In my last week post: Where to go on your next vacation, I believe I have convinced you about going to Turkey. Now I’m going to help you plan your trip.
The first decision that you have to make is how many days you will spend in Turkey. I would say you need at least ten. Turkey is a large country; therefore you will need some time to travel from one place to the other.
We spend ten days there and we were able only to do the “basic tour”, including Istanbul, Ephesus, Pamukkale and Cappadocia.
Let’s start with Istanbul, which by the way is not the capital of the country. Istanbul is an amazing city, with a population of more than 12 million people, it is also known as Constantinople. There you’re going to have a taste of the European and Asian mixture. Book at least 3 day in Istanbul to visit the Topkapi palace, Ayasofya – Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar.
These are most do attractions. One other thing that’s definitely worth doing is the Bosphorus Strait Cruise. Here is good tip: get the boat a little bit before the sunset, so you can have the unforgettable view of the city during the daylight and after it’s dark.
In Istanbul I recommend staying at the Sultanahamet district, that’s where most of the attractions are. If you have some extra time you might want to visit the Cistern, the Islamic museum and the “new town” side of the city.
From Istanbul we went to Izmir by plane, and from there to Selcuk by bus. Selcuk is the closest cities to the archaeological site of Ephesus. This site is one of the best preserved classical Greek cities. Have a look!
You’ll need one full day to visit the site and I recommend you getting audio guides. You might stay another day to visit the Ephesus Museum, the Basilica of St. John and Virgin Mary’s house.
My golden tip about Selcuk is here to stay. If you want to feel like you’re part of a local family, stay in the Homeros pension. I believe others had the same great experience, click here for some reviews.
I hope you have enjoyed your trip so far. I’ll leave what I consider to be the best of Turkey for next week’s post. Stay tuned for tips about Pamukkale and Cappadocia!
1 Comment
November 18, 2009 at 2:45 am
[...] post 3#: Where to go on your next vacation? Turkey part III Jump to Comments In previous posts I shared some tips about travelling to Turkey. This is the third and last of this series and I will [...]