Family trip to Turkey in July 2017

Welcome back to TT! I remember you posting up for your Istanbul visit a couple of years and it's nice to learn you're returning.As you know July is the hottest time of year here so somewhere cool and green in the mountains sounds perfect to me :) But where?There are a few area's which could be good for you depending on how you want to/can travel within Turkey and also your interests too.

Firstly there is the beautiful and ancient history-rich Kazdağı National Park(Mount Ida of mytholgy) which is located close by Edremit on the northern Aegean coastal area.Kazdağ has one of the highest oxgen levels in Turkey and the area is richly green and threaded with mountain streams.Several of the villages now have small hotels and pensions in them. This would be a good base for visiting Çanakkale,Bergama,Assos Behramkale and Ayvalık so there is plnety to keep you occupied there.
There are flights from Istanbul to Edremit Körfez airport with Borajet otherwise you can take the bus instead depending on your budget.Or you can take the ferry to Bandıma and then a bus from there to Edremit.One thing I would say is that having a hire car here would be a big advantage but that will be true for any area of the type you seek.

Next there is Bolu Abant Lake National Park area.This can be reached by bus from Istanbul in c.4 hours.The mountain top volcanic lake is beautiful and there are hotels and pensions to suit every pocket surrounding it.From here you can visit Yedigöller National Park,Bolu city itself and also Murdunu and Göynuk two lovely small market towns with many examples of traditional wooden Ottoman houses.The drive from Abant Lake to Göynuk is probably one of the loveliest drives in all Turkey!Safranbolu is also doable only a couple of hours away to the northeast.

Then we come to the far northeast of Trabzon,Rize and the Kaçkar Mountain National Park.You would need to fly from Istanbul in to Trabzon for this area and you can find traditional wood cabin accomodation in places like Çamlıhemşin,Yusufeli and Ayder Yaylası(a famous high plateau).From here you can go walking and also by car visit Üzüngöl and Artvin to see Fırtina Valley(storm valley)here the mighty Çoruh River crashes through.

That gives you three interesting idea's to research all easily reachable from Istanbul by various transport methods and covering various interests.Here is a bit of extra info on each of them for you to read-
http://bestturkeyholidays.com/mount-ida-kaz-daglari-turkey/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ida_(Turkey)

http://www.kulturturizm.gov.tr/EN,99813/bolu---abant-lake.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2049143/Turkey-holidays-Leave-Istanbul-venture-surrounding-countryside.html
https://pointwhitedrive.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/lake-abant-and-yedigoller-national-park/

http://www.karalahana.com/

So there you are....spoilt for choice :)

Thank you. Think I hit the jackpot. A wealth of information and a wealth of information.

Regards,

Saeed.

"we would travel to some interesting sites"

If you're based in the mountains and want to go sightseeing, I think you might need a car.
Another place that might suit - the Ali Pasha Lodge in Akseki

Thank you. Valuable advice.

Regards,

Saeed.

Yet another place:

Sagalassos

Sagalassos is about 20 km from the city of Isparta near the village of Ağlasun. It's one of the most recently opened and most amazing ancient Roman cities in Turkey. It's also rather remote ensuring that it is never close to crowded. It is on a mountaintop and surrounded by beautiful cherry orchards.

It is a beautiful natural area with lots of lakes. The nearby town of Eğirdir at the SW corner of a lake of the same name is a great place to enjoy scenic beauty, swimming, and good food while staying in nice, inexpensive family run pensions on the little island. Eğirdir sees few international tourists but is very popular (especially on weekends) with Turks.

A nice cave, some national parks, a beautiful canyon, nice cool streams and wonderful scenery are all nearby.

The only accommodation near Sagalassos is Sagalassos Lodge and Spa. It is new, very nice and reasonably priced.

You would be best to have a car and Denizli is probably the best airport to use. If you have not yet visited Pamukkale it is very near Denizli.

Thank you. Looks tempting too.

Thank you all for the valuable advice. I believe we will follow the suggestions from sarikanarya :
"Then we come to the far northeast of Trabzon,Rize and the Kaçkar Mountain National Park.You would need to fly from Istanbul in to Trabzon for this area and you can find traditional wood cabin accomodation in places like Çamlıhemşin,Yusufeli and Ayder Yaylası(a famous high plateau).From here you can go walking and also by car visit Üzüngöl and Artvin to see Fırtina Valley(storm valley)here the mighty Çoruh River crashes through."

I think we will fly from Istanbul to Trabzon, hire a car and drive around the area for 5 days, and then fly back to Istanbul. Saw some really neat videos by some Saudis who visited there: https://youtu.be/7-WGs1jMM_Q

Thanks again. Can't wait.

A beautiful choice and an ideal time of year to visit that region.The link I gave you-Karalahana web site, is the best one for the Karadeniz area so do spend some time looking through all the various sections;it is chock full of great info.
One point;Sumela Monastery,just south of Trabzon is currently closed for renovations.It should have opened last month but work isn't finished yet and I guess it will be late spring now before it does finally open.Hopefully by the time you arrive it should be open again.

I spent a week in that area this June (my 2nd visit to the region) and other than a few days of constant heavy rain (unusual for that time and very rare for mid-summer) it was great.

Place up in the green (north) side of the mountains (like Ayder Yaylası and Üzüngöl) are extremely popular weekend (Saturday/Sunday) places for the Turks and there will be no Ramazan conflict in 2017. Despite general downturns in tourism in the last couple years Arab tourists continue as before. It is quite close to Arabie with lush greenery and also a general "family place" where alcohol is rarely served in public places and unmarried couples may find it difficult to share a room.