What's your favorite or least favorite experience?

This is great info!

There are some places that I didn't even consider that now I'm open to, I really want to see that Samula Monestary and the town of Kars. It's going to be more difficult then I thought to figure out our itinerary - so many places to see so many things to do and not enough time.

#6 - I had something similar happen to me in Paris. But it was some teenage kids prank calling our room asking more or less the same thing, they were staying in separate rooms from their parents. It was all very harmless and they thought they were trying to be funny. If it was a guy working there I would have crapped in my pants if he started banging my door at 2 am with that kind of request.

best:CAPPADOCIA, just beautiful every single inch, goreme,urgup....wonderful sites, views, people. Aplace to remember forever
best:ISTANBUL, acity full of energy and beauty, loved topkapi palace.
worst: Traffic in Istambul, shopping in the grand bazaar what a nightmare....you need to take a class before going there.

Best
The hot air balloon ride over Goreme
Seeing the whirling dervishes
Chatting with the caretaker at Arykanda who shared the apricots he had just picked from his tree and being the only visitors scrambling over the ancient ruins
Sitting at a little cafe in the main square of Kas watching life unfold
Chatting over endless cups of lemon tea with Erhan the rug seller in Urgup.Yes we bought some rugs but got to meet his family and made that human connection

The main thread tying most of my great experiences together was meeting the locals

Worst

I had a great trip, most of it fabulous.The only slightly negative thing was our stay in Side.What a waste of a lovely setting with all the ruins.Too many damn tourists and the soul of the town totally taken over by catering to them

One of the coolest things we saw in Istanbul (and would not have gone if someone had not ecommended it) was the Basilica Cistern. It's across from the Hagia Sophia.

It's amazing to me that the sewers in New York and Chicago don't work, but those that were built centuries years ago are still there!

1. Amazing trip from Istanbul to Gokceada. We took a night bus to Canakkale, then ferry to Eceabat, dolmus to Kabatepe, ferry to Gokceada and dolmus to Kalekoy. Most amazing moment was taking a tea in the dawn, while ferry leaves the Canakkale harbor.
   
   2. Tent-cafe on the top of Kalekoy village on Gokceada, ran by an elderly couple. They didn`t knew any English, neither we knew Turkish, so we had to rely on very simple communication. At one point the old man, eager to make our stay pleasant, brought to us a small flower plant in a pot, and, with a smile, made us feel its scent. I wish them to live 100 years in good health, and I cannot wait to see whether their cafe is still open.
   
   3. Worst...no memory strike me as really, really bad. Low point was trip from Selcuk to Istanbul. Local guy from "Hakiki Koc" bus company was a pile of sleaze who talked about "sexy bus" and lied us about service bus that goes to Taksim. No service bus, and the bus was not so good as other we rode. Caveat "Hakiki Koc"! But they are cheap, though. What you pay is what you get.
   

I have had a number of nice memories of Turkey.

The Hamam at Erzurum was really as good as the LP guide said. It was stiflingly hot, the massage was great, and the young lads there were very pleasant- they couldn't speak English but we managed to communicate somehow with my small command of Turkish.

In Doghubeyazit i stayed at the Saruhan hotel and the young man (owner's son) plied myself and other guests with tea in his little office cum lounge.
It was October & therefore cold in the night, so when i went to bed he would light the coal stove in my room. Those stoves are unbelievabel. After a few minutes the room was hot.

An unpleasant experience there was nothing to do with the Hotel but because an American who was a professional traveller (sponsored to travel & then write reports of his travels) had aroused the interest of the local secret police. He had been criticising the Turks in some way when talking with Kurds during the day and the hotel soon after received a visit from the police to check his details. Later on a man came out of the blue and tried to chat up the American (of South Korean descent) . He invited the American to a party later that evening, which put the wind up us all, as the man was not interested in inviting us to the party! He said he'd return later. The American was wondering whether to go with his new friend later whilst we were urging him not to go despite his being a US citizen and therefore obviously a somewhat protected species in such situations. The new 'friend' didn't return though thankfully.

In Bursa i stayed at the Gunes Hotel where the proprieters were again friendly and helpful and just a few days away from going to Mecca to do the haj. They were quite excited and receiving visits from friends and family. The Hamam just next to it was quite an unpleasant experience though. There was no sauna and the hall was tepid bordering on cold and empty. I got told off for filling the bowls with hot water to try and increase the temperature a little, and after my massage was encouraged to leave. I stayed for a little while & was then told to go when another customer came in. I couldn't believe the difference to other Hamams i'd been to. No wonder the place was empty. If ever a place was desperate for new management that Hamam was it.

Being stoned by kids when I refused their requests for money was not pleasant & brought me back to the time when me & my wife were cycling in the West Bank many years ago and stopped off at Solomons' Pools south of Bethlehem. The arab kids with slingshots drove us away from the bikes that we had just locked up to each other & when we returned they were gone! At the time we really thought we were dead meat though as they were running after us. Those slingshots are powerful and accurate & my wife got hit on the foot by one from about 70 yards distance.

What an incredible thread! There's nothing like reading travelers' enthusiastic descriptions of their experiences and it's very helpful for people like me trying to make the hard choices of where to travel in Turkey with limited time. Thank you all for sharing and I hope this thread continues!

Staying at the Sebnem Hotel in Istambul behind the blue Mosque was a real treat. It is in the middle of old town behind the Blue Mosque close to the ocean. Our rooms were very clean and beautifully decorated. Our breakfast fon the roof top garden overlooking the ocean was fabulous. We had our choices of 10 Turkish dishes and several juices.

It's proximity to the trolley line and historic places made it a convenient place to stay.
Valerie

In October 2008 , it was my 10th trip to Turkey .

The worst : travelling along the south coast beetween Antalya and Alanya ; I've visited several time this coast since 1979 (it was nice at this time) and since mid' eighties, it's more and more a shame : a wall of hotels/concrete with pinky tourists.
The best : all the others tips , but about my last trip , Urfa and Konya because we've didn't have a good visit in these towns before and know I've found them very nice.
RR.