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If you don't want to take a guided
tour, here's
a 12-
to 14-day TripKit™ trip
through the best of Turkey,
including Istanbul, Ephesus, Pamukkale, Konya, Cappadocia and Ankara,
that you can plan on your own.
You can easily shorten, lengthen or
modify it. Transport is mostly by rental
car, but you may also want to travel
certain portions by public
transportation.
If you'd like to see all the top
sights in Turkey in two weeks,
and would like the professionals
to make all the arrangements for
you, look at Classical
Turkey.
This 14-day small-group
tour by Argeus
Tourism & Travel begins
in Istanbul and
visits Ankara, Antalya, Kuşadası and Pamukkale,
as well as biblical Cappadocia and
the ancient cities of Ephesus, Aphrodisias, Didyma, Hierapolis, Miletus, Priene, Perge, Aspendos, Side and Termessos. More...
TWO
WEEKS IN TURKEY
DAY
1 — Arrival in Istanbul
After you arrive, plan on 2 hours to
get through the airport, to your hotel,
and registered. Even if your flight
has been a long one you'll probably
want to get out and see something in
the city before catching up on your
sleep.
(The best way to handle jet lag is
not to take a nap but to maintain
a normal schedule in the new time
zone.)
I'd suggest going to Sultanahmet
Square and exploring the Hippodrome,
the Blue
Mosque, Yerebatan (Basilica)
Cistern, and even Ayasofya (closed
Monday) if there's time.
Plunging into a new place has an excitement
and exhilaration that is among the
greatest delights of travel. Your sense
of discovery and wonder are at their
highest, so revel in the moment:
allow yourself an hour or two to just
relax in a sidewalk
café, taking in the new
sights, sounds and smells, overhearing
snippets of conversation, and adjusting
your psyche to a different world.
If jet lag is a challenge,
have an early dinner and a good long
sleep to prepare you for a full next
day.
DAY 2 - BYZANTINE & OTTOMAN ISTANBUL
Get
to Topkapı
Palace (9-5,
closed Tuesday; stay 2-3 hr) at
8:45 am, buy your tickets, and be
among the first to get to the Harem for
the tour (9:30 am).
After
you've enjoyed Topkapi, see the other
sights around Sultanahmet that
you didn't get to see yesterday:
Ayasofya (Hagia
Sophia) (9-4, closed Monday; stay
1 hr). Right next to Topkapı. Don't
miss the best mosaics, on the upper
level.
Blue
Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii)
(stay 1/2 hr). Just across the
park from Ayasofya, on the Hippodrome.
The mosque is closed to visitors
for 25 minutes after each call
to prayer, and for several hours
midday on Friday.
Byzantine
Hippodrome (stay 1/2
hr). Enjoy the monuments in the
park--if the postcard and carpet
vendors will let you!
Museum
of Turkish and Islamic Art (9-5,
closed Monday; stay 1-2 hr).
Right on the Hippodrome across
from the Blue Mosque, this is
a treasurehouse of Anatolian
art.
Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan
Saraı Sarnıçıi) (9-5; stay 1/2
hr). At the NE end of the Hippodrome
beneath the little park.
A Turkish
bath (1-3 hr) can be
amazingly refreshing after a
long day! If not today, then
later.
DAY
3 - 19th-CENTURY ISTANBUL
Start
with a guided tour of Dolmabahçe
Sarayı, the
sultan's most lavish palace, then
explore the romance of Beyoğlu,
the heart of late Ottoman Istanbul,
which thrived during the same era.
(If you're not wild about ornate
palaces, skip Dolmabahçe and
go to Taksim
Square).
Dolmabahçe
Palace (9-4, closed
Monday and Thursday; stay 1-2
hrs) With a façade almost a quarter
mile (400 meters) long, this
is the mother of all Ottoman palaces,
and a must-see if you're into
magnificence. After touring the
palace, take a taxi uphill
to...
Taksim
Square From this hub
of modern Istanbul, go downhill
to Dolmabahçe Palace or
north to the Military Museum.
Istiklal
Caddesi (Grande Rue de
Péra; 1-2 hr walking tour)
Lots to see along the main boulevard
of 19th-century Istanbul: grand
old embassy buildings, the Pera
Palace Hotel, lots of boutiques,
and even a whirling
dervish hall. Plenty of restaurants for
lunch. Walk downhill from Tünel
Square at the southwestern
end of Istiklal Caddesi to...
Galata
Tower (9-7, discount
on Monday; stay 1/2 to 1 hr)
Best views of the city from this
Genoese cone-topped stone tower.
Continue downhill to Galata
(Karaköy)
Square and...
Galata
Bridge (stay 1/2
hr) Cross the bridge over the Golden
Horn which links Old and
New Istanbul, taking in the view.
At the southern end in Eminönü,
take the Bağcılar
tram back to Sultanahmet.
DAY
4 - Istanbul
to SELÇUK (EPHESUS)
Take
an early morning flight to Izmir's Adnan
Menderes Airport (ADM). Rent
a car at the airport, hire a
taxi, or catch a bus or train to
get to Selçuk (62
km/39 miles, 1-1/4 hours), the town
next to Ephesus.
Arrive
in Selçuk by
2:30 or 3 pm and check in at your
hotel. Visit Ephesus
Museum, St.
John Basilica, Isa Bey Mosque (you
can walk to them all). Dinner and
overnight.
DAY
5 - EPHESUS, APHRODISIAS, PAMUKKALE
In
the morning, explore the ruins
of Ephesus (2 to 3 hours),
then drive to Aphrodisias (143 km/89
miles, 2 hours); lunch either before
leaving Selçuk or at Aphrodisias.
Tour the ruins of Aphrodisias (1-1/2
to 2 hours), drive to the ancient
mineral-water spa of Pamukkale (123
km/76 miles, 1-1/2 hours), arriving
before dark. Settle in at a hotel in Pamukkale Town or Karahayıt.
DAY
6 - PAMUKKALE, drive to KONYA
Enjoy
a swim in Pamukkale's
mineral waters (perhaps in the Sacred
Pool itself), and explore the ruins
of the Roman health resort of Hierapolis.
After
lunch, drive from Pamukkale by Lake
Eğirdir to Konya (450
km, 280 miles, 7 hours). (Yes, it's
a long drive, but the countryside
is interesting, and it saves you
backtracking to Izmir's ADM
airport for a flight via Istanbul to Cappadocia.)
DAY
7 - KONYA, SILK ROAD, IHLARA, ÜRGÜP
Visit
Konya's whirling
dervish Mevlana
Museum, and
the Seljuk
Turkish monuments (1200s) on
and around Konya's Alaettin
Hill during
the morning (2 to 3 hours), then
drive east along the ancient Silk
Road to Sultanhanı (110
km, 68 miles) for a brief look at
the grandest of Seljuk
Turkish caravanserais (built
in 1229), and lunch.
Continue
through Aksaray (42
km, 26 miles, 40 minutes). If you
want to explore the Ihlara
(Peristrema) Valley, turn
right (south) 11 km east of Aksaray
for Selime, Belisırma and Ihlara
(23 km). Spend 2 or 3 hours at Ihlara,
then head east via Güzelyurt to Derinkuyu to
see its underground
city, though if you don't
watch your time carefully on this
day you may arrive after it is closed
for the day (5 pm). From Derinkuyu
drive north to Nevşehir,
then east to Ürgüp.
If
you don't want to see Ihlara, from
Aksaray go east along the Silk Road
to Nevşehir (65
km, 40 miles, 1 hour). There are
more Seljuk
caravanserais along this road
if you're interested, particularly
the Ağzıkarahan 10 km (6 miles)
east of Aksaray. As you continue
east you'll pass the ruined-then-restored Tepesidelik
Han 13 km (8 miles) east, and
the Alay Han, 33 km (21 miles)
east of Aksaray.
If
you're interested in a hot-air
balloon flight over Cappadocia,
make your reservations as soon as
you arrive, or—better yet—several
days before you arrive.
DAY
8 - GÖREME, ZELVE, AVANOS,
UÇHISAR
Visit
the Göreme
Open Air Museum in the morning
(2 to 3 hours), then drive to the Zelve
Valley for more cave-church
explorations. Have lunch in either Göreme
Town or Avanos.
If you have time, also visit Uçhisar.
DAY
9 - HOT-AIR BALLOON, UNDERGROUND
CITIES, drive to Ankara
Get
up and out before dawn to fly in
a hot-air
balloon over Cappadocia.
After you land, have breakfast, then
explore more of Cappadocia. If you
didn't get a chance to visit the Underground
Cities during your drive
from Konya, do it today.
In
the afternoon, drive to Ankara (308
km, 191 miles, 4 hours) for a
quick visit on your way back to Istanbul.
Find your hotel, and turn in your
rental car.
(To
shorten this itinerary by a day,
turn in your rental car in Ürgüp
and take the evening flight from
Kayseri to Istanbul.)
DAY
10 - ANKARA
Visit
the Museum
of Anatolian Civilisations (closed
Monday; 1 hour), then take a walk
through the Hisar (citadel)
just uphill from it, and have lunch in
a restaurant in one of the old restored
Hisar houses. After lunch, take a
taxi to the Anıtkabir (Atatürk's
mausoleum).
You
can travel to Istanbul by
any of several means:
-
Take a bus (fast,
frequent, cheap, comfortable, convenient)
- Fly (fastest,
but relatively inconvenient and possibly
expensive)
-
Take a train (cheap,
most comfortable, and relatively
fast if you take the high-speed train)
- Drive your rental
car (relatively expensive
and tiring)
My
favorite train is the Ankara
Ekspresi,
an all-sleeping-car train that departs
at 22:30 (10:30 pm) and arrives at Istanbul's Haydarpaşa
Station on the Asian side
of the Bosphorus at
08:05 am the next morning.
DAY
11 - ISTANBUL
Unless
you're coming by sleeper
train, today you get to sleep
in! Enjoy a late breakfast on
the rooftop terrace of your hotel
with a view of the sea (most hotels
have them), but take the tram to
the Eminönü ferry
docks to arrive by 10 or 10:15
am to get a seat on the Bosphorus
tour ferry. Leave the
boat at Sarıyer,
have lunch,
then take taxis south along the European
shore of the Bosphorus stopping
at Büyükdere to see the Sadberk
Hanım Museum, and at
Bebek to see the fortress of Rumelihisarı.
Have afternoon tea in
the shore village of Ortaköy,
with its baroque waterside mosque and old Ottoman houses.
In
the evening, enjoy a Turkish
bath.
DAY
12 - ISTANBUL EXCURSION
If
you have an extra day, take a one-day
or overnight excursion:
Edirne: Comfortable
day-long excursion by bus or car
to see the fine old mosques and
lively bazaars of the second Ottoman capital,
delightfully free of tourist crowds. More...
Bursa: Zoom
south across the Sea
of Marmara in a catamaran to
see this first capital of the Ottoman
Empire, with its fine old
mosques, silk
weaving trade, and thermal
spas; make it an overnight and
see Iznik
(Nicaea) as well. More...
Çanakkale-Gallipoli: Long
day-trip by bus or car to see the Dardanelles,
the Gallipoli
battlefields, and even ancient Troy;
possible in a very
long day, but
better as an overnight.
DAY
13 - ISTANBUL SHOPPING
It's
not a bad idea to leave most of your shopping until
the last day so you won't have to
lug your purchases around with you.
Start
the day by seeing the brilliant Byzantine
mosaics in the Kariye
Museum out by the gigantic city
walls.
Spend
most of the day in the Grand
Bazaar and the Egyptian
Market, or in the boutiques
and antique shops on and off Istiklal
Caddesi in Beyoğlu.
In
the evening, take a taxi to Beyoğlu for
dinner and perhaps an evening in
one of the small cafes or music clubs.
DAY
14 - DEPARTURE
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