honeymoon help - part 1

There's no major reason to go to Ankara (and you can't fly from Ankara to Cappadocia - you have to take a bus, unless you want to fly via Istanbul). I would stick to 3½ days in Istanbul, where there's lots to do, and 3 days in Cappadocia. The usual advice on this forum is to travel to Cappadocia right away, and return to Istanbul - from where you will be taking your onward flights anyway.

I concur with Thomas.Your visit here is very short for such a huge country and,whilst Ankara is a nice city with things to see,I wouldn't say it is a priority on such a short stay.Istanbul on the other hand has more than enough to fill 3½ days and indeed you'll only scratch the surface of the major must see's there in that time.
Heading directly to Cappadocia is also a good idea but of course the ability to do this will depend on what time you arrive and if there are suitable connecting flights.I'm assuming you fly into Istanbul Ataturk airport do you?So check flights from there to both Nevşehir and Kayseri airports,both serve Cappadocia and try to allow a clear 3 hour gap between international landing and domestic take off,anything much less than that can be a bit nerve wracking :)

I can't find Part 3 (Maldives) and Part 4 (Dubai) yet, but judging by Part 1 (Turkey) and Part 2 (Egypt--to which I replied this morning) please accept this piece of advice from an experienced international traveler: It appears that you are trying to do FAR too much FAR too quickly. So far it looks like you haven't included anything for the R&R phase of a honeymoon--romance and relaxation. Perhaps you intend that for Dubai--if so do be aware that Dubai is an extremely expensive place and even in October it will still be very hot and hideously humid. Those things like an indoor ski slope and man-made "designer" islands don't come for cheap you know. You'll also have very little if any contact with the real people of Dubai as they import their workers from places like Sri Lanka and India where the people can handle the unimaginable summer heat while working for peanuts and living in very poor conditions as they serve the whims of oil-rich Arabs. Of course the architecture is literally fantastic :) Perhaps the Maldives are the R&R portion. I have no knowledge of that location.

Now an important question: Presuming you are flying from the USA (which time zone?), what is your first destination? If Turkey or Egypt where have you allowed time to adjust to the time change of anywhere from 7-11 hours? Please accept the advice from a frequent traveler from the USA to that area when I say that adrenaline and excitement can only last so long before the jet-lag hits--HARD. The more you try to fight it the longer it takes to recover. If you're sensible and plan for at least a half day for recovery (and the two of you might need it at different times) you'll most likely be highly appreciative of this advice.

BTW, if you haven't made airline reservations yet, I cannot give higher recommendation than to use Turkish Airlines as much as possible and most certainly for USA - Turkey. They have non-stop flights from six or more US cities from NYC to LA. Excellent food (always included) and free beverages of all kinds on international flights.

Now back to Turkey: Personally and from a great deal of experience I suggest that you somehow add two or more days to your time in Istanbul--most certainly if such is your first destination after a long-haul flight. The time- and money-saving Istanbul Pass is valid for 72 hours (three days). It gets you into most of the major sites in the Sultanahmet area (the amazing Basilica Cistern is a very noteworthy exception) and it takes nearly every bit of that time to visit what is included unless you fly through so quickly that your eyes scarcely have time to focus... I've spent well more than a month in total in Istanbul across many visits and will be there tomorrow for another week. Guess what? There is STILL much of interest for us to see and do for the FIRST time and other places to visit for the second or greater time! I say this as a "country" person--I've lived in SE Missouri most of my life--who doesn't care much for most large cities both within and without the USA.

Your three days for Cappadocia is reasonable but not generous--in fact it is about the only place in your itinerary that I've seen so far that (to me) has a reasonable amount of time devoted.

good advice from all. this is the plan, but we haven't booked anything yet. we will clearly adjust based upon all of the recommendations. the R&R portion will be in the maldives and our last two trips were in st. lucia and st. bart's - very R&R. we want this trip to be a little more adventurous.

many thanks and keep the tips & advice coming - cheers!

So far it looks like a lot of your "adventure" will amount to getting to, through and from airports :(

I'm going to assume Istanbul is your first destination as it is #1 on your list. If so, I do very much suggest that you IMMEDIATELY fly to Cappadocia (either Kayseri or Nevşehir). Between the two you can ordinarily get a convenient connecting flight with a very short layover. It's a one-hour flight and even if you have to take the one that arrives in Kayseri about 01:00 I still say that Cappadocia is a FAR better place to recover from jet lag than Istanbul! One short domestic flight after the long haul doesn't make much difference (we've done it many times).

3 1/2 days (not counting the arrival day) in Cappadocia followed by three FULL days in Istanbul will be barely enough. I'd really try to extend Istanbul to at least four FULL days.

We just visited Egypt (from Istanbul) a little more than two weeks ago. We went to Luxor first, then Cairo and it seemed to work well. I searched hard for good flight and connection times and found only one: Turkish Airlines IST-CAI at about 06:30 (03:30 a.m. wake-up time ARGGH!) followed by Egyptian Air (the only choice) to Luxor. We arrived in Luxor shortly after noon and were at our hotel and in the swimming pool at about 14:00.

You are definitely short changing yourselves if you only stay in Istanbul for 2.5 days. We were there recently and spent 4 full days including the day we arrived. Our flight got us into Istanbul at 9:30am so we basically had the whole day to explore. That first day was spent walking around and enjoying the city. We stayed in Sultanahmet so all the major sites were within easy walking distance. On the subsequent days we visited the sites using our Museum Pass. Even with 4 days we did not even get to the Galata Tower or Taksim Square. Cappadocia is well worth spending time in. We stayed in Goreme and found it to be very central for several walks and also the balloon trip.

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