Travel within Turkey
 

I am heading to Turkey for 8 days later this fall.

Apart from 2 days or so in Istanbul, I would like to head to Epheus and possibly Cappadocia.

Unfortunately the distances between each city is not that close :(

How would you recommend getting around Turkey? Flights? Epheus has no airport, meaning I would have to fly to Izmir and then drive for an hour or take a bus/dolmus. As for Cappadocia - no friggin clue :D

Anyone done travel within Turkey? How hard/easy is it to get around?

Any and all suggestions greatly appreciated.

Merci,
MapleLeaf

Domestic flights are reasonably priced in Turkey (when purchased there), including one-ways. Kayseri is the airport serving the Cappadocia region.

The best -- but not the fastest -- way to travel in Turkey is by bus: easy for tourists to figure out, civilized, and comfortable.

Given your time contraints, the obvious option would be to fly roundtrips from Istanbul to Izmir and to Kayseri. Another option would be to take a bus to Ephesus (there's probably an overnight bus, if that appeals to you). Then fly one-way Izmir-Istanbul, connecting to a roundtrip Istanbul-Kayseri-Istanbul. You could also bus Ephesus-Ankara-Cappadocia, but that would be time consuming.

Your time allocation could be 3 nights Istanbul (2 on arrival, 1 preceding departure), 3 nights Cappadocia (Uchisar, Göreme, and Urgup are good places to lodge), and 2 nights Ephesus/Izmir.

Added: If you haven't purchased your ticket to IST yet, look into an open jaw between Istanbul and Ankara. (It's a permissible open jaw on AA/TK.) You could save a leg by flying into Ankara and busing to Cappadocia; then fly from Kayseri to Izmir/Ephesus and bus or fly to Istanbul.

I am in the midst of a five-day trip to Turkey, and just got back (to Istanbul) from two nights in Kapadokya (as they call it). I flew Turkish Airlines to Kayseri. About an hour and very cheap, and then an hour drive to Urgup, where I stayed. Incidentally, this was a great trip -- I stayed at one of the cave hotels (Yunak Evleri, www.yunak.com, which I would recommend), drove around a bit, and had some wine. Obviously, it depends what you want to do -- Antalya and Bodrum are slow this time of year, and not warm enough to lay on the beach. My Turkish friend has also recommended Gaziantep and Mardin this time of year.

But, to basically answer your question, this is my fourth trip to Turkey but my first outside Istanbul, and the domestic flights seem like a great option (and, on TK, you get American Airlines miles if you don't have a Miles & Smiles account). Turkish is a quality airline with low fares and flexible rules. Plus there are several domestic airlines -- Onur Air, Pegasys, Atlas Jet -- on which I have no experience. I cannot speak to buses or trains.

Travel around Turkey
 

Hi,

We spend about 12 days in Turkey in Jan. 05. We spent 4 days in Istanbul and then rented a car to travel down to Ephesus. We spent a night in Bursa to visit a friend. This break in travel still left us with a bit of a drive but it wasn't too bad to get to Selcuk in one day (city close to Ephesus). Car rental wasn't the cheapest option but gave us great flexibility. Our car was a guzzler which further increased the cost.

We staged out of Selcuk for 4 days and drove around the area. One day trip took us all the way to Pammukale.

We drove up to Izmir to visit another friend and stayed in that area for a night. If you fly to Izmir the drive to Selcuk is pretty quick with a high speed roadway linking the 2. I think it was about an hour's drive.

We finished our trip by driving along the cost to Assos and then to Edirne. We drove the last day back to Istanbul for returun flight.

If you can split your trip and fly into Istanbul and out of Anatalya, that will save you from backtracking. Train travel is slow but there is supposed to be an overnight train from Istanbul to Anatalya which is supposed to be nice and will save you hotel cost for a night.

Buses are very cheap within Turkey and for long distances you can get on a bigger bus instead of the smaller dolmas which stop in many cities along the way.

If you drive, it will take some nerves of steel. Turks tend to pass whenever they see a gap. Off the highways there were many times when our 2-lane road became 2.5-3 where the passing car forced the other lanes to create a gap in order for them to get through.

Hope this helps.