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Elysee Cave House:
Stayed here for three nights in July 2024
- Pros:
- 1) The tariff is cheap. It is one of the cheapest options we could find.
- 2) The location is great. It is at a walkable distance to the town centre.
- 3) Parking is limited, but at least there are some. Many hotels do not even have these many spots.
- 4) It is reasonably quiet at night.
- 5) The front desk was extremely helpful and the main staff could speak Hindi.
- 6) They have laundry service and delivered our clothes on time, as promised.
- 7) The WIFI connectivity and speed were good.
- 8) The place is very clean.
- Cons:
- 1) The bathroom is very tiny with no space to take a proper shower.
- 2) There is no fan/AC in the room and it gets very hot even as early as 7 am.
- 3) Not all rooms are real caves. Ours looked like a regular concrete room made to look like a cave on the inside.
- 4) Breakfast is served late. It only starts at 8 am.
- Hampton, Kayasehir, Istanbul:
We stayed here for one night in July 2024.
- Pros:
- 1) Standard Hampton hotel with clean rooms and bathrooms.
- 2) The breakfast is served early. It was available at 6 am. The spread was good with enough vegetarian options.
- 3) The tariff was reasonable.
- 4) This is the closest hotel we could find to the airport.
- 5) The hotel has a dedicated parking.
- 6) There is a mall next door and plenty of shopping and eating options nearby.
- 7) The WIFI was free with good speed and connectivity.
- 8) The front desk staff was helpful and courteous. And they spoke good English.
- 9) It was very quiet at night and sleep quality was great.
- Cons:
- 1) The hotel is not easy to get to/from the main Istanbul-Edirne highway. It is a bit of a detour to get to/from the hotel if you are looking for a quick overnight stay.
- Cavit Duan Prestige Hotel, Edirne:
We stayed here for one night in July 2024.
- Pros:
- 1) The location is great. It is next to a shopping centre and a short distance for other eating/shopping options.
- 2) All the sites of Edirne are a short walk away.
- 3) The front desk staff is very helpful and courteous and spoke good English.
- 4) There is ample on-site secured parking.
- 5) The rooftop restaurant is good serving vegetarian dishes.
- 6) The WIFI is free with good speed and connctivity.
- 7) The rooms and bathrooms are spacious and clean.
- 8) The tariff is reasonable.
- 9) The place is quiet at night and the sleep quality was great.
- Cons:
- 1) The breakfast starts at 7:30. We prefer an earlier start.
- Ibis, Bursa:
Stayed here for one night in July 2024.
- Pros:
- 1) Rooms and bathrooms were clean.
- 2) Breakfast starts early (6:30 am). The spread was great with good vegetarian options.
- 3) The kitchen is open all day and the food was good.
- 4) The front desk staff was helpful, courteous and spoke excellent English.
- 5) The WIFI was free with good connectivity and speed.
- 6) The tariff was reasonable.
- 7) The place was quiet at night and the sleep quality was great.
- 8) There is ample on-site secured parking.
- Cons:
- 1) There was a strong cigarette smell in our room despite the room being a non-smoking room.
- 2) The location is far from the town centre. There is hardly anything near the hotel. You are stuck with the hotel restaurant if you do not have personal transportation.
- Marmara Guest House, Istanbul:
Stayed here for two nights in July 2024.
- Pros:
- 1) The hotel is located within a short walk from the seaside, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace.
- 2) Breakfast spread is good with good vegetarian options.
- 3) The tariff is a bit high, but par for the location.
- 4) There is plenty of eating options close to the hotel.
- 5) The front desk is manned 24 hours and the staff was courteous and helpful and spoke excellent English. They helped with all our travel needs.
- 6) They have laundry service and delivered our clothes on time. There is also a laundry shop right next door.
- 7) The room and bathroom were very clean and our room decor was great.
- 8) The WIFI was free with good connectivity and speed.
- 9) The place is quiet at night with good sleep quality.
- Cons:
- 1) Breakfast starts late. It only starts at 8 am.
- 2) The view from the rooftop is not the best in town.
- 3) Parking is very limited in the vicinity of the hotel.
- 4) There is no lift in the hotel. That too seems par for the location.
We rented a car with AVEC Car Rentals in Kayseri for our Cappadocia trip, with Sixt in Istanbul for our Northwest Turkey trip. We did get cars in great condition everywhere and the make and model we had reserved. The rentals were cheaper than Australia, but costlier than the US. Driving was easy. The traffic was light (everywhere except in Istanbul where we did not drive). Google maps (mostly) worked everywhere. The locals were helpful in finding our way around in the last mile.
Taxis were standard metered rate all over Turkey except in Istanbul. In Istanbul, the drivers would quote astronomical amount and not run by the meter.
Turkey had enough vegetarian options and we could find vegetarian items right on the menu. Doner shops would whip out a veggie doner for you. Gozlemes are mostly vegetaian. Even internal flights served vegetarian food. All the food we tasted were quite delicious.
- Museum Pass
There are several options for Museum Pass. We took the "All of Turkey" 165 Euro pass. It was reasonably widely accepted. But many big hitters like the Hagia Sophia, Dolmabahce weren't. We did see quite a lot of museums and we barely broke even. If you aren't planning to see as many museums as us, this pass is probably not for you.
- Cappadocia
This is the best place in the world for hot-air balloon ride. It is not cheap. If you can afford it, you should definitely do it. We flew with Royal Balloons and we do recommend them. The booking was easy to do on-line and they were very responsive to on-line queries and their balloons were in great condition.
Goreme Open-air Museum: Absolute must-see: If you are doing only one thing, it has to be this museum. This houses the rock cut curches with the best preserved frescoes in entire Cappadocia. Arrive early to beat the crowd.
Derinkuyu Underground City: Must see i.e. you should visit at least one of the underground cities and Derinkuyu is the deepest and the largest of them all.
Eski Gumusler Monastery Should see. This is one of the largest monastery in the region and if you get here, do not miss the Smiling Mary fresco.
Soganli: Can skip. The place is quite hard to get to and the frescoes are not in great conditions. The sites on the way (Keslik and Cemil) are not that great as well.
Zelve Open-air Museum: Should-see. The scenery is more spectacular than the Goreme museum. But the churches have no frescoes of note.
Ihlara Valley: Must-see. The entire walk is 14 kms. Most people walk half the length to Belisirma and take the taxi back. Most of the churches are between the gate no. 1 and Belisirma. This walk will take about 4 hours. But do try to get to the Selime Monastery at the very end of the walk. You can drive there directly.
Guzelyurt: Should-see. The highlights are the views from the panoramic point and the Red Church (which is 6 kms away from the town center). The turn-off to the Red Church is quite hard to find and it is a dirt road to get there.
Red and Rose Valleys: Must-do. It is one of the prettiest hikes in Cappadocia. The trailhead is extremely poorly marked and you are mostly not sure if you are on the right track. Even the people we bumped into on the trek weren’t sure if they were on the right trail. But don’t worry about getting lost in the desert. That will not happen. There is enough footfall and you will find your way back. You just won’t be sure if you had walked the Red valley or the Rose or something entirely new. What we did was to put the Crusader Church on Google Map and walked to it as suggested. That gave us a goal to reach and ensured we walked bits and pieces of both the valleys.
- Kayseri
Kayseri has the best air connections to Istanbul and is the easiest city to fly in and out of. If you can, try take a few hours before/after your flight to check out the Seljuk buildings in the city. There aren’t very many examples of this architecture style on the planet. The Museum of Seljuk Civilisation, Hunat Hatun and Sahabiye Madrassa are the best ones. In the centre lies the well preserved fort/castle whose history goes back to the 3rd c AD.
- Edirne
Must sees include the Selimiye Mosque, Sultan Beyazid II Complex, Old Mosque, Uc Serefli Mosque, Muradiye Mosque and the Grand Synagogue (in the descending order of importance). Do check out some of the famous Ottoman bridges. We went to the Meric and Tunca bridges. One day is sufficient to see all these sites.
- Bursa
Must sees include the Grand Mosque, Yesil Mosque & Tomb, Muradiye Complex, Tophane, Irgandi Bridge and Emir Sultan Mosque (again, in the decreasing order of importance and not proximity to each other). One day is sufficient to see all these sites.
- Istanbul
- Hagia Sophia: The queues could be long. Try to get in early or late to beat the big tour groups. You can avoid the modern History and Experience museum unless you really do not know anything about the building’s history. An hour should be enough.
- Basilica Cistern: Must See. (30 mins). One of the best preserved Byzantine structure in the city.
- Topkapi Palace: Must See (2 to 3 hours). Do not miss the Marble Terraces at the very end.
- Archeological Museums: Should See. 1 hour.
- Dolmabahce Palace: Must See. 2 to 3 hours.
- Blue Mosque: Must See (30 mins). Come early to beat the crowd.
- Suleimaniye Mosque and Fatih Mosque: Should See. They more or less look like the Blue Mosque. Yuo are here mainly for the history.
- Aqueduct of Valens: Should See. You will probably drive under it a few times.
- Chora Church: Must See (30 mins). The frescoes and the mosaics are the best preserved in all of Istanbul.
- Galata Tower: Must See (1 hour). The view from the top is breathtaking.
- Ortakoy Mosque: Must See (30 mins). This is the top Instagram point in the city.
- Grand Bazaar: Must See (as long as you want). The selling is quite aggressive here.
TRIP ITINERARY