Hello All,
I'm leaving for Turkey in just under 2 weeks for a month (august 28-september 28th) landing in Istanbul and staying there for a few days. I have just graduated and spent the last few months studying for my board exams, just finished them last week, and have JUST started researching in the LP Turkey, and i'm finding it rather overwhelming to narrow things down. So...here's the thing. I want to see everything. EVERYTHING. but, obviously that is just not possible. I've been reading as many postings on this thorntree forum as i can re: suggestions of places go to in Turkey and i still haven't really been able to narrow anything down. I want a little beach, i want a little ruin-seeing, i want some city, i want some off-the-beaten-track, but i am also a female travelling on my own. With that in mind, ANY advice on the must-see's in Turkey in 4 weeks would be greatly appreciated. I also want to take my time. i don't have the energy of a 19 year old who can do the whirlwind tour.
Thanks everyone!! Much much appreciated!!
Hannah
First place to spend some time - http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/index.html.<BR><BR>Enjoy. It will be great.
To #1 - thank you. I've read lonelyplanet Turkey cover to cover and i'm STILL unable to narrow things down. this website helps. thanks
I guess i should have stated my intentions a little more clearly. when i say i am a single female, i meant to ask for advice as to where i should and should not go in turkey, by myself, as a female. I'm a little new to this Thorntree thing. if anyone has any advice on lone female travellers (preferably through the eyes of another lone female traveller) that would be great too.
hyanglehman - please ignore mcunsal. He's just joined this board, made two postings - and they're both to 'lone female travellers'.
I shall ask the board moderator to remove him. We don't like that sort of thing here.
hiya, I've done lots of travelling around turkey with mates and solo (i'm female). All good.....never had any hassle, although there are certain places i wouldnt go alone eg in the deep south east...
this is quite a nice loop from istanbul - west coast - south coast - central - north coast- istanbul. Definitely all do-able solo.
city - presume you'll be flying in and out of istanbul! nuff said!
ruins: ephesus - the daddy of them all!
beach/sea: carry on down the west coast and either do a blue cruise from fethiye to olimpos - I've always had a fab experience on these, with groups of 10-20, but reading these posts some people seem to have been stuck on massive boats. I'd just rock up do it, rather than book ahead. Never a problem getting on a boat and its generally a really chilled experience, and the sea is much better away from the coast a bit..plus its cooler being on a boat.....
if you dont like boats, butterfly valley (near olu deniz), olimpos and kalkan are nice places for generally chillling near the sea....
unmissable: cappodocia in central turkey, the most amazing landscape and eerie peacefulness.
off the beaten track: from there, go east to kars and see the amazing ruins of Ani, or go north and head to trabzon on the north coast: mountains, white water rafting and the sumela monastery. Kars is fine as a lone female, although getting to ani might be a bit of an issue; if budget is not an issue, we hired a car (easy straight drive), and there was a guide to take us around the ruins. I was with someone but even without it would have felt perfectly safe. Kars is a nice town, didnt feel like a tourist sticking out like a sore thumb there.
the night buses etc are all quite safe, once i went though a whole rigmarole as the staff didnt want me to be sitting next to a male and there was an elaborate seat swapping process - this was for my benefit as they thought i would be uncomfortable as i was travelling alone! (I didnt care but it was nice of them to think about it) I dont know if they still do this. A friend i travelled with did once get pestered on a night bus but she was too english i think to tell him to just sod off, and i was no use as i slept through the whole thing....generally a firm 'bog off' works i think. That was a single occurence in several travels.
hope this helps! going there again myself in october...aaah cant wait.
"I want a little beach, i want a little ruin-seeing, i want some city, i want some off-the-beaten-track"
My suggestions:
City: Definately Istanbul. With excursions to Bursa and Iznik. One week.
Little Beach: Spend one week in Datca peninsula. You can stay in Datca or Marmaris or in smaller villages around.
Off-the-beaten-track : Fly to Rize (Eastern Blacksea) and visit the highlands for trekking. Your base could be Ayder. This agent is experienced in that region: www.bukla.com<BR><BR>Ruin-seeing: While you are in Datca visit Kinedos ruins. Istanbul, Bursa and Iznik have their own attractions in this field.
All should be just safe for you.
Regards
Herman
To annieo123 andHerman1, thank you so much for the advice. I will definitely look further into your suggestions! how exciting!!
GoldenOldie - thanks for getting the lurker off my back :)
thanks again everyone!!
In the spring I spent a week at Sundance Nature Village just by Tekirova (20s on from Kemer) about 1.5 hours west of Antalya . They have simple bungalows and treehouses and some space for camping. There's a lovely big garden and they have their own beach and just across the bay the beautiful site of Phaselis. I was on my own but felt very comfortable and met some interesting people - I think it's particular popular (or better known) amongst Turks and peobably worth checking ahead for availability. If you have a car it's not too far to Myra and Arykanda for ruins. Closer to hand, there's also Olympus and the Chimaera. It's a very chilled place and perfect for taking it easy.
Dear Hannah,
I did a trip alone this spring and based myself in Selcuk, which provided great access to Ephesus/Priene/&Didyma, as well as Pamukkale & Hierapolis. If you're a beach person, you might want to find a place in nearby Kusadasi. Izmir is fun and lovely and an easy bus trip to Bergama (which is incredible) and Sardis (which is being excavated--not so much there now). Have fun. A tip: if you don't want to be pestered, especially in Istanbul, don't even give eye contact to any man who says, "Excuse me, where are you from?"
trusted partner
