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March Itinerary - Focus on Izmir or work our way to Antalya? Tour guide recommendations?

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Wife of a history teacher here! We are planning our March trip and I am wondering about focusing in the areas around Izmir before heading to Cappadocia, or working our way down the coast and flying out of Antalya? Opinions welcome with the lens that we will be doing this trip with tweens and we would like to focus on family fun as well as history. I would also love to know a range in cost for balloon tours and private tour guides. I tried to bold the questions.

3/8 Fly to Izmir arrive 11am (rent car)

3/8 -3/10 -Stay in Selcuk - archeological sites
Library of Celsus - afternoon of 3/8 or 3/9
*Ephesus - afternoon of 3/8 or 3/9
*Hercules Gate - 3/9
Aphrodisias ancient city?
3/10 - Drive to Denzli - Laodicea, Hierapolis, Cleopatra pools
3/11 *Visit Pamukkale** - mixed reviews on this everywhere - though I think the kids would like to see it.
3/11 Drive back to coast - toward Izmir or Antalya????
3/12 morning fly to Kayseri

Hot air balloons morning of 3/13 - per person cost estimate? Better to wait until last minute?
tour? Recommendations and cost (drive four of us).
Do we need a car? Hotel is in Goreme. Tekkaya hotel?

3/14 - Istanbul - noon or 4pm flight
Stay at AirBnB (near Galata Lily Cafe) or Galata Times Hotel
Full day family tour - a recommended guide quoted $250 for the day.
Family Hamam? Is there such a thing?

3/18 - depart IST

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I'll answer a couple questions. Are you arriving jet lagged from US in Izmir? It's kind of a haul from Izmir to Selcuk so that might be a bit of a challenge, though the road is pretty good. I loved Aphrodisias (almost more than Ephesus) and it wasn't crowded. I didn't enjoy Pamukkale that much (hardly any of the terraces have water any more) but I'm glad I saw it. My RS tour stayed in Antalya and it was lovely.

Re: balloons, most companies will pick you up at your hotel. On a RS tour in September/October and they used Kapadokya Balloons which is in Kayseri but picked us up in Mustafapasa (at 5 a.m., way before sunrise) and drove us about 30 minutes to the launch site (closer to Goreme). You are going to take a risk on the balloon ride with only one day in Goreme - if weather/wind causes a cancelation, the company ordinarily books you on the next day. But read the fine print. You'd have the morning before you depart for Istanbul, but that might cut it too close. If you want cushion, take the later flight. My visa bill shows $312 for the ride (at Sept. 2023 exchange rate), but that could have included a RS discount. It was worth every single penny times one million - spectacular in all the ways.

Not sure about the car in Goreme, but our tour took the bus everywhere so you'll have to find a way to get around. The hotel can probably find you a driver.

Re: "family hammam" I've not heard of such a thing. The baths are segregated by male/female and I believe most have an age limit (12+). I'm not sure what a tween might think about the process (public nudity, a pretty vigorous body scrub), but perhaps your kids are adventurous. There are many other ways to occupy your time in Istanbul, though, I'd probably pick something else.

Give yourself plenty of time to get to IST airport to depart - a solid 45-60 minutes to airport if traffic is not bad and it's a huge airport. Be at least 2.5 hours early (not including travel time).

And last, I recommend watching the documentary "Kedi" about the cats in Istanbul. It has great scenery and prepared me for the unbelievable number of kitties there (and also other places, but Istanbul takes the cake). Your kids might like it. I got it from my library but it's available on streaming services.

Enjoy your trip!

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