The Turquoise coasts of Turkey

I can only help with one of your questions - hotels. For Selcuk, we stayed in the Hotel Canberra, and would gladly do so again. It was a bit basic and the room was on the small side, but the warmth of the welcome, the lovely rooftop restaurant, and the extra services more than made up for it. They had Ephesus guides to loan, they helped us arrange a cab to and from Ephesus, and they took us to the train station at the end of our stay at no extra charge. It's inexpensive, too, and breakfast and free WiFi are included. We could even have had them do our laundry if we had stayed longer (we had only one day in Selcuk; you're definitely doing the right thing by staying two days, as we found Selcuk to have a very nice and relaxing vibe). The hotel is located just across the street from the museum. http://www.hotelcanberra.net/newsite/ For Istanbul, we had two stays. Our first was 4 nights in the Hotel Sarnic, which I definitely do NOT recommend. The neighborhood was great (Sultanahmet), but the hotel messed up our reservation, it was not well-cleaned, and the staff was more interested in selling packages than in helping guests. Our first room, in addition to not having the two beds we needed (I was with my mother), was roasting hot, and the second room was right next to the noisy garden and building air conditioners. The breakfast was good, but I'm sure you can do better in this area. Our second stay was 4 nights at the Peradays, which was wonderful. We didn't like the neighborhood as much (just off Istiklal Caddesi, near Taksim Square), but we loved the warm and personalized welcome and attention (only 9 rooms, with elevator, in a converted house). http://www.peradays.com/

Do you have RS Istanbul Guide Book yet? If so, great. If not, I would suggest you get one as soon as possible (you can order it elsewhere on this web site) as it sure helped us in planning for our stay in Turkey. While RS's book primarily covers Istanbul, we also got a Llonely Planet Turkey Guide Book and between the two we were covered. We stayed at the Hotel Sultan Hill in Istanbul that we found in RS book and that has been recommended by numerous folks on this web site. His book mentioned that if we told them we found them in his book we would get a discount. We did and when we checked in they asked to see our book which we had in hand and they gave us a reasonable discount. We liked the room, the staff and the breakfast. Also, a nice view from the rooftop deck and convenient to almost everything. I would stay there in a minute. On the back page (I think - I moved the book along) is an article about some travel agency that co-authored his Istanbul book. They provided our group with a guide for our 14-days Turkey tour. You might want to check them out.. Cheaper yet is to just follow the walking tours in Istanbul that are shown in RS book.

# 3. We used Ekol Travel last year for 3 private shore excursions, in Istanbul, in Kusadasi ( for Ephesus) and in Dikili ( for Pergamun). We had a professor ( or prof-type), one of the best ever, guides in Istanbul & I would recommend their service particularly in Istanbul. They work with other agencies also for day trips. Good reviews on Trip Advisor, & we tipped the guides well.
The drivers and cars were also safe. Someone warned us about fatalities when driving in Turkey, though it did not look as difficult as driving in Italy.

Last year we rented a car for 3 days in Cappadocia and felt we had more freedom and time to see the sites. We stayed in Goreme at Anatolya Cave Pension which we can recommend. You can check their reviews at booking.com if you're interested. Our hotel gave us a small tourist map which we used to get to the sites, although we also had a map of Turkey.

Here are my thoughts on your questions. #1. Yes get a car. There are lots of really interesting minor sites scattered thoughout Cappadocia. Plus, a car will let you enjoy the scenery itself. I can give you some suggested things to see if you'd like. #2. Itinerary looks good to me - you're allowing enough time for what I consider the top three areas for a first visit to Turkey (Istanbul, Cappadocia and Selcuk). I've stayed at the Blue House and Empress Zoe in Istanbul and Hotel Akay in Selcuk and would recommend them. Goreme is a good spot to stay in Cappadocia, but I don't have hotel recommendation. #3. I can't help much with this one. If you like to self tour, you can hire guides at most of the major sites (e.g. Ephesus, underground cities). Many of the bigger sites will also have English language guidebooks for sale. #4. It depends if you like to be around historical sites or at the beach. I've never stayed overnight in either, but would probably stay in Oludeniz and visit Fethiye. #5. Probably Kas, but I've never stayed overnight in either. #6 and #7 - No suggestions. Have fun.

Thank you everyone for the comments. Rob I would like your suggestions on what you consider the best things to see in Cappadocia.

Hi Kay, Here are some ideas for Cappadocia - Part 1. In general try to see at least one of each of the following - underground cities, churches, caravansaries, and fairy chimneys. The open air museum in Goreme is the must-see site in Cappadocia. There are two other churches nearby that are worth a look, the buckle church right outside and church of the evil eye just down the road. The second best place to see churches in the Ilhara Valley. It's a great day hike through the woods with a nice scattering of churches built into the cliff walls. Gulzelyut is a nice village with some interesting sites near Ilhara. There are lots of other stand-alone churches I really like in Cappadocia. My favorite two are the Church of St. John in Gulsehir and the Eski Gumusler monastery near Nigde. Both are outstanding and thinly visited. Uchisar castle is worth a visit for the views from the top. Zelve village (abandoned village) is a nice attraction, but don't make it a must-see priority. The rock carved monastaries and church-complexes provide a somewhat similar experience with the addition of artwork on the walls and ceilings. Be sure to see an underground city. I like Derikyu and Kamakli. Pick whichever one works best for your itinerary. If you have not visited one before, I found that this is one case where hiring a guide is worth it to point out some of easy to miss details of the rooms. There will be guides selling their services near the entrances. Negotiate on price and expect the length of the tour to adjust accordingly. If you're in good enough shape and want a quick experience there is a nice underground village near Guzelyurt. You'll have to be able to use hand/footholds carved into the rock to climb up one of the tunnels between the floors.

Ideas for Cappadocia Part 2 Sarihan near Avanos is a nice caravansary. It's the easiest to visit and has been fully reconstructed. It's a nice setting for an afternoon tea break. They also have Dervish shows there some evenings. Avanos is a nice village nearby to stop in for a meal and to shop for pottery. In my experience many of the other caravansaries are often closed. If you want to see more, those near Aksaray are close enough to the main road to Nevsehir to pull off and quickly check out even if they are closed. Some of the best fairy chimneys are near Uchisar, Goreme, and the Deverent Valley (Zelve). There are plenty of pull-offs along the road near these. That's all I can think of for now. Others might have additonal ideas. Have fun.