emustyle

Hello,

It has been a dream of mine to Hot Air Balloon in the Capadoceia area and started looking into making it a reality for the upcomming year.

As I started looking into how to do this, I've found that I am now struggling to plan a satisfactory itinerary around a visit to Turkey.

I'm budgeting about 10 days to the country (I know its no where near enough) and was hoping to come up with a satisfactory itinerary that would allow me to see a fair bit but also check ballooning off my list

I'm curious if there are places or things that are advisable over others?

My thought was to spend a few days in Istambul, then head out to Gorme, then maybe to Ephesus but I'm not sure if 10 days will make that a very tight schedule?

I'd appreciate if others have done trips to this region and have thoughts about what to prioritize over others?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

jaymar01

Istanbul, Cappadocia and Izmir (Ephesus) is not unreasonable in ten days.

You'll need to fly between the three destinations as distances are too far for ground transportation, given your time limitations.

Pegasus Air (as well as other low cost carriers) fly between these three destinations.....although Kayseri to Izmir is not a daily flight.

Google flights covers Turkey air transportation pretty well for planning purposes.

emustyle

Thanks!

We'll probably end up flying for sure!

Would you have any thoughts as to "musts" for itinerary points?

Worcester

What sort of things do you enjoy? Beach, history, sights etc? I may be able to offer better advice.

emustyle

I think History, Sights, Attractions unique to the region. I can beach at home, but if the beach is "special" i'd totally be up for that.

Anything new, adventurous and worth experiencing

Worcester

Ephesus is good for a day trip, there is also the shine to the Virgin Mary close by and some of the villages in the area are lovely and can find excellent local food.

Closer to Cappadocia Konya may be worth a visit with some excellent Museums. It's the bastion of Islam so not great for nightlife or wine tasting.

Kusadasi is a bit of a tourist trap but the castle may be worth a visit.

Romanianflyer

some good advice! Şirince is one of those lovely mountain village easily accessable by dolmus (minibus) from the transport hub of Selçuk (which is 2-3 miles from Ephesus).

Nice wines too!

Alaçatı, close to Çesme is also nice.

wanderingstar

I prefer Selcuk, personally. It has more "town" overall. I found Sirince to be lovely but a bit too remote, and if there is one piece of advice I can give, it is this: get to Ephesus a half hour before it opens and be the first person through the gates because the tour groups are going to be brutal, and they start from the upper slope. If you get there early, you can see the entire place, empty, as we did, which is unspeakably beautiful.

You have received good advice, generally. I might add that there is no need for Kusadasi, it was a low point in my many weeks in Turkey, very touristic, although the water is pretty, the beach is very built up and narrow and packed in summer. Better? When in Istanbul, take a ferry up past Rumeli Castle and check out the Black Sea, which is beautiful. Not turquoise water, but really, sublime, plus there is good food up that way and plenty to see. Just a thought. Or find beaches outside of Kusadasi.

My hands-down favorite part of Turkey was Pamakkule, personally, although I didn't make it to Cappadoccia. It's four hours, driving, from Izmir, although there are tours. Spent two nights and loved it. Amazing ruins, plus a calcified mountain and lots and lots of local culture. All of Turkey is outstanding, I think. Istanbul is quite stunning as well, and I spent ten days there, in total.

emustyle

Wow thanks for the great advice! This is all very useful information which I'm going to need to spend time looking into.

I guess some more practical questions:
1. Is it primarily a cash culture there? Would bringing minmal cash and relying more on credit be a mistake?
2. How english friendly are most people?
3. Is it worthwhile to look at "tours" or "day trips"? or would doing it on your own be ideal? similarily to language, would having a local guide be advisable? (Not just language but customs/etc)
4. I'm not entirely sure about the religious background of the country, but I did see mention of Islam. Whilst travelling in the middle east one of my female friends needed to cover up shoulders etc. Is this a concern here?

I'm really looking forward to visiting this part of the world, every single picture I see is stunning so I'm super excited, thanks for all your help!

mosburger

Some caution might be well adviced as Turkish authorities now seem to arrest travellers at random on arrival to show the might and power of president Erdogan and the AKP government.

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/auslan...a-1162246.html