Turkey Itineraries

Istanbul demands at least 2 or 3 days of your time. Then take a 6-hour bus ride south to Canakkale to explore the Gallipoli battlefields and the ruins of Troy. Continue south to Selcuk to visit the sprawling ruins of Ephesus, Turkey’s biggest and best-known archeological site. Fly back from Izmir to Istanbul. Alternatively, spend longer in Istanbul and take a day trip west to Edirne, which is chock-a-block with Ottoman mosques and medreses.

Follow the long weekend itinerary; then fly from Istanbul to Kayseri and take a shuttle bus to Goreme, Urgup, or Uchisar to explore Cappadocia. Allow 2 or 3 days to visit the underground cities, the Open Air Museum with frescoed medieval churches cut from the rock, and beautiful Ihlara Valley. Get up early one morning to view the fantastic scenery from a hot-air balloon.

Follow the long weekend itinerary to Selcuk, then cut inland to Pamukkale for a day to see snow-white travertines cut into a hillside, and the ruins of ancient Hierapolis, before continuing south to Fethiye to stay beside the lovely lagoon at Oludeniz (1 day). Take a 3-day gulet cruise from Fethiye to Olympos to relax in a tree house. Then continue to Antalya to visit ancient Perge and Aspendos (2 days), and fly north to Kayseri to explore Cappadocia (2 days).