It looks like my first trip outside the UK will be to Turkey, with my aunt sometime in May.
Does anyone have suggestions on itineraries, attractions, etc? We will have maybe three weeks, and our tentative plan is to start in Istanbul, go down the Aegean coast, and then come back across the plateau via Cappadocia and Ankara.
I have, as preparatory reading material:
- The Lonely Planet Turkey Guide
- The New Turkey (Chris Morris)
- Turkey: A Modern History (Erik Zurcher)
Note added 17 July: I've finished my Turkey travelogue - 160+ photos and 10000+ words.
Definitely use dolmuses (minibus/taxi thingys) to get around where possible. There's something awesome about watching the cash for your fare being passed by other passengers to the conductor at the front then having your change come back to you the same way.
Your itinerary looks quite heavy. How long do you plan to travel for?
Definitely agree with Pergamon, my favourite as well, try and walk down from the top of the amphitheatre .... great views. I suppose Ephesus is a tourist must (too many people and such a rush - hope for overcast weather so that not too many people visit).
Cappadocia is quite nice as well, hot air ballon tour perhaps?
I have never taken the train in Turkey too slow (yes much slower than trains over here).
If you do take the bus make sure you don't sit in front, those bus drivers are mad! Driving in turkey is a mad business especially in Istanbul. I agree with the dolmus suggestion, lots of fun, and do try and take the boats across the bosphorous/Boğaziçi as its called in turkish. The tram system is now quite good to drive across to the more 'modern' part of the city. If you do end up on the Pera (european settlement during otoman empire) think of me I spent most of my youth there. Most of the foreign schools are located along that strip as well as most orthodox, catholic etc churches.
Really looking forward to your blog, its been ~ 15/20 years since I saw some of those places...
Will sent more comments once you get sorted. Oh check if you need a travel visa?
If you need help once you're there, I'll see if my little brother who lives in the Pera area is there. If he's in Istanbul I am sure he'll meet up with you. Alp-Ilyas is his name (check under my facebook).
Thanks Nik and Selma for the suggestions.
We will probably have a bit under three weeks. Which is why my plan is to stick to Istanbul, the Aegean coast, and west/central Anatolia! I'm expecting to want to come back, and hope to do that with Camilla sometime in the next three years.
The Ankara-Istanbul fast train doesn't seem too bad. It's further than Sydney-Canberra but takes about the same time as that train trip. Also, if the landscapes are scenic slow is not necessarily bad. But the hot air balloon in Cappadocia sounds better for slow and scenic!
It's looking like a 6.30am flight from Gatwick, which is going to mean leaving home around 2am, aaarrggh!
Update: I've opted for a 1.40pm flight from Luton instead, much more civilised!
Danny check this one out, a friend of mine suggested it. Its not well known but its in b/w Bursa-Ankara close to Kütahya which is the famous place where white clay is used for ceramics for 1000's of years (there are some example in the V & A Museum in London).
When are you leaving for turkey?
http://www.sailturkey.com/panoramas/aizanoi/index.html