TURKEY

Travel information and tips for Turkey

We present on this page Complete information, photo and travel diary on the wonderful Turkey.
Why go? Unique monuments and landscapes, clear sea, good food (symptom of a culture to know and appreciate). With so many possible destinations and itineraries, it is easy to organize the journey. Remembering to keep away from the south-eastern borders (Syria and Iraq in particular) and always follow the latest news, Turkey is a safe country to visit and the population is friendly and ready to help.

When to go? possibly at the beginning or at the end of the summer, but it depends on the travel itinerary: depending on the activities you want to do, it can be fine all year. You have no excuses, in short.
How to move? For a perfect holiday: public transport in Istanbul where traffic reaches madness; the economy internal flights to reach Cappadocia or the southern coast; The car to explore the interior and coasts in freedom.
To rent a car here at the best prices for your travel itinerary I absolutely recommend by Search And book this link .
How much does it cost? flights to Istanbul from Italy to 200 euros, and internal flights to less than 100. The rental of a car is very cheap if you travel in more people. There are luxurious hotels, especially in the center of Istanbul, but you can find it to sleep and eat at really affordable prices. I repeat, you have no excuses not to go on vacation in Turkey :)
For an idea on hotel prices in Turkey Click here to compare hotels and find the most convenient accommodation.

Where to go? After the lively Istanbul and its monuments, we recommend a travel itinerary by car between the nature and history of Cappadocia (a paradise for trekking) and the beaches near Fethiye, passing through the surprising pamukkale.
Other destinations? The very long coast of Turkey, the islands, ancient cities and ruins, mountains and canyons: there are several good reasons to stretch your trip to Turkey, or to go back.

Turkey: photo and travel diary

Here are some photos and experiences taken from my travel itinerary in Turkey a few years ago. We left in June, without knowing which part of this country between Europe and Asia would have fascinated us more, and indeed discovered that there was spoiled for the choice between cultural, landscape and sea travel itineraries.
we landed in Istanbul And train and metro brought us comfortably to the city center, where we had booked our hotel (Sultan's Inn, a stone's throw from the Blue Mosque). The room was elegant, especially given the price of 60 euros per night, and a beautiful roof terrace of the hotel allowed to admire a panorama that went from the Marmara Sea to the domes of the Blue Mosque.

We immediately went out to explore the fascinating city and officially start the holiday. We started with the two most impressive and important buildings, Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque , which deserve all their fame.

Then wandering through the center of Istanbul, following markets and monuments to enjoy a warm sunset from the Galata bridge over the golden horn cove.

Dinner introduced us to the amazing Turkish appetizers made of salads and flavors of all kinds, to which we followed the meat, and the day after even the typical breakfast with yogurt and sweets we liked it a lot. Istanbul overlooks the Strait of the Bosphorus , which connects the Mar of Marmara and the Black Sea. With a boat trip you can admire anse, villas and castles. On the way back, we visited the Galata tower and enjoyed his beautiful city view.

We then stopped to eat at a table on the road of Nevizade, famous for gastronomy, lively and very touristy.

The center had a wonderful atmosphere and walking through the streets of the city we always felt safe.
The next day, after another abundant breakfast, our itinerary in Istanbul continued with a visit to the Topkapi Palace , great royal residence rich to the widespread of ornaments and magnificence.

We spent most of the day in the shining former Sultani residence. We then visited the huge Underground Roman cistern called Basilica cistern. It is a vast underground space, supported by columns, which almost two millennia refills the aqueduct. Even today there is a half meter of water on the bottom, in which numerous fish live. A strange place to visit.

We took a ride for the souk of Istanbul - a quiet place, not in my opinion of confusion, smells and charm of other Asian or African markets.
In the evening, we lived a succulent evening in A Greek restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet, where we spent 35 euros each, in general too much for Istanbul, but we were swallowed with dozens and dozens of different appetizers, a tastier and more original and original appetizers.
On June 16th we had just the Time for a short ride in the neighborhood on the Marmara Sea south of our hotel. It was a less monumental and poorest area, but more representative of Turkish life. We then went to the airport and flyed (with the help of a Turkish Airlines plane) to Kayseri and the Cappadocia , next destination of our travel itinerary in Turkey. In Kayseri we retired our car, rented by Hertz at a good price, but with the necessary increase & quot; One way & quot; Because we would have returned the car in Dalaman, on the east coast.

Go from Istanbul to Cappadocia - which also means moving from Europe to Asia - was rather shocking. No more traffic or urbanization, but a nature free of logic and common sense, with those rocks exited by a fairy tale. We came to the fascinating village of Uchisar and then get to Goreme, where our hotel was. These countries built among fairy chimneys, or inside the fairies (which would be the poetic name of the tuff pinnacles that make the Cappadocia unique in the world), are incredible . Our hotel was a wonderful building between absurd rock formations and we were pleased with choice.

In the evening Goreme was quiet, especially compared to Istanbul, and as a tourist he kept a more authentic charm of what we could see in the center of the capital. Also dine with a typical kebab cost little.
In the hotel we booked for the next morning a hot air balloon tour with the company Goreme Balloons, an unmissable experience for a holiday in Cappadocia, despite the price of 130 euros each.

Così, ci We got up at dawn, a bus passed us to take and took us to a plain covered with hundreds of hot air balloons . Our, half swollen and colorful, awaited us. We mounted in the basket along with another dozen people, so the pilot increased the burner flame that inflated the ball and hover in the air.

Fluttuare in aria, Ten or a hundred meters from the ground, driven by the only wind force, it is a strongly recommended experience to those who do not suffer from vertigo . The wonderful panorama of the Cappadocia and the view of other dozens of balloons in flight made the show even more spectacular.

The dawn wind pushed us, as per the expected itinerary, above the fairy chimneys, then near Uchisar and beautiful valleys.

L'atterraggio della mongolfiera fu divertente: noi turisti stavamo ben rintanati nel cesto mentre questo He banged repeatedly at the ground, not too much violence but even lightly. When finally the race stopped, we left the balloon tossed but extremely satisfied with the incredible experience. All the most interesting tours leave at dawn, so the lift is recommended, and then stays all day to explore the region.

We headed towards the so-called Goreme open-air museum , a UNESCO site that contains some fairy chimneys used in the Middle Ages as churches and therefore particularly picturesque for internal decorations. Then we walked in the valley of love (so called because the rock formations seem enormous penises) and in the valley of roses, from which we enjoyed the sunset.

We spent two and a half days to a zonzo for canyon and plains, without forgetting characteristic villages. We pushed to the underground city of Kaymakli , really amazing if you do not suffer from claustrophobia, at the beautiful canyon of Ihlara, ideal for walking, and at the nearby village of Selime, with its amazing natural castle.

A rental car is obviously advisable in Cappadocia: a tour would take us very limited as times and movements
was the time to continue our travel itinerary in Turkey. We left the Cappadocia and headed to the east direction, on short traffic roads and practically free of tourists. We took the first break at the Caravanseraraglio of Sulthanani, an impressive building in the middle of nothing where once they stopped to stop the caravans. We had lunch for two euros in a bettola and left. The landscape was now more flat and monotonous, so we were happy when in the late afternoon we arrived at the beautiful Lake Egirdir . We decided to sleep in the town of the same name after a discreet and above all economical fish dinner.

The next day, along the road to the Aegean sea, we stopped at Pamukkale , very popular with vacationers but still spectacular for its originality, with the white limestone waterfalls that form heavenly natural pools. Near the Greek and Roman ruins completed the picture. We were passing, but it's a stage to be added to your travel itinerary, as a tourist.

We then continued towards Fethiye passing through the rocky mountains of woods and Mediterranean scrub. It was almost the sunset when we arrived in view of the sea. We found our hotel and we prepared for the first evening in the sea town. We had chosen Fethiye because - we had read - more characteristic and less touristy than other beach seasideies, such as Bodrum or the gigantic Antalya. In fact, we have not disappointed: there were various tourists, but not too much crowd, and the restaurants outdoors and the liveliness of the center left us satisfied.
We dedicated the first day by the sea to a boat trip between the islands antistant Fethiye: clear water, fascinating bays. We were offered a good fresh fish lunch. In the late afternoon, a ride in the city brought us to the monumental tombs immediately built behind the town.

The next day, instead, we explored the coast, before the Oludeniz beach - beautiful, but too touristy - so a view of the butterflies valley , which is a deep canyon that He reaches the sea, finally relaxing on the beach of Patara, which is long kilometers and for this reason never crowded, and that was the last goal of our travel itinerary in Turkey.

With another great dinner in Fethiye we spent our last Turkish evening. The next day we returned the car to the Dalaman Airport (no one explained to those who deliver it, annoying disservice that we solved leaving the car in a parking lot with the keys in the dashboard), we took a flight to Istanbul and from here the return plane for Genoa .
And so, once again, the journey ended up, but you have to admit there is worse, in life: for example, never started! If you like these wild trips or if you want to find more photos of this and other destinations, as well as advice and new itineraries, visit our FB page and put like: