I'm visiting Turkey for 13 days with hubby and 2 elementary aged kids. We are thinking 5 days in Istanbul and then...?? Cappadocia looks amazing, but how do you get from point A to point B? I thought we'd take the train but that doesn't look like a possibility.
Would love ALL tips!
Thanks,
Natalie
We did it in a rented car.
I found the Turkey Travel Planner website invaluable: http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/. Here's his specific page on getting from Istanbul to Cappadocia: http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/CentralAnatolia/Cappadocia/trans/ist_cappa.html
For getting from Istanbul to Cappadocia, your options are bus, car, or flight. Two airports serve the region; Kayseri has many more flights, but Nevşehir is closer.
Train only goes to Ankara from Istanbul.
Cheapest option is bus. It takes 10 hours bus ride.
It was 60 liras last month. If you take the bus, use Kamil Koc or Metro Turizm
For flights, use Kayseri Airport. There are more daily flights to Kayseri and usually is cheaper.
Cappadocia is amazing and I would give it at least 2 days, maybe 3 if you take a balloon ride which I would recommend since you are there. There are tours of the underground that you can do too and I think your guys would be blown away by the balloon ride and the underground.
I would rent a car to do your touring; we did a tour last year, and, outside of Istanbul, driving appeared to be less stressful than I experienced in either France or Italy, and you can set your own schedule. The key is where to rent one which I can't be of help.
One another issue, I think that 5 days in Istanbul will result is rolled eyes and nasty looks from your travel partners, and 4 days would be right-this past April, we spent 3 full days in Istanbul and could have used another. WE stayed in the Doubletree Old town for €85 which was 500m from the bazaar and basically close to everything with a terrific staff. I would also suggest you look into the DK books "Istanbul top 10" and "Turkey top 10" as a supplement to the Rick Steves guides for help.
Finally, if you have more than one guy traveling with you, go to the Gallipoli monument, it's very special.
The quickest least painful way is to fly.Flights can be found at pretty reasonable prices if booked in good time.Flights into Kayseri are most frequent and cheapest.The transfer time is only 20-25 minutes longer than from Nevşehir,the other airport serving the region.Also please note that flights leave from both of Istanbul's airports.THY,Anadolujet ,Onurair and Pegasus all cover the routes.Check their web sites and book online directly with them if you elect to fly.
The train currently leaves from the eastern Istanbul suburb of Pendik and frankly you can fly to Cappadocia quicker than you can get from Istanbul city centre to Pendik!
There again as you have a little time and as you are a family hiring a car could be good for you as you could break the journey somewhere along the way if you wanted to.Plus you'd have the use of it around Cappadocia.Car hire here is averagely priced but gas is very expensive.(I don't know how rigid your budget is but that is something to think about).
Where are you considering go to after Cappadocia?This could help solve the transport question.
I did the long bus ride as an overnight. Therefore, I recommend flying, instead.
Thank you everyone for these great comments!
