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4 weeks Turkey itinerary in June/July

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I am finalizing my 4 weeks travel plans to Turkey. This is our longest trip ever as I wanted to go slow and more leisure time. However, I need advice as to whether I should skip certain destinations.
Also, my wife and I are vaccinated, but our 13 year old daughter is not. Should we get Covid-19 travel insurance and what company is recommendable?

In terms of our trip, I loved museums, archeological sites and palaces. However, my wife and daughter want fewer museums and more of the cosmopolitan experiences (e.g., cafes, shopping, food and cultural experiences). My itinerary is as follows:

  1. Fly from USA to Ankara
  2. Ankara
  3. Ankara
  4. Hattusa – Cappadocia (Sleep in Cappadocia) Should I skip Hattusa and spend the time in Cappadocia?
  5. Cappadocia (Hot Air Balloon)
  6. Cappadocia (Sleep in Cappadocia)
  7. Konya (Sleep in Konya) Should I skip Konya and sleep in Alanya instead?
  8. Alanya
  9. Alanya (Sleep in Alanya)
  10. Side – Antalya Old Town (Sleep in Antalya) Should I skip Side (or replace for Aspendos) or go straight to Antalya?
  11. Demre (Sleep in Kaş) Should I spend ½ day in Konyaaltı or Olympus Beach? or any other recommendation?
  12. Kekova Island Boat Tour (Sleep in Kaş)
  13. Kaputaş Beach – Kalkan (Sleep in Ölüdeniz)
  14. Ölüdeniz and Butterfly Beaches (Sleep in Pamukkale)
  15. Pamukkale – Sirince Village (Sleep in Selçuk)
  16. Ephesus and House of Virgin Mary (Sleep in Selçuk)
  17. Pergamon (Sleep in Çanakkale)
  18. Troy - Gallipoli Battlefields (Sleep in Çanakkale)
  19. Bursa
  20. Bursa (Sleep in Bursa)
  21. Istanbul
  22. Istanbul
  23. Istanbul
  24. Istanbul
  25. Istanbul
  26. Istanbul
  27. Fly back to USA via Istanbul I will appreciate any advice. Thanks!
Posted by
2948 posts

Hi Gregory, it’s always a good idea to get travel insurance in case you need to be air lifted due to a car accident, etc. If you don’t have it you may live to regret since medical bills can exceed $100,000 easily. Furthermore, it doesn’t cost that much to purchase.
To make sure that there’s coverage for COVID-19, read the plan types. As far as what company to use, I don’t have a preference.
You have put together an impressive itinerary. Following are my comments on the little bit that I know about Turkey…
4. Skip Hattusa since you’re dragging along your wife and daughter who probably won’t be as into it as you. Furthermore, it looks like a lot of walking in the sun that will make it even less fun.
7. Sleep in Alanya instead. It’s nice to be able to unpack your bags and settle in without always being on the move. Especially when there’s three of you.
10. Both Side and Aspendos are on the way to Antalya so why not. Side’s ruins offer a beach side setting making it unique and will be cooler temperature wise. The Aspendos theater sits below ground level which is also unusual.
11. I vote for Olympus Beach over Kanyaalti because the mountains are closer making it a more dramatic setting.

Posted by
6113 posts

I never travel without insurance. My policy considers hot air ballooning to be a dangerous sport/activity and I therefore wouldn’t be covered if anything happened, so check your policy.

Posted by
233 posts

Hi Gregory
We had a month long trip to Turkey many years ago now (2010). You will enjoy it immensely. In planning our trip we used Lonely Planet, Fodors, and the Rough Guide to Istanbul. In addition to the hardcopy references I found this site very valuable:
https://turkeytravelplanner.com
We visited many of the sites on your list and some we wanted to such as Ankara, Konya and Bursa but we ran out of days.
We rented a car where feasible and flew otherwise.

I'll have to consult our notes to provide specific comments. We were interested in Roman and early Christian sites more so than the Turkic and Islamic sites but did see many of them.

I'll try and get back with more details in a following post.

Steve

Posted by
13 posts

Thank you MaryPat! I am updating my itinerary based on your advise, by skipping Hattusa and Gallipoli, and stopping in Olympos Beach. I was kind of struggling with this options and needed the advise of fellow travelers that have done this route.

Posted by
13 posts

Jennifer thanks for the tip about the insurance. MaryPat, Steve and Ufkak thanks for the reassurance that this may become a fantastic trip for us.

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