We call Turkey our first adventurous vacation where we got off the beaten path. Or at least journeyed to a place that wasn’t a common travel destination. We had read a lot about Turkey and Istanbul in the year before and were excited for the trip. It still stands out as one of our top vacation experiences with great food, people and amazing sites & activities.
The political situation within and around Turkey has changed since we visited. Tensions within the region were beginning to escalate at the time of our visit. I won’t delve into the politics of the region and can’t attest to the current environment. We are not an experts in that area. What we can say is that at the time of our visit in 2014 we found the country to be very safe and the people friendly.
Planning
We spent two weeks in Turkey with the start and end of our trip in Istanbul. We were able to fly in and out of Instanbul on direct flights to Canada. With young kids this was very helpful. There are some great tourist locations in Turkey but they are spread out so we had to cover some distance within the country. The main activities/places we visited included.
- Instanbul – 3-4 days to settle in Turkey and explore the city. We spent a day here on the way back home as well.
- Cappadocia – 3 days in an unbelievable region that is out of this world. We flew back and forth from Istanbul to visit Cappadocia.
- Ephesus – 1 day, amazing roman ruins just outside of Izmir.
- Pamukkale – 1 day, incredible salt pools/baths and roman ruins.
- Blue Cruise – 4 day/3 night Mediterranean cruise. One of the highlights of the trip.
We travelled to Turkey just after the kids finished school in early July. The weather was warm but not unbearable. The season was great for the blue cruise at the end of trip.
Istanbul
We loved Istanbul. It was vibrant and full of interesting markets and sights. The city has some grat bazaars or markets, historic sites and great food. We had one of our most memorable dining experiences in the city at a restaurant called the Lemon Tree. Unfortunately we can’t seem to locate the site for the restaurant with a level of confidence. We enjoyed wandering the city and taking in all that Istanbul offered.
The Mosques that stood out to us, and which you’ll find mentioned in guidebooks, were the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia. The two mosques are located reasonably close to each other and can be seen in a morning or afternoon. The Hagia Sofia stood out more to us, mainly due to a longer history. The Blue Mosque is a functioning mosque and is a must see site. Close to the two mosques is the Basilica Cistern which is an underground cistern built for Constantinople. We’d recommend visiting the cistern, it was one of the more interesting sites in the city.
The two markets within Istanbul that stood out to us were the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market. This was our first exposure to a packed and crowded marketplace that we later experienced in Marrakech, Thailand and Vietnam. The sights, smells and people make these markets more experiences to us than shopping events.
Other than the markets and mosques we took a boat cruise that was worthwhile as well as a tours of Galata tower and Topkapi palace. Topkapi palace was a good to visit since it gave us a good historical view of the Sultans of Turkey that ruled the Ottoman empire.
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a region in central Turkey that is from another world. The rock formations there are iconic and it still stands out as one of the most unique places we’ve visited. The rock in the area is soft so housing or accommodations is often within a cave. We stayed in a ‘cave’ hotel and had a great experience which we’d recommend if you’re visiting the area. If you tour around the area you’ll be able to visit cave villages/churches which are scattered around the area. One of the signature rock formation is a ‘fairy chimney’ which are found all around the area. Tourist areas include the Goreme Open Air Museum, Goreme National Park, Uchisar Castle and Pigeon Valley.
A must when visiting Cappadocia is a morning balloon ride over the landscape. Pictures from this balloon ride are all over social media and for good reason. The landscape from the air is incredible. If you’re in Cappadocia take a balloon ride. We used Butterfly Balloons and had a great experience.
We took a day to visit to Ihlara Valley. The Valley has a trail that meanders by a stream through the valley/canyon. It was worth the day trip. Along the way we also stopped at the Kaymakli underground city which was a harrowing experience since we’re not good with enclosed spaces.
Ephesus
Ephesus is an ancient Roman city located south of Izmir. We took the train from Izmir to Selcuk and stowed our bags at a nearby hotel. We thought we could walk to Ephesus from the train station but we learned it’s a little far. We’d recommend getting a taxi or another form of transportation to get you to the site. The site is exposed so getting there early to avoid the mid-day sun is recommended.
There is an admission cost to get access to the grounds and there are tour guides available at the entrance. We usually don’t use tour guides and didn’t for this tour. Between our guide books and the signage in the area we were satisfied. The site features some of the best Roman ruins that we’ve visited including amphitheatres, restored houses and the famous Ephesus Library. It took us a few hours to visit and it was well worth it.
We had some time to kill in between the ruins and our train to Pammakale so we wandered the town of Selcuk. We spent some time in a jewelry store owned by a pair of Kurdish brothers. That visit still stands out to us due to the friendliness of the brothers, the earrings my wife still has and some of the history we learned about the Kurdish people.
Pammakale
Pammakale is the site of a natural hot spring which has a unique set of natural tiered pools that form from a mineral residue within the hot spring water. The tiered pools are arranged on a mountainside where the hot spring water drips over. The Roman city of Hierapolis was built here. It was a nice place to visit but it was out of the way. If it works for your itinerary then visit, otherwise we would recommend leaving it out.
Blue Cruise
A blue cruise in Turkey is a recreational Mediterranean cruise and we loved ours. We used Before Lunch Blue Cruise out of Fethiye. The boat takes 16-18 passengers and tours leisurely along the southern coast of Turkey, stopping in small harbours to swim or hike. The food is included and prepared by the crew. Depending on temperatures you can sleep in your cabin or out on the deck under the stars. Our cruise was 4days/3nights and we were sad when it was done. We met some great people on the boat from around the world.
Magic Moment
The magic moment of this trip was our Blue Cruise, so many moments stood out from the cruise including a birthday party for child #2, swimming in the crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean and lounging on the deck with others.
