Turkey in April - more planning!
Replies: 5 - Last Post: Feb 15, 2013 11:04 PM Last Post By: swampeastmike
jump to
Turkey in April - more planning!
To all the very helpful members of this forum,We have been researching and discussing our itinerary and have looked at bus company websites to get an idea of bus timetables but have found them somewhat confusing. If I could again ask I for some help I would be very grateful. We have decided not to hire a car.
Our tentative itinerary is:
Sunday April 7 - Fly Istanbul to Izmir and airline shuttle to Selcuk ( 4 nights).
Thursday April 11 – Morning ? bus to Pamukkale ( I night)
Friday 12 – bus to Antalya ( 4 nights)
Tuesday 16 – bus to Konya ( 2 nights)
Thursday 18 – bus to Goreme or Urgup ( 3 nights)
Sunday 21 – fly back to Istanbul from Kayseri
The stops in Pamukkale and Konya are to break up long bus journeys and see the some of the sights at each location. We would otherwise generally prefer to spend at least 3 nights at a particular location to settle in and relax.
So my questions are:
Is there a morning bus Selcuk to Denizil/Pamukkale that would allow enough time in the afternoon to see Pamukkale/Hieropolis?
Is there a morning bus Antalya to Konya that would allow us most of the afternoon to see some of Konya and then leave the next day for Cappadocia or should be spend 2 nights and a whole day in Konya? Is our time better spent in Konya or an extra day in Cappadocia? We enjoy a mix of culture/history/good food in cities and also getting out of the big cities for a walk in the fresh air. We will be spending 9 days in Istanbul. I know the answer to this question is somewhat subjective but I am interested in your opinions.
I guess my main concern is to get an idea of what is possible bus wise.
Thankyou
Peter
1
Hello Peter,good to see you plans are really taking shape now.Don't worry about not having a car,it is nice to have but not essential,you'll manage perfectly well on the buses.From Selçuk to Denizli(for Pamukkale)there are no really early buses-unless you are prepared to first go into Aydın an hour away.No biggie but let's look at the easier options first.Pamukkale Turizm don't have an early bus but theydo have a mid afternoon one so it could beworth going on the previous afternoon instead to allow you more time at Pamukkale.Dep.15.30,arr.19.50.This bus actually goes up to Pamukkale village too which is good for you rather than just to Denizli.Cost 22TL.
https://www.pamukkaleturizm.com.tr/vizyon2010/Pages/SeferSorgula.pk?PbScgIVNzrhjnukGcUjfNjRZ%2bejeX1YDS4SvIqRKI712oB5f%2b%2bCohSYGdZBlBsux#aTop
Kamil Koç have just one at 09.30 arr.12.45 into Denizli and then you need to take the local bus up to the village.c.25 minutes.
https://secure.kamilkoc.com.tr/SeferSorgula.aspx?k=1294&v=1227&g=1-3-2013&yks=1
There are trains too which is a nice travel mode here.There is one at 09.01 arr.12.00.or,if you go the evening before there is one at 17.57 arr.21.02.Again you would need to take the bus up to the village.The train stations in both Selçuk and Denizli are right in the centre of town.
http://www.seat61.com/Turkey2.htm#Izmir - Ephesus - Pamukkale
Arriving the evening before would give you a full day at (get up as early as you want) ready to move on that evening to Antalya.However,rather than rush through I'd recommend cutting Konya down to 1 day and use that extra day here instead.Aisde from the travertines and Hierapolis you could go to see Laodecia,and maybe use the other day to take tour to Aphrodisias.
For the bus to Antalya you will need to go back into Denizli to the otogar.It is a 4 hour journey so don't leave too late.Metro Turizm have this at 16.30 arr.21.00,cost 30TL-
https://online.metroturizm.com.tr/BuyTicket.aspx?f=DENIZLI&t=ANTALYA&d=02.03.2013
Here also 16.30 and 19.00 too-
https://secure.kamilkoc.com.tr/SeferSorgula.aspx?k=1227&v=1143&g=2-3-2013&yks=1
and these too at 16.30-
http://eticket.ipektr.com/firms_10/Kara2.aspx?175200184166186203178194178228250224215190184160206199156216178228242224181156184182178200228163165187177217183177224209156198178200228155187203155183215155224203156198178174228242250241243252250243252250242155
Antalya to Konya,there is this one at 09.00 arr.c.13.00.Most others are much later in the day.
http://www.kontur.com.tr/Bilet.php
You should be able to look around that afternoon and again next morning moving on to Cappadocia around lunchtime or just after for that 3½ hour run.Buses are frequent,here are a few examples...may this at 16.00(cost 30TL)-
https://online.metroturizm.com.tr/BuyTicket.aspx?f=KONYA&t=NEVSEHIR&d=02.03.2013
or maybe one of these at 13.30 or 17.00
http://eticket.ipektr.com/firms_68/Kara2.aspx?834859843825845862837853837887909883874849843819865858815875837887901883840815843841837859887840848846874814883868815857837859887828851857825845825883862815857837833887901909900902911909902911909900814
I mentioned earlier stealing a day from here but perhaps you want to use 1 day to visit Çatal Höyük I don't know.
For flights back to Istanbul Atlasjet have one into Ataturk airport at 19.50 arr.21.15 giving you virtually the whole of that day to use.Flight number KK-75 and prices are a steal at c.64TL!They also have an earlier one for the same price at 17.00 arr.18.15 KK-73
https://www.atlasjet.com/AtlasjetWeb/availability.kk
I'd get these booked asap as they'll go quickly,business class is already full on each flight.
Hope all this answers you questions okay.
5
The things you say you enjoy and want to do are not, in my opinion, particularly good matches for some of your destinations.Antalya, in particular, may not be what you are thinking. In the words of the private guide we hired for touring that region when we arrived in the city, "Welcome to a city of 1,000,000 people where tourism is the economy." Outside of Kaleçi (the small, original, historic area of the city) everything is modern and almost exclusively geared to foreign mass tourism and beach holidays. There are a great number of sites of both ancient and natural interest fairly close to Antalya but many are difficult (if not impossible) to access via public transportation. With 4 nights and 2-3 full days, I daresay that you would not be able to both "settle in" and visit other sites. We did greatly enjoy five nights "settling in" in Antalya (actually Kaleçi) but that was after spending a week with our guide touring the area--and we have returned to the area twice since to see and do things we had to pass by or rush through on the first visit! There are numerous coastal towns to the south of Antalya that I believe may better suit your desires.
Konya is also a large city (1,000,000+) that has experienced rather recent and rapid growth of the commercial/industrial variety. It is wonderfully neat and clean (perhaps this has something to do with it being considered the most conservative city in western Turkey). Perhaps the two things of greatest interest to tourists are the truly authentic whirling dervish performances (NOT daily) and the old Selçuk buildings in the original city center. While Konya is nearly half-way point between Antalya and Cappadocia, perhaps consider Eğirdir (near Isparta and on a lake of the same name) as a place to "break up" the long bus ride. While a tourist town, it is almost exclusively Turkish and the surrounding area is naturally beautiful. If you can find bus connections between Isparta and Cappadocia leaving in the afternoon, you will not miss anything in the way of beautiful scenery after dark and still arrive before terribly late at night.
