Turkey!

Thanx Sharon, Norma, Jer and all of you who make suggestions. I just updated this post as I realized I had said i was 81 years old instead of 61!! That must have thrown a few for a loop when I was talking about river rafting. But, hopefully at 81 I will still be up for a float trip!

We'll be traveling to turkey for about a month in March and are wondering if anyone has experience traveling there during that season by train or bus. I've heard driving there is difficult. We may rent an apartment for a bit in Istanbul and also are considering a house on the coast for a week. We've been thinking of this for years and would love to hear others' experiences.

We had a fabulous month in Turkey last year. I have no experience with buses, but we did rent a car for our three and 1/2 weeks out of Istanbul. To get out of Istanbul, take the ferry! Then you aren't in gridlock going over the bridge or having to drive in that crazy city too much. The docks are very close to Sultanahmet. We found driving not a problem at all, except for the price of gas. The freedom it gave us was worth every penny, I thought. We went to the East, instead of the usual tourist destinations and were entranced. Though Cappadocia is a must see, I actually cried when I got there because of all of the other tourists. It was the first we had seen since leaving Istanbul. The Mediterranean and the Aegean were lovely (though overpriced), but it was the East that captured our hearts. The drive along the Black Sea, the yaylalar communities, the Sumeal monastery, Kars, Artvin, the Ani ruins, Diyabakur and the heads at Nemrut Dagi near Karadut (not to be confused with the other Nemrut Dagi near Lake Van). May be rainy in March, not sure. We were there in September and October.

Hi We will be visiting Turkey and Instanbul in September. Everyone recommends the Hotel Sultan Hill Hotel. Does it have an elevator as my husband is 75 with a recent hip operation, even though he is now quite fit, lots and lots of steep stairs to the room is not for him. He can walk long distances every day exploring but if he has to climb a lot of steep stairs it causes him pain. Specially at the end of the day/evening when he is tired from sightseeing. Any other suggestions of very comfortable clean hotels with a bit of character that would suit in Instanbul would be much appreciated
Janderra

Sorry Kay, both hotels we sayed at in Istanbul (Sultanahmet) were with vry steep stairs though I think the Hanedan had an elevator, but I can't remember if the elevator went to the top breakfast floor. You would have to ask. They were very helpful. We liked this small cheap hotel right in the heart of things.