The Ultimate Turkey Itinerary

On March 2018, we set off on a 10 day expedition to explore the stunning lands of Turkey and Greece, to savor their diverse culture and take in the breathtaking views of their striking landscapes. We spent 6 days in Turkey followed by 4 days in Greece.
Both countries are very rich in tourism and kept us fully entertained during our stay. It was impossible to share all the details of our numerous encounters in one post; hence we have broken it down into two separate posts. Here you will find all the details of our 6 day travels to Turkey.

Is Turkey Safe?

This is the first question that comes in mind when considering Turkey as a holiday destination. Due to Syria, being a neighboring country, there have been a lot of talks about the terror and fear in Turkey. We however, were pleasantly surprised by the hospitality and welcoming nature of the Turks – they are among the friendliest people we have encountered. During our stay, we visited three major cities – Istanbul, Cappadocia and Ephesus, all of which we found to be considerably safe and did not come across or hear of any security threats from our fellow tourists or the locals. Turkey is a hidden gem of the world whose beauty is bound to astonish you – we are so glad we visited Turkey!

Day 1 – Istanbul

We flew from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) and landed at Istanbul Atatürk Airport (IST) at 2pm. By the time we completed our hotel check in and freshened up it was 5pm.
For our first evening we headed to Istiklal Avenue, which is a happening street with a large assortment of restaurants, shopping, nightlife, and a few commercial attractions such as the famous Galata Tower and Taksim square. Hours easily passed by as we strolled around the street enjoying the local food, musical performances and the local shopping 😊
We were there till 11:30pm and the street was still crowded and felt safe.

Tips:

• English is not a common language in Turkey and it is rare to come across locals that can speak English – all road signs, store names etc. are marked in the local language.
• Use cabs to travel within the city and have the address ready to show the cab driver as it is difficult to use public transport/trains if you do not know the local language.
• Download an offline GPS map of all the areas you will be visiting as a considerable amount of walking is involved and you do not want to get lost.
• There are limited vegetarian food options in Turkey – we mostly had pizza, pasta and salad.

Day 2 – Istanbul
For our second day we booked a full day site seeing tour at $65 per person via Viator which covered all the places we were interested in Istanbul.
The tour started at Hippodrome square where we saw the Obelisk from Egypt and the Serpentine Column from Delphi!

We then headed to the renowned blue mosque which unfortunately at that time was closed due to restoration. Blue mosque is one of the principal adornments on the skyline and famous for it’s 6 minarets.

Opposite the Blue mosque is the magnificent Byzantine church, St. Sophia which was then converted into a mosque, Hagia Sophia, and is now being used as a museum for tourists due to its historical significance!

Hagia Sophia is a domed monument which displays a mixture of catholic and Islamic architecture as it was converted from a church into a mosque.

From there we had a quick stop at the Grand Bazaar which is a local market with a large assortment of shops selling a variety of items. The Bazaar is humongous with lots of shopping opportunities and the quick 25-minute stop during the tour was not enough for us. We went back to the bazaar after the tour ended at 5pm to stroll at leisure.

The bazaar also has multiple photo stalls where you can dress like ancient Turks and merge into the local culture. It was a quick 5 minute photoshoot!

               

Our final stop for the tour was at Topapki palace, which was the residence from which Ottoman Empire was ruled and is now a museum. There is a great view of the Bosporus from Topapki palace!

Tips:

• Wear comfortable shoes as you will be walking a lot.
• Negotiation is common at Grand Bazaar – do not pay full price for items.
• We did not have a chance to visit the Basilica Cistern but it is at a walking distance from the blue mosque in case you are planning to visit.
• Majority of the attractions required a ticket/pass for entry – luckily for us it was covered in the tour and purchased in advance so we did not have to stand in the long queues.
• If you plan a DIY trip, we recommend purchasing the Istanbul Museum Pass that allows entry to almost all the sites.

Day 3 – Half day at Istanbul and Cappadocia Arrival

For our last day in Istanbul, we connected more with the local culture by doing what the locals do – A Turkish Bath, Hamam. Turkish bath aka Hamam is a type of public bathing associated with the culture of the Ottoman Empire and more widely the Islamic world aimed at cleansing and relaxing the body.

Most Hamams in Turkey have separate halls for men and women. We however, wanted to live the experience together and opted for a mixed hamam, which are rare to find. We found only two mixed Hamams in Istanbul – Süleymaniye Hamam and Aga Hamami. We made our reservation with Aga Hamami.

It was a 2-hour experience which started with some personal relaxation time on a heated marble slab that we lied on, followed by a steam bath, after which a personal attendant scrubbed us for exfoliation in separate rooms and finally washed clean with hot water. But, that was not the end of it 😀 After this rejuvenating experience we were given a 20 minute full body massage with aromatic oils and a face mask leaving us feeling younger and fresher.
We absolutely loved this unique spa experience.

After the Hamam, we headed to Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW) for our flight to Kayseri Erkilet International Airport (ASR) at Cappadocia.

We reached Cappadocia late in the evening so decided to stay back and enjoy our exclusive cave suite.
A must do when in Cappadocia is staying in a cave hotel for a unique lodging experience and enjoying Turkish hospitality at its best.

This is us living it up in a cave hotel 😀

Day 4 – Cappadocia, Turkey
We were so excited about our visit to Cappadocia and had been looking forward to it for months mainly because of the Hot Air Balloon experience. Cappadocia is rated among the best places in the world for Hot Air Ballooning – so you can imagine our grief when we found out that the adventure had been canceled due to inclined weather conditions ☹. The decision is government regulated and tour companies cannot raise the balloons if it’s been cancelled. The tour company rescheduled us to the following day but unfortunately the weather conditions did not permit it for the following day either and we were not able to gain the experience. ☹

However, we did not let that ruin our vacation as we still had lots of fun adventures coming along the way!!

Exploring Cappadocia requires at least two full days and the local companies have divided the major attractions of the region into two main tours – Red Tour and Green Tour. For our first day in Cappadocia, we went on the red tour where we explored the breath-taking landscapes of the city!

Our first stop was a quick 15 minute stop at Uchisar castle, which is the tallest fairy chimney in Cappadocia and can be seen from any spot in the region!

We then headed to the Goreme Open Air museum which is an outdoor museum that contains the remains of many churches carved into the famous Cappadocia stone.

After a lunch break we visited Avanos for a pottery demonstration and shopping opportunities.

We also made a stop at the famous Pasabag fair Monks Valley, which contains some of the most striking fairy chimneys in Cappadociaia

Our last stop for the tour was at Devrent Valley aka imaginary valley where you can go wild with your imagination to find many animal shaped rocks formed by the force of nature. Take a guess on what animal this could be 😊

The red tour took up most of our day and in the evening we attended a Turkish Dinner Night at Harman Dali which portrayed local dance performances.
The overall Turkish dinner experience was ok and could have been skipped all together!

Tips:

• When you book your Hot Air Balloon tour, confirm that you will receive a refund in case of cancellations AND a guaranteed spot for the next tour if you are in the city for 2/3 days. Some companies give the refund but do not give a spot for the next tour if it’s fully booked which can also lead to missing the experience all together.
• If you only have 1 day in Cappadocia and are planning to do the Hot Air Balloon, I recommend doing the green tour for the rest of the day.
• The Hot air balloon rides are over the red tour region and the balloons are brought down over the Pasabag fair monks valley. So the green tour will provide an opportunity to visit a new region of the area.
• Wear comfortable shoes as the red tour includes a fair bit of walking and even some short hikes.

Day 5 – Cappadocia, Turkey
For our final day at Cappadocia, we booked a private green tour as we did not have enough time to do the group tour. We had a flight that same evening and had to be at the airport by 3:30pm. Our guide, Ali, was amazing and fun – He catered to all our requests and tried his best to cover maximum sites of the green tour.

Our first stop was at the stunning Ilhara Valley nestled in a dramatic forest area with a dreamy stream running through the center of it.

  

We started our hike through the valley around 8:30 am which enhanced our experience as we beat the crowds and were literally the only ones doing the hike that early in the morning.

We walked through the narrow path as we enjoyed the morning freshness with the sound of the chirping birds and the rippling stream. This picturesque valley is a must visit when in Cappadocia!

Our Tour Guide, Ali, also made a quick stop at an overlook of the local village.

We then headed to the eminent Underground city, Kaymakli. There are two underground cities in the region – Kaymakli and Derinkuyu. However, Kaymakli is more popular among tourists and most visited in the region.

Kaymakli underground city features a maze of tunnels and rooms carved eight levels deep into the earth but only four are open to the public.

Tip: It is recommended to visit the underground cities with a guide to better enjoy the tour otherwise you will just be going round in circles without realizing the importance of the underground city construction and architecture.

Our final stop for the tour was at pigeon valley where we took in the spectacular panoramic views of Goreme town.

Pigeon valley is also home to a vintage tree decorated with non-commercial Evil Eyes & pots. Evil Eye is a Turkish traditional ornament dating back to Paganism believed to protect one from the evil eyes of society.

  

Tip: We found Cappadocia to be the most beautiful city of the three we visited in Turkey – which requires at least 2 full days to explore at leisure.

From there we headed to Kayseri Erkilet International Airport (ASR) for our next flight to Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport (ADB), at Ephesus.

Day 6 – Ephesus, Turkey

We were in Ephesus only for three quarter of a day which was enough time to explore the city as majority of the attractions are found in Ephesus archaeological site thus making it easier to cover more in less time. We booked a private tour via viator which is a 1.5 hour walking tour of the ancient open-air museum.

Upon entering the open air museum, we first came across the ancient city ruins.

We then headed to the Odeion of Ephesus – a small theater used for political meetings, social events, concerts and theatrical performances.

Temple of Athena Nike – Goddess of Victory!

These are the two monumental pillars of Hercules gate that separates ancient city uptown from downtown.

The Agora is a market/gathering place of the ancient city

One of the best preserved and beautiful structure of the ancient city is the Ephesus library

Most imposing and impressive structure of Ephesus Ancient city and our favorite was the Odeon Theater. It is believed to be the largest of the ancient world with a seating capacity of 25,000 people. This open-air theatre was used for drama and gladiatorial combats.

There were several other structures we visited during the tour such as fountains of trojan, temple of Hadrian, temple of Domitian and many others. But trust me the names are quiet fancy and hence not easy to remember 😛

Upon exiting the open-air museum, there were various shopping stalls and ice-cream joints. And of course, when in Turkey, Turkish ice-cream is a must!

From there we drove to the Temple of Artemis – one of the seven wonders of the ancient world which was destroyed and what remains today are just the ruins!

Tips:

• Two Ephesus sites that we did not visit are – St John’s Basilica at the summit of Ayasuluk Hill and the House of the Virgin Mary. Plan a visit there if you have more time.
• If you have an extra day at Ephesus, plan a tour to Pamukkale which is known for its mineral-rich thermal waters flowing down white travertine terraces on a nearby hillside. It is at a 3 hour drive from Ephesus. You could also stay at Pamukkale and make a day trip to Ephesus, whichever is more convenient.

This marked the end of our Turkey travels. We took the flight that evening from Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport (ADB) to Santorini Thira International Airport (JTR). Do not forget to check out our 4 day Itinerary to the magical island of Santorini and to the historical city of Athens, Greece.

Oh, and here is a peak of all the food we ate when in Turkey 😀