Help with Itinerary

[Vancouver2013]

Greetings everyone. Thanks to everyone posting such wonderful information.

My family of four, wife and two children 4 and 7 are planning a 28 day Turkey trip. Since we are travelling with young children we are going to take out time and not try to see too much. We are starting our trip flying into Kaysari airport and will be renting a car and driving to the coast then up to Istanbul. We are planning a week to 11 day beach holiday in the middle of our trip to keep the kids happy. My question on our itinerary is should we base ourselves in say Kas or Patara and drive to see the sights? Or would it be a better idea to stay for shorter periods at different coastal cities?

Warmest regards,
John

Our draft itinerary is as follows:
15-19 May Goreme
20 May Konya
21-22 May Antalya
23-25 May Cirali/Olympos
26-28 May Kas
29-31 May Oludeniz beach, Patara or Kalkan
1-2 Jun Pamukkale
3-4Jun Seluk/Euphesus
5 Jun Çanakkale
6-12 Jun Istanbul

[David Morgan]

Sounds fine to me. Don't forget to bring marshmallows for toasting on the Chimera.

[SwampeastMike]

Looks like a good plan.

Since you'll have the sometimes benefit of private transport, I would suggest "hopping" along the Mediterranean coast rather than picking a base. In my opinion you can omit the city of Antalya itself to instead visit the sites and towns around the city. With the exception of the tiny old city (where automobile access is highly restricted) most hotels are gigantic resorts more suited to a week than a night or two. Antalya has hideous traffic and is one of those places in Turkey where a rental car can be more of a liability than asset. In that note, I highly suggest that you turn in your rental car IMMEDIATELY upon arrival to Istanbul--preferably in one of the Asian side suburbs! Even if you are a highly skilled, fearless driver accustomed to utterly congested city traffic the highly confusing road network is likely to find you hesitating--hesitate and you get nowhere fast! I don't even want to imagine the parking situation around the main tourist sites! Istanbul has good public transportation and taxis are surprisingly inexpensive.