We are traveling on the Turkey in 13 days tour and depart from Turkey July 5th. According to our itinerary we are spending the last night in Kusadasi then traveling by bus to the Izmir airport on that morning. We've been told not to book a flight out of Izmir prior to 10:30 am as the bus won't get you to the airport in time for an earlier flight. Unfortunately the only reasonable flight on Turkish airways for Houston flies out from Izmir at 10 am. Is there an alternate mode of transportation to the airport that would get us to Izmir airport in time for a 10 am flight?
Inexperienced Turkey traveler.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15582 posts
You can take a taxi. You may even find that there are others on your tour who will share with you. I took that tour a few months ago. Our bus to Izmir left at 8 instead of 9 (could have been because there were requests for an earlier departure). Even with the lines at the airport, all of us who were flying to Istanbul were processed and at our gates in less than an hour. There's a security check before check-in.
If you are connecting in Istanbul you may want to take an earlier flight. Apparently delays aren't uncommon.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
Good advice. Do mention this to your tour guide at the start of the tour, but then don't worry about it again until the guide is ready to start discussing everyone's end-of-tour connections, just a couple of days ahead.
Posted by
Alma, AR, USA
92 posts
John,
We did the same tour last Oct. with Chani. Our flight from Izmir was at 8 AM. Our guide assured us the hotel staff could arrange a taxi and they did so without a problem. The taxi was prompt, delivered us to the front door of the terminal, and we only needed to be there an hour early for the domestic flight to Istanbul. It was an added expense, but well worth it for us to make connecting flights in Istanbul to London and then on to Chicago.