|
My
5-Day Driving
Itinerary from Ephesus to Cappadocia may
be more driving than some travelers
want to do, so here's an alternative,
a 5-Day Fly-Drive Itinerary.
Instead of driving from
Ephesus to Cappadocia, you fly:
With
fly-drive, you
fly from Izmir to Kayseri (for Cappadocia),
don't have the long drive from Pamukkale to
Cappadocia, and have more time to
see the sights in Cappadocia;
but you
miss Turkey's lake country around
Egirdir, Konya,
and the Silk
Road.
For
the fly-drive itinerary, make
reservations as early as possible
for the services
you'll need. (Here are good
Turkish travel agents who
can make all the arrangements for
you if you'd rather not worry about
them, and here are my recommended licensed
private guides.)
YOUR
RESERVATIONS:
1.
Flights on
Day 1 from Istanbul to Izmir,
on Day 3 from Izmir to Kayseri,
and on Day
5 from
Kayseri to
Istanbul.
2. Rental
car on
Day 1 from Izmir's Adnan
Menderes Airport,
to
be returned to that same
airport on Day
3;
and another rental car,
or car-and-driver, on Day
4 and perhaps Day
5 in Cappadocia.
3.
Hotels for
Days 1 through 4 (unless you'd
rather make these yourself.)
4. Hot-air
balloon flight reservation
in Cappadocia (if
you're interested). Reserve
your places for the morning
of Day 4 so that
you'll have Day 5 as a
back-up in
case the balloons
can't fly on Day 4. More...
5.
Turkish Airlines shuttle bus reservations from Kayseri's Erkilet
Airport to Cappadocia
on Day 3, and from
Cappadocia back to the
airport for
your flight to Istanbul on
Day 5.
Hint: Argeus
Tourism & Travel is
an official ticket agency for
Turkish
Airlines as well as for AtlasJet,
Onur
Air, and Sun
Express,
and also operates the Turkish
Airlines shuttle
buses between Cappadocia and Kayseri's
Erkilet Airport.
Also,
Argeus (based
in Ürgüp, Cappadocia) has
a particularly strong relationship
with Turkey's best car
rental companies,
offers great deals on air-conditioned,
chauffeur-driven minivans for your
sightseeing in Cappadocia, and
knows many good hotels,
and is thus particularly well positioned
to make
all of the
reservations you'll need for this
trip. More...
YOUR ITINERARY:
Day
1 - Monday: Fly Istanbul-Izmir,
Drive to Ephesus
Morning
flight from Istanbul to Izmir (ADM),
arrive by noon or earlier; lunch
snack at the airport, or carry a
picnic
lunch,
or stave off hunger until you arrive
in Selçuk.
Pick up your reserved rental
car at
the airport and
drive to Selçuk (62
km/39 miles, 1-1/4
hours),
the
town
next to Ephesus.
Arrive
in Selçuk by
14:30 or 15:00 (2:30 or 3 pm), check
in at your hotel (recommended: Hotel
Kalehan,
an inn with several small buildings
grouped around a small swimming pool;
rooms decorated with crafts; good
restaurant with vegetables from the
hotel's own organic garden). Visit Ephesus
Museum, St.
John Basilica, Isa Bey Mosque (you
can walk to them all from the hotel).
Dinner and overnight.
Day
2 - Tuesday: Ephesus, Aphrodisias
& Pamukkale
In
the morning, explore the ruins
of Ephesus (2 to 3 hours),
then drive to Aphrodisias (143
km/89 miles, 2 hours); lunch either
before
leaving Selcuk or at Aphrodisias.
Tour the ruins of Aphrodisias (1-1/2
to 2 hours), drive to Pamukkale (123
km/76 miles, 1-1/2 hours), arriving
before dark. Settle in at a hotel
in Pamukkale Town or Karahayit.
Day
3 - Wednesday: Pamukkale, Fly Izmir-Kayseri, Ürgüp
Enjoy
a swim in the mineral waters of Pamukkale (2
hours), and tour the ruins of the Roman spa
of Hierapolis (1 hour). There
are no convenient flights from nearby Denizli to Cappadocia,
so after lunch, drive to Izmir's Adnan
Menderes Airport (252 km, 157
miles, 4 hours), turn in your rental
car, and fly to Kayseri,
arriving late in the evening. Take
the THY/Argeus
Tourism shuttle minibus to
Ürgüp, Göreme or Uçhisar.
Recommended
hotel in Ürgüp: Esbelli
Evi, a charming "cave
inn," and my
favorite inn in all of Turkey.
Day
4 - Thursday: Göreme, Cappadocia
Rise
before dawn for your Hot-air
balloon flight (if you've reserved this thrill-of-a-lifetime
experience). You'll be back at your
hotel in time for breakfast.
For
your sightseeing in Cappadocia,
you can rent a car,
but an air-conditioned,
chauffeur-driven luxury minivan from
Argeus costs
almost the same (when you count the
cost of insurance and fuel—expensive!—for
a rental car),
and since your time is precious on
this efficient itinerary, you may
decide it's the best way to go. You
may
get lost,
but your local driver won't; and
there'll be no parking hassles: your
driver drops you at the entrance
to a site, picks you up there
when you're finished, and takes you
right to the next site by the fastest
route.
Unfortunately,
public transportation among
the sites of Cappadocia is virtually non-existent,
so it's really not an alternative
on a tightly-packed itinerary such
as this. You really need your
own private transportation to make the
best use of your precious time.
Visit
the Göreme
Open Air Museum in the
morning (no guide necessary; 2
to 3 hours).
Have your guide-driver meet you
at a certain time at Göreme,
go to lunch,
discuss your sightseeing plan for
the rest of today and tomorrow.
Suggestions: Avanos, Uchisar, Underground
Cities and Ihlara
Valley. More...
Day
5 - Friday: Cappadocia, Fly Kayseri-Istanbul
Spend
the morning and afternoon visiting
the sites you didn't see on Day
4.
In
the late afternoon or early evening,
take the THY/Argeus
Tourism shuttle minibus to Kayseri's
Erkilet Airport for your flight
to Istanbul.
5-Day
Driving Itinerary: Ephesus to Konya
& Cappadocia
Getting from Pamukkale to Cappadocia
Getting from Istanbul to Cappadocia
1
to 5 Days in Turkey
6
to 10 Days in Turkey
16
to 23 Days in Turkey
24
to 30+ Days in Turkey
Recommended Licensed
Private Guides
Recommended
Itineraries
Special
Interest Trips
Other
Sample Itineraries
Custom
Itinerary Planning
|
