Three Weeks' Travel in Turkey (16 to 23 Days)

Three Weeks' Travel in Turkey

If you can spend about three weeks (16 to 23 days) in Turkey, you can see quite a lot. Here's a 21-day trip with suggestions for where you can cut or add a few days.

DAYS 1-4
Arrive in Istanbul. Consider flying right through to your next destination, because you'll probably have to be back in Istanbul at the end of your trip to fly home, so plan to spend your last days in Istanbul. But if you're coming from a long distance (say, California or Australia), stay a few days in the city to regain your land legs.

—Here's a sightseeing program for 2 to 5 days in Istanbul.

—Here are Istanbul hotel recommendations.

DAYS 5-7
Travel to Cappadocia by plane, bus, or combination (sleeper train to Ankara, then bus to Cappadocia). Here are details on getting to Cappadocia.

If you plan to take a hot-air balloon flight in Cappadocia, reserve your place(s) for the first morning you'll be there so that you'll have fall-back days in case of bad weather. More...

Here's the info on Cappadocia hotels.

Highlights of Cappadocia are Göreme Open Air Museum, Uçhisar, underground cities, Ihlara Valley, Zelve Valley, Soğanlı Valleys, and Avanos.

DAY 8
Drive along the ancient Silk Road from Cappadocia to Konya, admiring the Seljuk Turkish caravanserais along the way. Stop at the Sultan Hanı for tea or a meal, and to see the grandest caravanserai of them all.

Spend the rest of the day and part of the next morning visiting the Mevlana Museum (Tomb of Rumi), and admiring Konya's other fine medieval Seljuk buildings.

DAY 9
Drive from Konya to the Mediterranean coast, perhaps stopping in Beyşehir to see the unusual Eşrefoğlu Mosque and to have a lunch of lake fish. The drive is through dramatic mountains, ending on the coastal highway. Choose your beach destination: go east to Alanya, west and south to Side, or west to Antalya.

DAYS 10 & 11
Stay at least two nights on the coast here, more if you want time at the beach and/or to take excursions to Termessos and Karain; Perge, Side and Aspendos; Köprülü Kanyon for rafting; or Phaselis and Olimpos.

(For a shorter trip, spend all your "Mediterranean days" here, then drive northwest to Denizli and Pamukkale, stay there one night, then continue west along the Meander River valley via Aphrodisias to Ephesus.)

DAYS 12-14
Drive south from Antalya, then west along the coast, stopping for one or more nights at Kaş, Kalkan, Patara, Fethiye, Ölüdeniz or Dalyan. Each has its charm and appeal.

DAYS 15-16
If you don't want to miss Aphrodisias & Pamukkale you can head west, then north from Dalyan to Muğla, then northeast to Pamukkale. Or if the siren call of Bodrum, Turkey's most chic resort, beckons to you, go west to Bodrum.

Otherwise, from Muğla speed north along the highway to Aydın, then Selçuk (Ephesus), Şirince or Kuşadası.

DAYS 17-19
Spend at least two nights near Ephesus, visiting that great city, taking my day-trip to Priene, Miletus and Didyma, and tasting the wines in Şirince.

Depending on how you've planned your time, you can easily fly from Izmir's Adnan Menderes Airport back to Istanbul, or take the train and ferry.

DAYS 20 & 21
You should be back in Istanbul the day before your flight, just to be sure. Now's the time to do the shopping you didn't do before because you didn't want to carry your purchases all the way through Turkey.

1 to 5 Days in Turkey

6 to 10 Days in Turkey

24 to 30+ Daysin Turkey

Recommended Itineraries

Special Interest Trips

TTP Homepage

Turkey: Bright Sun, Strong Tea, by Tom Brosnahan

Above, with 16 to 23 days, you can see all the sights and also get in some serious beach time.

Below, spend some time relaxing in a fairy chimney in Cappadocia.