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Thoughts on staying in Kusadasi after tour

Posted by (Peterborough, ON, Canada) on

We have booked extra nights in Istanbul before the Best or Turkey Tour (September). Now we are turning attention to the end.

We are playing with the idea of staying on in Kusadasi for a few days. We want to take it easy - decompress after the busy tour. Definitely want to spend some time swimming in the sea. I see there are a number of beaches there; any recommendations?

Has anyone done this? Is it a good idea? Will getting to Izmir for a flight be an expensive hassle?

We had considered going to Samos for post tour R&R, but now think it will be easier to stick to one country's entry requirements. Plus we think if we are seeing Turkey, let's see Turkey. Probably will never be back.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Posted by
58 posts

You must visit Ephesus and the House of Mary. A truly spiritual experience, we strayed from our cruise ship this was a highlight. There are a lot of beach opportunities but this experience is not one to be missed. Grab a taxi, don't do the bus tour.

https://www.kusadasi.biz/ephesus/index.html

Posted by
388 posts

We spent several nights in both cities. The business hotel in Izmir was located in a more residential/business area near the old market. I In this area we had the best and most interactions with the Turkish people. There weren’t tourists wandering around. Our walk through the fancier tourist area was boring. Sorry I don’t have the name of the hotel. A man in a small hotel invited us in and gave us tea on our walk dragging our luggage in the rain to our other hotel. Walking the local restaurant two men selling tea and sweets stopped us to visit. They insisted we try their sweets. Not selling us anything just to visit. Several traveling businessmen invited us to their table after we ate for a drink and nuts. They had seen us the night before and wanted to visit and practice English. I remember these more personal interactions, since we had been bombarded with sales pitches for the last 2 weeks. So consider Izmir but not in the fancy tourist zone.

Posted by
1634 posts

Shelley, we probably will go to the House of Mary on our free time during the tour. Thanks for letting me know it's well worth a visit.

Racquet588, I hadn't considered any time in Izmir. We have time for a few more nights, but will have to look at the budget too. It would also make the airport trek simpler, I suppose. Thanks for the idea!

Posted by
257 posts

We did the tour in October 2019 and stayed in Kusadasi for 3 more days as DW was sick and we couldn't travel to Samos Island. The RS hotel for the tour was good for the extra nights, though a bit more expensive than we normally book. It is a great location downtown on the waterfront promanade. The waterfront is a harbour and not swimmable. Most tourist hotels are outside of the downtown where there are beaches. A taxi stand is next to the hotel and they have rates posted for just about everything.
The fort is a mile away and Ladies Beach is 2 miles further. We walked there and back, but a taxi would have been under €10 each way (a bus would have been about $1). It was cool weather and we didn't try swimming. Ladies Beach is a more tourist zone. It was €50 for the taxi ride to the Izmir Airport. We also took a taxi to Ephesus/Selcuk and back and I think it was around €20-25 each way.

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