Hi fellow travelers! I am planning a 5 week to Turkey in August-end September. I have read up a lot -of course from Rick Steves book! Here is my proposed itinerary:
-14 days in Istanbul, ( home exchange, so I won't change the number of days)
- bus from Istanbul to Canakkale - 3 days- visit Troy, Gallipoli
-bus to Selcuk -3 days-visit Pergamon- day or overnight trip to Pamukkale?
-bus to Fethiye-4 days and visit Ayasduk fortress, Temple of Artemis, aqueducts, Ephesus - Kusadasi,
-bus to Antalya and spend 5 days-beaches, Phaselis, Necropolis Museum, perhaps a day trip to Kas-boat cruise, ancient submerged city
-fly to Cappadocia and spend 6 days-visit underground city, balloon ride , hike, open air museum
-fly to Istanbul and stay by airport as I fly the next day
I am retired female, will probably be on my own, love walking tours, doing water activities-snorkeling, swimming, beaching, interesting buildings, some museums, history tours/walks, bikes, walking around, people watching, foodie, not a shopper or church goer.
Any feedback? I think I need to start booking my hotels quickly. Thanks for any opinions. Since I am probably on my own, I'm not keen on hiring a guide for one day, but would welcome suggestions for group tours in the above cities.
Posted by
Duluth, MN🌲
11857 posts
Hi, I think your itinerary looks good and is very doable.
I do have one question. I notice you're heading to Selcuk and then planning to visit Pergamon and possibly Pamukkale. Do you not intend to visit Ephesus? I would highly recommend a visit there if you are a history buff at all. It's simply amazing and just incredible to walk through and see everything. It's very close to Selcuk and you can get there via a short taxi ride. It would be a shame to miss.
EDIT: I just saw that you're going to Ephesus while you're in Fethiye. Ephesus is much closer to Selcuk than it is to Fethiye—only a 5-10 minute taxi ride, so I guess I'm a little confused as to why you're waiting to go there from Fethiye. That said, I am glad you're going to Fethiye. That was one of my favorite places, and it is so beautiful!
I was also an older female solo traveler when I went, so you will be fine on your own. I didn't take any group tours, so I can't help you with that, but there are others that might respond here with some advice on that.
I'm so glad you're taking buses. I really liked bus travel in Turkey. It's very different from bus travel anyplace else. They pamper you with reclining seats, TV screens, snacks and drinks and now they have wifi (I was there a while ago, before wifi was an option). But it's really a fun experience, and I met some wonderful people while traveling on the bus. I think you will enjoy it.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Hi Thanks for your quick reply! I had a wonderful one hour chat with my house exchange person in Istanbul about the itinerary. What an amazing wealth of knowledge! He also pointed out that Esphesus is best visited from Selcuk.
He made major changes to my itinerary, and will even help me with hotels- no benefit to himself! I found out that most responses from Facebook were from guides, who wanted to profit from private tours with me- at very high prices! Did you have any recommendations for day tours- not a private tour guide -in any of the places I mentioned? By the way, I highly recommend house exchanges- I did 13 days in Berlin- will do 2.5 weeks in Mexico- small casita with a pool, 2 weeks in Istanbul, and next year 2 weeks in Brittany , France in a private home close to the ocean and England- another coastal town for 2 weeks. Phew!
Posted by
Duluth, MN🌲
11857 posts
I didn’t do any day tours when I was there. I like doing things on my own. Plus it’s been quite a while since I’ve been there. So any information I could give you outside of location is going to be dated.
But there are other others here that have taken day tours, so you might want to start a new thread with that question and post it and you should get some responses.
I had a good friend who did a house exchange every year. She left for a month and swapped houses. But she lived in a prime vacation spot in the US, which helped. It probably wouldn’t work for me as I share a house with my daughter and son-in-law and most people who come to the US aren’t that interested in coming to Duluth Minnesota.
But who knows what the future will bring…