abhilife2001

Hi Folks..

Need some suggestions.. Want to utilize some miles I have and the following locations are possible.. Looking for a 7/ 8 days max trip in Jan 1st week when Russia has holidays.

- Turkey
- Greece
- UAE

We are in Moscow, so looking for warmer climates, but for some reason Dubai / Abu Dhabi seems not interesting enough..

So thinking about either Turkey or Greece..

Any recos alongwith suggested things to see.. Have been to Athens earlier so don't want to spend much time there..

Weather seems cold between 7-15deg.. so much better than Moscow atleast !

Appreciate advise..
Cheers
A

westmideast

UAE will still be warm enough for the beach....
Greece will then be second and Turkey will be the coolest. But with our global warming, you may want to play it by ear and wait close to the date to see how the weather patterns will be.

Plenty to see in both places. Depends on your interests. Each has plenty of history and plenty of nature. You have been to Athens so I will focus on Turkey, plan your trip on www.turkeytravelplanner.com if you haven't done that already. Below is a multi day trip plan, if you are going to visit the museums, do pick up the museum pass. It will let you skip the lines and sometimes get in when you can't otherwise.


Day 1
* Blue Mosque ('Sultan Ahmet'), Hagia
* Sophia, Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum
* Basilica Underground Cistern.
* Eat Kofta and ‘Sultan Ahmet Koftacisi”

Day 2
* Grand Bazar <<Maybe plan ahead to not spend too much time your first day in Grand Bazar, look around this day and come back to shop maybe on one of your 'off' days>>
* Suleymania Mosque,
* Spice Market,"New Mosque" ('Yeni Cami') which is right next door to Spice Market and i think is the most beautiful mosque in Istanbul, and Roustem Pasha mosque which is in same area.
* This is a great day to have lunch at “Hamdi” kabab restaturant.

Day 3
* Dolmabace palace, Taksim Sq / Istiklal St (best to save for eveneing/night when it gets interesting..)
* Whirling dervishes at Galata
* Great day to have dinner at “Haci Abdullah” historical/ottoman cuisine restaturant in Taksim

Day 4
* Topkapi Palace, (Topkapi is enough Museum for one whole day)
* Then add here your second trip to Grand Bazaar, but if not you could add the Turkish & Islamic arts museum I mentioned for Day 1

Day 5
* If you have any whole day free and the weather forecast seems nice , visit the Princes' Islands (specifically ‘Buyukada’ = "the big island"), rent bikes & enjoy ice cream in main square
* if you want you can visit Asian side on this day on your way to Princes’ Islands (i.e. catch boat to one of the Asian side ports, hang out there for a bit, and then catch boat to Buyukada/Princes’ Islands)
* otherwise, on this or any other day catch a 'Bosphorus Cruise' from the Eminonou/Sirkeci port (next to spice bazar & Yeni Jami'/'New Mosque')
_____


Potential RESTAURANT Suggestions:

* HAMDI ($$)– renowned kabab, in Eminonou/Sirkeci (next to spice bazar) ...Kababs with nice view (reservation recommend)
* POSEIDON ($$$)- in Bebek (on Bosphorus) ...seafood with view (on water, reservation probably needed for dinner)
* HACI (‘haji’) ABDULLAH ($$) - Taksim, 100 year old restaurant famous for great traditional Ottoman cuisine, esp beyond just kababs, many lamb and vegetable specialities
* FEREA... ($$) Mixed cuisine, very good food, seating right on Bosphorus, in Ortakoy
* KOSABASI ($-$$)- in Nisantasi & in Etiler (latter has nicer ambience ...(pronounced "koshabash") reasonably priced, outstanding mixed grill
* BORSA ($$$)- near Taksim Hilton ... Variety of traditional, some Bosphorus-view outdoor seating (ask for it specifically). Must order 'kunafe' for dessert with 'kaymak' (sweet cream) - better to per-order it because it takes 15-20 minutes to make fresh.
* SADE ($-$$)- in Rumeli (next to the fort) on Bosphorus ...pronounced "saa-dey", lovely place to have traditonal Turkish breakfast ('kahvalti') , at any time of day, great to see the fort of Rumeli then too. Next to the 2nd bridge (the more northern one). Several other restaurants next door to it offer similar breakfast setups.

abhilife2001

thanks a lot for your detailed inputs..

so 4-5 days in instanbul seem decent ..while i liked seeing museums earlier now hv a 3 yr kid so maybe not so interesting anymore as they don't like being stuck there..

what if we hv another 3 days.. maybe a trip to another town ( antalya etc ) ?

jhartley15

Go to the coast of Turkey, Fethiye, Bodrum, Marmaris, then take a ferry to Rhodes Greece. You can fly cheaply from Istanbul on Pegasus airlines.

jaymar01

Some great destination selections for January.

erik19283

For the Topkapi Palace suggestion, since you will have a 3 y.o. child with you, if you intend to visit the whole place make sure you have a stroller or something else to carry your child and even some snacks/drinks because the place is huge! I went there with my kids (6 and 8 at the time) and I couldn't see everything because they couldn't take it anymore after 2 hours. Also, note that you don't have to buy tickets for you child as it is free for kids 12 and younger, same with the tramway and a lot of things.

westmideast

Pamukalle is my dream Turkey destination... Not sure about Jan though

abhilife2001

Thanks for all the replies..
Why I am aware Jan is not the best time.. just want to utilize my extended holiday that time as the client site is on holiday during Jan 1-10th..

And want to utilize my award miles

Cheers