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Merhaba, all. My wife and I are hoping to return to Turkey this year. Last trip, we did the typical Istanbul to Bergama to Efes to Antalya to Kapodokya route and loved every minute of it. Next time, we want to see something else, maybe get a little off the standard guide-book trail. Is there a lot to see and do in western Turkey, around Edirne, etc? Where else would you recommend traveling to to see and learn more about Turkey. Is eastern Turkey safe enough with all this PKK business going on these days? Sagol!
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Fri, January 11, 2008 - 7:08 PMI wouldn't set foot in eastern Turkey. I never go beyond Ankara, really.
I really had a good time in cities such as Bodrum (but it's only interesting for about a day), Izmir, Fetiyhe had some wonderful ruins and hiking trails.
My favorite city in Turkey was Bursa. I loved the bustling atmosphere. The museums, silk markets, government sites, mountain-top views, old cities in the mountains where you could sit under a 600-year-old tree and eat white mulberries and cherries. Mmm....
I'd like to visit Side someday.
Ugh, I'm homesick! -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Fri, January 11, 2008 - 11:51 PMI would totally go to eastern Turkey if I were you and you have enough time. My husband lived in Mardin for a short time as a child (he moved around Turkey a lot) and says Mardin is one of his best memories. The history seems so fascinating. There is a long history of Assyrian Christianity there and many ancient buildings. Then from Mardin its not too far from other places such as Harran (the cone shaped houses!) etc. I have not been to Mardin yet but we are hoping to make it out there either early in the summer or in the fall.
Also, the Black Sea area is absolutely gorgeous. Have you been to Safranbolu yet? I have pictures in my photo album if you want to see them. ;) From Safranbolu you can also go to Amasra on the Black Sea coast (again, more pictures in my album) which is this lovely little fishing village that is not *too* overrun with tourists. I guess it is famous for their fish restaurants, not that I eat fish but anyhow...its beautiful there and one of my favorite places to go to.
Personally...if I were you, I would also try to see as much of rural Turkey and villages as possible. You have already seen the big cities and more of the popular places, right?
If your time is somewhat limited and you want to stay in one spot as much as possible...along the Aegean coast is still wonderful, the northern part I prefer over Bodrum and all those overrun by tourists. You could try to rent a car if you dare (lol) and drive from Istanbul (or take a ferry across the Marmara Sea and drive or take a bus from there) make stops at Iznik (before Bursa, its where all the famous tiles came from like you see in the Blue Mosque) it is a small town with a long and deep history and also situated on a lake. I loved it there. The drive is beautiful along fruit orchards too. You can drive towards the coast and work your way down...stay at Assos (or the neighboring town, I am blanking on the name) and explore that region. My mother-in-law lives near Assos and sometimes lets out rooms in the summertime.
Hey, I totally owe you an email. I am sorry I have been so so behind. I will write you soon and if you want any more information, I can share with you. Don't forget, we all must meet up at some point! ;)
Oh and about Edirne, its a good city to visit and is *the best place to buy cheese* in Turkey, LOL. The mosque there is considered Sinan's masterpiece. Also Gallipoli is not too far off. I have not been there...yet! -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Thu, June 26, 2008 - 3:23 AMMerhaba, Krista. Thanks for all the good advice. I'm still trying to put together our itinerary. I'm still kinda bummed about it, but ... our time limitations are pretty much eliminating any chance of making it to Eastern Turkey. Guess I'll have to leave that for the third trip, ha ha. In any case, right now I'm leaning toward a good amount of time in Istanbul and Bursa and a few days in and around Edirne. Where I'm stuck is whether to a) brave the crowds on the coast (say, around Ayvalik), b) try the Black Sea (I'll definitely look into Safranbolu ... haven't been there yet), or c) go down to the Lake District. I feel like I could do all three ... if I just had ONE MORE WEEK, grrrr! Are you going to be in town in late August or early September? Remember, I owe you an ice cream and maybe half a dozen Efeses, ha ha! Oh, yeah, by the way, what will it be like, traveling in western Anatolia during Ramazan? -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Thu, June 26, 2008 - 8:27 AMI was in Cappadocia during Ramadan. The owner of our pension was British, and she said, the first day of Ramadan would be "a little strange" but then it would settle down, also, because many Turks don't really do Ramadan or only keep it up for a few days. Anyway, it was quiet during day time, but the guided tours were operating as normal, and in the evening after 7pm people would come out and the town would be morely lively again, as everybody was allowed to eat and go about their business., sit around in the cafes etc.. We spent the evening in a restaurant, drinking wine, listening to live music and dancing with the waiter and the musicians. ; )
What I would like to know: you said, Bodrum is only interesting for one day? What would you recommend doing around Bodrum? I spent several days in the hotel in Gumbet, as I had tendonitis most of the time and could not walk around for sightseeing, so just hung out on the private beach (the beach was not impressive compared to places I have seen in countries in South East Asia etc.), the pool, the terrace. One night we went to town to a bar with a gypsy band which was great, we could dance. another night we went into downtown Gumbet, and man, the disco music could be heard really loudly from many different places until the small hours, it never seemed to stop! I was shocked. I got the impression, many people just go there to get drunk and hang out and party all night or something.
Which other places on the Bodrum pensinsula would you recommend?
Has anyone done the cruise from Bodrum to the Greek islands of Mykonos and Santorinin and what was that like?
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Thu, June 26, 2008 - 8:29 AMwoohoo! can't wait to meet you and the wife, geoff!
good advice from above...i agree about Iznik. my wife and i were just in iznik and termal and it was great! you could take the boat to yalova - much faster and more relaxing than driving - then rent a car or take local transport to and around the bursa area. the boat leaves from istanbul right by my house too!
i would say though that from my experience and what others have said, Ramazan can be a bit difficult for travel and the bayram(şeker bayramı) right after it i know is TERRIBLE ! any bayram is really bad for public tranport and hotels. maybe you can camp and rent a car? don't know about that. might be able to find you a tent to use. whatever you do at that time, i think you have to plan and reserve in advance to be safe.
i'm dying to go to the black sea. i'd personally stay away from the SW towns because of the heat and heavy tourist scene at that time, but the nature there is definitely great. edirne area may be interesting but i don't think trakya in general has a lot for sightseeing...could be wrong.
doing bursa area, istanbul, and black sea sounds really nice and doable time wise. you got 2 weeks, right?
what guidebooks are you using? anyway, i am happy to help you out in anyway possible. need kaval lessons? i know 2 guys that rock. of course darbuka stuff out the bunger... ;)
and krista, do you live here in istanbul? what do you do? i'll check your profile... : ) -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Thu, June 26, 2008 - 10:13 AMHi, David,
what exactly do you mean by "a bit difficult" during Ramazan? I will be in Turkey during the first 10 days of Ramazan. Does this mean, many places are closed or...?
Are there ways to get away from the crowds somewhere in Bodrum or...? Which places in Bodrum area are nice naturewise, what would you remommend? Fethiye and Oludeniz were lovely to visit, but I am under the impression that Marmaris might be worse than Bodrum or what do you say? I have never been to Marmaris so far. -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Thu, June 26, 2008 - 6:10 PMhi a, well the bigger problem is really the bayram after ramazan. but during ramazan things are just a bit different and to me feels like everything is just kind of tilted slightly... : ) . most things are going to be fine and normal but i still would check especially for transport just so there are no surprises.
i have not been to mamaris or bodrum...but they both seem to be party towns from what i hear. i suppose you can get away from the crowds by dolmuş(mini bus) or rental car. -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Fri, June 27, 2008 - 9:22 PMHi Geoff,
For your next visit to Turkey, it depends on exactly what you like to do on your vacations.. Let me clear it up some. If you like nature and vegeties Black Sea is the one. Beautiful mountain and forest scene is great over there.
If you like touristic places, west and south of Turkey is great. West and south is serving similar options for tourism. Nice beaches, seaside towns and ruins everywhere. Also, alot of crowd. Ramadan is effects litlle bit turkish community but like seaside places such as in Bodrum and Marmaris, activities continiue full throttle. There are alot of bars, even some streets filled with side by side just bars. Kinda hectic and noisy. Also, I have to add that west and south has beautiful mountain and forest scenes too. Longest beach Patara, Efes(Ephesus)antique city, Kekova(sunken underwater city), Manavgat and Duden waterfalls and more, sound interesting isn't it?. So, you can get away from crowd and enjoy the nature and history. My favorite place is Antalya Kas, Kalkan, olympos beach(antigue and historical harbor ) olympos mountain( there is fire in different spots on the mountain because of natural metan gases and continuesly burning even tough trying to extinguish with water still fires up), Aspendos Roman Amphitheatre in south of Turkey mediterenian coast.
East Turkey is great too. It was cradle for so many civilizations but little rural if you compare with rest of the Turkey. So many, historical ruins embrace the people like Nemrut mountain, ararat mountain and famous cities Mardin, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa.
As a result, you have so many options for your next trip to Turkey and unfortunatel two weeks definitely not enough.
Have a nice trip, enjoy and be safe !!!!!! -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Mon, July 28, 2008 - 5:22 PMTeşekkurler, my friends. One last question ... can anyone recommend a nice beach town in the Northern Aegean that isn't too overdeveloped with ugly hotels and overrun with drunk backpackers? I'm getting a lot of my info by pingponging between Frommers, Lonely Planet, DK Eyewitness and a couple of web sites, and I keep getting somewhat contradictory information on this subject. One says Ayvalık is nice, but another says it is already built up and mega-touristy, etc. Any advice? Unfortunately, it looks like Safranbolu, Almasya and so many other incredible places will have to wait for out next trip, as Shari's overseers, uh, I mean EMPLOYERS have only given her two weeks off of work. We'll be sticking to İstanbul, İznik, Bursa, Edirne, and somewhere on the Ege Deniz. It's killing me that we can't make it down to Pamukkale, Hieropolis, etc, but ... there's always 2009, I guess.
Thanks again, guys. -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Mon, July 28, 2008 - 6:26 PMHi there,
It seems like you guys are going to be around Sea of Marmara. For Ayvalik, yes it is already built up, one of the famous touristic place. Also, Erdek is another option, Nice fishing town Narli is considerable, when you over there you can swing by AVSA ISLAND by boat. If you guys are willing to go all the way west on the same latitude, Canakkale is the place with its offer such as Gallipoli, ASSoS, Saros, and other nice beaches. you can google it..
Have a good one -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Mon, July 28, 2008 - 8:02 PMDon't worry about Pamukkale and Hierapolis, I was there and it is not really that interesting. And if you don't like places overrun by tourists anyway, well...the springs in Pamukkale are all overloaded with people walking and bathing. You can't see much of them because of the hordes of tourists, at least I didn't , in 2006. -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Thu, August 7, 2008 - 2:39 PMYes, I was forced to carve Pamukkale and Hieropolis from our itinerary. Maybe next trip. Hey, while I've got y'all on the line ... Can anyone recommend a cheap place to stay in Bursa, Edirne and/or Assos? I'm having NO luck with the Internet ... either the hotels and pansiyons are charging TWICE the rates that they state in the 2007 Lonely Planet: Turkey, or they don't even bother to answer my email. We're leaving in two weeks and I have no place to stay in these three places, argh! -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Thu, August 7, 2008 - 10:26 PMSorry, I have no idea about Bursa etc. but in general, it has been my experience with the Lonely planet books too that the hotels can a lot more expensive than it states in the book. I woujld niot even be surprised if once they have been listed in there, they get sop popular that their prices go up and up.
One way to search the internet may be, not to go througyh these Western hotel list/cheap deals English websites (I never managed to find any available apartments that way) but rahter, try keywords like Bursa+pansiyon or Edirne+hoteli. That may guide you to Turkish websites with, if you get lucky, English versions, that you would never find otherwise. And if you stay where they Turks stay, you might get a heaper deal too.
Otherwise you can always just go there and walk right in and ask, it is not like Edirne etc. are places totally overrun and booked up by hordes of summer tourists, isn't it? -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Fri, August 8, 2008 - 5:31 AMYeah, the English language sites are very limiting, so I've been checking all the Turkish hotel websites for the past few weeks, too ... It took a lot of time with an online Turkish-English dictionary at first, ha ha, but I started to learn the basic hotel terms in Turkish. But even THOSE are extremely expensive, even in Edirne, which gets relatively few tourists. Thanks for your advice; I'll keep looking. -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Fri, August 8, 2008 - 8:37 AMjust to point out the obvious... are you looking into hostels? even in istanbul they are pretty reasonable. it may not be the lap of luxury, but you can often get a double fer cheaps. btw, when you say 'extremely expensive' how much exactly are we talking about? i can find cheap but okay rooms in the 'bul for 60/70/80 lira. maybe the competition is less in these smaller places so they jack it up.
kolay gelsin... : ) -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Sat, August 9, 2008 - 8:31 AMYeah, I've checked for hostels, too, basically 'cos a lot of hostels often have a private room or two that they also rent ... but NO LUCK. There are NO hostels in Edirne or Bursa. We''ve actually found the places that we would like to stay in Edirne, Bursa and Assos ... but NOBODY is returning any of my emails. F---in' weird. In '06, I would get responses three hours later; we would discuss room rates and then end up chatting about all kinds of stuff ... I felt like I already knew half of the pansiyon owners before I ever met them face-to-face. Now, nothing. I wonder if Turkey has just become such a popular tourist destination that customer service has taken a nosedive ... Horrible thought. -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Sun, August 10, 2008 - 8:04 AMgeoff--
i am SO sorry for not getting back to you earlier. i have been on the road the last 6 weeks. i will be back home in istanbul this wednesday (13th) and will email you. we wouldn't mind making some calls for you regarding places to stay in the places you mentioned if you still need to find places. i am at an internet cafe now, no wireless connection for awhile on the laptop so i will write you in a few days!!
don't forget...we all are meeting up in istanbul!!! ;) -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Sun, August 10, 2008 - 8:05 AMdid i say the word *places* enough? ugh. can you tell i am distracted here. that is my excuse anyway. hehe. -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Sun, August 10, 2008 - 12:41 PMha ha that's funny krista...oh, hi krista! my wife and i are from portland and live in Istanbul too, it would be cool we all can hook up and meet you with geoff and shari... it's always fun to meet expats, right? ; ) -
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Fri, August 29, 2008 - 6:07 PMI'm with the guys who are for Safranbolu and the Black Sea coast, but if you're going to Assos, just get a guidebook and CALL the places. None of them has internet worth speaking of.
Most of them speak no English, of course, but they're never really full. On the bay there are 3 hotels, all reasonable (75-100 USD), and up on the hill there are half a dozen with old-fashioned rates (30-100 USD).
Bergama, further down, is also nice, if you like hiking and ruins.
Why on earth anyone wouldn't enjoy Pamukale is beyond me. Wonderful place, but a bitch of a ride to get to.
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Re: Turkey-in-Europe?
Mon, January 26, 2009 - 12:48 AMselam
as they say over here
that means Istanbul - Europe side (close to Taksim)
Belgian origin - always open for interesting new faces
greetings
paul
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