Travel 24 to 30+ Days in Turkey

Rock Valley Travel operates this long and comprehensive trip through all the best of Turkey, including Istanbul, Gallipoli & Troy, Ephesus, Kuşadası, Pamukkale & Hierapolis, Kalkan, Antalya, Cappadocia, Nemrut Dağı, Şanlıurfa, Mardin, Lake Van, Doğubeyazıt, Kars & Ani, and Trabzon on the Black Sea coast. 

Read our itinerary which you can do yourself, though it's easiest if you have a travel agency make at least the basic arrangements.

Spend as much time as you like in my favorite city; Istanbul. Use it as a base to visit Edirne for its architecture, İznik (Nicaea) for its Roman and early Christian history, Bursa for its early Ottoman architecture, its hot mineral baths at Çekirge, its cuisine (especially İskender kebap!), and Mount Olympus, or Thrace and Tekirdağ for its vineyards and wineries.

Aegean Coast extends from Çanakkale on the Dardanelles, Gallipoli & Troy, ancient Bergama (Pergamum), the charming coastal resort towns of Assos, Dikili and Foça, the mountain hideaway of Mount Ida, the archaeologically-rich Ephesus region, to the glitzy resort towns of the Bodrum peninsula. You could easily spend an enjoyable month here. 

 

From Marmaris to Antakya, the Turkish Mediterranean coast is 2200 km (1367 miles) long. The western Mediterranean coast is well developed for tourism and receives crowds of visitors every summer.

With your generous amount of time you can explore the calmer, less-visited Eastern Mediterranean from Anamur via Silifke and Kızkalesi to Antakya.

 

Turkey's most visually striking region, Cappadocia, deserves a minimum 3 nights, and you could easily spend up to a week here to see everything, including the seldom-visited towns of Niğde (and nearby Aladağlar National Park), Hacıbektaş and Kayseri, and explore the countryside for several fine Selçuk Turkish caravansarays, such as the Karatay Han.

If you have any interest in ancient or Biblical history, Turkey's southeast is for you. The world's oldest known religious site was discovered at Göbekli Tepe near Şanlıurfa. The Patriarch Abraham spent some time in Harran on his way to the Promised Land.

Sometimes described as one huge national park, the rugged, mountainous, less-developed eastern region has lots of breathtaking scenery, ancient architecture, traditional culture, and very few tourists.

A few days' drive along Turkey's Black Sea coast can be interesting, though the sea water is chilly and the sky often cloudy. The real treasures are the traditional towns and cities: Safranbolu, Amasra, Sinop, Amasya and Trabzon. 

—by Tom Brosnahan