Istanbul Cappadoccia & Ephesus in December 16/Januarry 2017

I plan on travelling to Turkey with my husband for 14 days in December/January 2017. We plan on visiting Istanbul, Cappadoccia and Ephesus. We prefer to stay in self-contained apartments (where possible), and we don't mind travelling by public transport including buses, trains or flights (if more economical).

I need some assistance in planning the itinerary, what would be the most economical way to visit these three places? We intend to fly in to Istanbul Ataturk Airport. Where to from there and how many nights should we spend in each city? I have been to Istanbul before and I have a good picture on what to expect, but my husband hasn't.

Would be interested in your views about the proposed itinerary and what budget should we plan for this 14-day trip.

Thank you

Firstly welcome to the forum :)
I guess coming from Australia you are looking to escape your hot summer weather but do be aware it will be cold here,possibly you'll see some rain and in Cappadocia particularly highly likely to see at least some snow.So for clothing think warm layers that you can peel on and off topped off with a warm waterproof coat,a hat,scarve and gloves-and bring lot's of socks with you!

I don't know when you last visited Istanbul but the city changes and improves all the time so there could well be things that you haven't seen since your last visit.So ideally allow 5 full days for this huge city.

Selçuk Ephesus makes a good base for visiting other places too so maybe allow 3-4 days there.You could go to Şirince, Pamukkale,Izmir,Bergama(on a longish but doable day) and Aphrodisias.Thankfully this is where you are likely to see the best of the weather.Although it rains it seldom gets snow.

Cappadocia...one of the great joys here is walking in the many valleys but it will depend on the weather how much you can do.If deep winter comes early some valleys may be blocked but there is no telling what the weather could do,it could be a mild winter in which case you may not see any snow,or only a sprinkling.But I would think 3 full,well planned days should be enough in winter.

So Ist.5 + Selçuk 4 + Capp. 3 =12 so maybe you could increase Istanbul a day to allow you to take a day trip maybe to Bursa for example.And you could add an extra day to Cappadocia to include a visit to Konya .this depends on your interests,youll know best.

In winter time flying is the better option especially if the roads are bad with snow.All of these are long overnight journies by bus plus,whilst our domestic airlines are always very economical, in winter time they are even more so.You could well find that flights work out cheaper than the bus in many cases :)
Istanbul to Cappadocia 10 hours by bus,80 minutes by air.Istanbul to Izmir 9 hours by bus ,60 minutes by air.Cappadocia to Izmir 12 hours by bus 90 minutes by air.No comparison really is there?BTW,on this route there are no trains that would benefit you particularly.If you like train rides then we can slot some in but you'd be no better off either time or money-wise.

As you'll know Istanbul is served by 2 airports and the cheapest and most frequent flights go from SAW on the Asian side.Cappadocia too is served by two airports-Nevşehir and Kayseri and again the latter has the cheapest and most frequent flights.Turkish Airlines,Anadolujet,Pegasus and AtlasGlobal cover the route
There are direct flights between Kayseri and Izmir but these are not daily so you would need to see how flights work out against your travel dates.Pegasus and Sun Express cover the route.
Flights between Istanbul and Izmir and virtually hourly with all the above carriers plus Borajet too so you have plenty of choice there.
Just a thought;if you decide to include Pamukkale -and also visit Laodecia too when there to make a proper mini trip ,then you could fly back to Istanbul from nearby Denizli airport.Flights from there go into both Istanbul's airports and are with Pegaus,Turkish Airlines and AtlasGlobal.And if you do go to Pamukkale then the ride from Selçuk can be by bus or train,both very cheap.

For transfers to and from airports you'll have a choice of public transport,transfer companies like Havataş and Havaş and also private transfer companies who run shared shuttle buses (particularly in Cappadocia and Pamukkale)these typically cost around 20T.L per person ,are door to door and reliable.

You'll be able to find apartments in all the places you intend to visit and Airbnb.com is well represented all over Turkey nowadays plus of course booking like Booking.com,Agoda etc.,and at that time of year you should be able to find very cheap accomodation,even more so this year as tourism has been so quiet.

I would suggest that upon arrival you try to move on to your first destination immediately and save huge Istanbul to the end.I know you'll be pretty D.O.A :) after a long haul flight but you know what Istanbul is like and so will know it isn't the ideal spot to recover from jetlag,much better to do that some where quieter such as a Cappadocia village or peaceful Selçuk.Of course this will dpened on your arrival time and what suitable flights are available but defo worth considering.Those who've done this are always pleased they did.

So now you can start checking out domestic flights to see what prices are like and how they fit your budget.Do check the airlines' own web sites for best prices and most up to date schedules though.Hope all this is a help to you!

We're also going for 2 weeks in Dec/January! We've decided on this itinerary:

Day 1- arrive to Istanbul 5:15pm and wait for flight to Keyseri at 9:20. Take shuttle to Goreme.
Day 2-6- Cappadocia
Day 6- fly to Izmir in the late afternoon and take shuttle to Selçuk
Day 7- Ephesus
Day 8- afternoon bus to Denizli
Day 9- Pamukkale in morning and fly to Istanbul from Denizli in the evening
Day 10-14 Istanbul; late night flight back

Thanks Lauren :)

Just wondering why you're staying so long in Cappadoccia, and so short in Istanbul?

Great insights and suggestions.

Thanks very much!!

Thanks Lauren :)

Just wondering why you're staying so long in Cappadoccia, and so short in Istanbul?

We're actually staying the same amount of time in both places, 5 nights. But our first night in Cappadocia is a very late one, arriving at 11pm, and we leave mid-day. So really only 3 full days. Our time in Istanbul is 5 full days, since we arrive there on a Saturday night and our flight doesn't leave until 1:10am on Friday. We chose it that way because the days in Cappadocia will be pretty cold and short, so we wanted an extra day to not have to rush to see the things we want.

With 5 full days in Istanbul we're hoping to see a lot but I know we won't see everything (that's impossible!)!

Thank you Lauren

Do you have any concerns about the safety in Turkey in the wake of current situation, and do you think that might affect your travel plans?

I am starting to re-consider my plans as the Australian Government issued a 'high degree of caution' travel advice for several areas of Turkey, including Istanbul.

They also carry the same warning but for the whole of France.If you were going there would you have the same concerns?Istanbul is a vast city(bigger than Holland!)with some 18 million inhabitants so it is a city where one should exercise a high degree of caution at any time.
Currently meetings and marches etc.are banned in several cities(Istanbul,Ankara,Izmir and Gaziantep) due to intelligence recieved suggesting the possiblity of terrorist attacks over the coming month and to this end security forces over the past few days have rounded up a considerable number suspects.So we can say that everything possible is being done by a very experienced force to ensure attacks don't become a reality.
There is every chance you will have a peaceful,trouble-free visit but of course each person decide for themselves on this issue.

Yes, thank you for the advice Sarikanarya. You probably have a different perspective as you live in Turkey, so that is useful. I would love to spend more time in Turkey, but, at the same time, I want my trip to be enjoyable and worry free.

Hi Dzeni7a I have just returned from Istanbul this week, and was actually fortunate enough to be there in August for 2 weeks to just after the failed military coup had calmed down. I ignored all the Australian government warnings not to go to Istanbul and obviously took as much caution as possible to stay away from crowded areas. Coming back this week Istanbul is still very quiet compared to how I've seen it in past years and it was totally fine. My elderly Mum walked around with me and didn't feel as stressed as she did 6 years prior.

Istanbul is a huge city - way bigger than Melbourne. If anything was to happen it would just have to be bad luck and your timing. We shouldn't hold back from visiting this lovely country. The locals need us, our currency is strong against the lira and you'll love it even more without crowds. I am already missing my friends and wishing I was back there. Feel free to PM me if you would like a private apartment Airbnb recommendation on the Asian side in a safe area and 7 stops up from the touristic sights you'll potentially visit in Sultanahmet. I also know a pretty good hotel option too (both along the very frequented tram line).

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