Cappadocia Turkey | Best Itinerary | Terra Encounters in-depth

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Central Turkey Itinerary
– from Antalya to Cappadocia to Istanbul

Golden Goreme

You should be very excited if you are planning a trip to Turkey. It is easy to travel on your own. For advice on how to plan and travel in an economical way, see the TripAdvisor page Turkey: Planning a Self-Guided Turkey Trip. Now comes the hard choice of deciding where to go. Even if you have a whole month, you cannot see everything. Turkey is the size of Great Britain and France combined!

The following suggestions are based on an actual 31-day trip, which was split into two parts. Stay-overs are shown in capitals followed by the number of nights. Each destination was assigned zero to three dots to give a sense of which sites are most worthwhile seeing. Hyperlinks will bring you to posts with more details. This itinerary gives the best places to go for a 14-day trip through Central Turkey from Antalya to Istanbul.

RECOMMENDED ITINERARY

See a map of Central Turkey Itinerary

ANTALYA 2 nights

Antalya is dissed by many travellers as just a big city but staying in an old Ottoman house in Kaleiçi (the old city) is worthwhile and it makes a useful base for nearby sights. Yes, Antalya is a big city but the old quarter, Kaleiçi, is a quiet oasis.

Ottoman Delight

Staying in an old Ottoman house is a beautiful introduction to Turkey. It is a much easier way to start your trip than overpopulated Istanbul.

Kaleiçi ● It is very touristy but there are not as many touts as in Istanbul. The old town has a very clean, restored look but it is still pleasant walking, as there are few cars. See the view of the sea framed by the snowy Taurus Mountains near the Hidirlik Tower, especially in early AM before breakfast – and few tourists wake up early so you'll have the park to yourself.

Antalya Archaeological Museum ●●● is one of the best arranged museums anywhere. Ancient Roman statues are set into Romanesque-style arches with romantic lighting (not good for photography)

Stupendous Aspendos

Day Trips:
Aspendos Theatre ●
is basically a large intact Ancient Roman theatre with lots of tourists. Climb up to the acropolis (included in the price) for more dramatic views of the theatre and the very green countryside.

Colourful Köprülü

Köprülü Canyon ●● is a spectacular green river visible from the country road. The Termessos ruins is another good place to go from Antalya. On the way east from Antalya along the old highway(there will soon be a new expressway), stop along the road for...

Turquoise Treasure

Turquoise Coast ●●●
for perhaps the second most beautiful turquoise coastal views.

KIZKALESI 1 night

Medieval Maiden Castle, on an offshore islet, seems to float just above the sea. It's OK but not a must-see. The beach is very small but the sand is so soft. Plus there were few tourists. It made for a pleasant stopover on the long drive to Cappadocia.

Sensational Sunset

CAPPADOCIA ●●●● 4 nights

The region of Cappadocia is probably the best must-see area for natural beauty in the country – so don’t miss it!!! Göreme is just one of the towns in this region but it is still a wonderful base due to its central location.

Göreme Sunset View ●●● is an easy walk up the hill to the east of the hotel area main drag for spectacular views at sunset of Rose Valley and Göreme.

Car or Dolmuş Trips:

Not a Fairy Tale

Cappadocia Fairy Chimneys ●●●● are extraordinary even the touristy Paşabagh site. There are too many hikes to list here. Most are fairly easy, at least at the beginning, or you could simple go for as long as you want and return when you feel like it. the best hikes were are Love Valley, Zemi Valley, and...

Kizilçukur

Rose Valley ●●●●
you could walk here on a car-less dirt road but you can drive on a parallel road. This area has many side trails. The best spot was the Kizilçukur Viewpoint, located between the "parking lot" and the dirt road below the hill. Again, it's best to come here for the late PM or sunset lighting

Çavuşin has a less touristy, old section of town at the end of the "parking lot" road to Rose Valley

Uchisar ● there is an excellent view of the volcanic plug/castle right from main highway into Göreme but this is a very touristy spot with stalls and even a camel. There also is good viewpoint of Göreme on the right just a short way towards the town.

Ogling Ortahisar

Avanos – overpriced pottery

Ürgüp – good food at local prices, except for the excellent but pricey ice cream

Ortahisar ●●
there is a spectacular view of the volcanic plug in the middle of town.

Day Trips: requires car or tour

Mustafapaşa ●● is an old Greek village with interesting architecture

Soganli Valley ●●

Soganli Surprise

is full of fairy chimneys, basalt columns, rock-cut churches and frescoes without the crowds in a country atmosphere. But the best part was getting there with spectacular wide open views of snow-capped mountains in early spring.

Ihlara Valley – is another place with rock-cut churches

SAFRANBOLU ●●● 2 nights

Super Safranbolu

Safranbolu Çarşı ●●
You can spend a day visiting and shopping in the old city with its restored Ottoman buildings. But the views from the ring road high above the market area (çarşı) were very special.

Ottoman Yörük

Car Trips:
Yörük ●●
it’s 10 km away to a fairy tale village full of timber-framed Ottoman buildings that are far more nostalgic and run down than Safranbolu.

İncekaya Aqueduct –
is very high and in mint condition. But it is Ottoman not ancient. It comes with a walking trail into the countryside.

Grand Fashion

ISTANBUL ●●●● 4 nights

Grand Bazaar ●
It is NOT the oldest bazaar as it was only built after the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans. But it is probably the first covered shopping mall in the world.

Don't Look at Medusa

Basilica Cistern ●●
is an underground forest of Byzantine columns surrounded by a pool of water. Make sure that you do not look at the head of Medusa or you will also turn to stone! The ancients were very superstitious. For instance, getting up on the left (sinistra) side of your bed was a very bad omen. This is very much part of Western culture – you don't believe it? Guess where the English word sinister comes from?

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia Dome-ination ●●
had the highest dome built since the Pantheon in Ancient Rome until the Duomo in Renaissance Florence. It was the model for most major mosques in the Ottoman Empire.

Hippodrome –
How did a horse race end with 30,000 dead? How is this related to Hagia Sophia? That's your homework for tonight! Hint: check the web sites below.

the not so Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque ●●●
is not really blue; it’s pastel patterns and graceful symmetry and definitely worth seeing.

Music in Kadıköy

Kool Kadıköy ●●
is the real Istanbul where the locals work and play. It's a great place to hear Turkish folk music on the streets.

Bosphorus on a Budget

Bosphorus on a Budget ●
Choose the cruise or the non-cruise (i.e. use the cheap ferries) to see the Bosphorus

Spice Bazaar, Spicy Istanbul ● come here for the spices, the Turkish Delights, and buy the Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi kahve (coffee) beans.

RESEARCHING WHERE YOU WANT TO GO

There are many travel sites on the Web. It is very useful to see what other tourists think are the best sites. Each city, region and country in TripAdvisor has a Things To Do section. However, tourists have their own bias that may not match your interests. Also many tourists have not travelled around the world to be able to compare places or know what is unique. For more detailed information on each location, you can also review the Thorn Tree Turkey Forum, Turkey Travel Planner and Terra Encounters - Turkey web site. For other countries around the world see our Terra Encounters WordPress web site.

Kaleiçi – Castle of Antalya

Lost in Kaleiçi

This post is about two of the reasons for visiting Antalya: the Old City of Kaleiçi, with its gorgeous Ottoman houses, and food. We had just finished our morning at the Antalya Archaeological Museum described in our last post and we're finally driving to our hotel.

Kaleiçi means “within the castle” but today this was more like the road to hell. I did not have a paper map because I was relying on the old technique of “offline” Google map of Kaleiçi and, of all days, it disappeared from my tablet. Antalya has the worst signs and there was no tourist office. Doesn’t the city realize that there are tourists who are driving in their city?

Kaleiçi Caddesi

We got lost several times and there are a lot of one way roads surrounding the old Ottoman city of Kaleiçi that necessitated going a long way around every time we came to a dead end. It was exceedingly hard to find the one entrance you needed to take to drive the one way road into the mainly pedestrian only old city of Kaleiçi. The narrow road (Kocatepe Sokak) is to the right just after Hadrian's Gate heading south on the main shopping street, Ataturk Caddesi, which is a one way road. It looked like no entry was allowed. Once on that road it seemed like it was taking forever and I still didn't know where the hotel was in Kaleiçi – no signs for hotels are allowed. Eventually I parked the car and walked until I found the pension. Then I had to re-find the car – and my wife too! Fortunately the hotel provided a great map.

Our Room in the White Garden

It had taken two hours trying to find our hotel, the White Garden Pansion, a gorgeous 125 year old Ottoman house. The photo shows our room, which has the oriel window that juts out over the street.

In terms of architecture this was one of the special places we stayed at in Turkey. It was a pleasure to sit in the dining room each morning and have the typical Turkish breakfast surrounded by beautiful wood ceilings and green outdoor garden outside the glass wall.

Outstanding Ottoman Houses

We still hadn't eaten so we walked through Kaleiçi along Hespaçi Sokak bypassing the more expensive tourist restaurants toward the place we were going to try out. There were some touts – though not as bad as Istanbul asking you to buy at their shop. We just ignored them. There were many examples of stone and timber-framed Ottoman architecture. This was definitely a larger and more affluent Ottoman area than two places described in our Cumalikizik & Bursa – Ottoman Delight post.

Hadrian's Gate

Finally we reached Hadrian's Gate, which was erected to commemorate his visit in 130 CE, but was not built by Emperor Hadrian – who did complete the Temple of Trajan in Precipitous Pergamon. Üçkapılar (its Turkish name) means three arches.

This typical Roman triumphal gate is built entirely of white marble, which contrasts with the brown adjoining towers. It is amazing that cart wheels could have carved the deep grooves in the stone pavement beneath the central arch.

Tea anyone?

Once we exited the old city through Hadrian's Gate onto Ataturk Blvd, it was another world of Antalyans shopping and talking.

There were lots of young people in very modern clothes. A çaycı (Turkish tea waiter) circulates the small wall-side park selling tea. The word çay (pronounced chai) comes from Hindi chai, where their word and the tea originated.

Kaleiçi Kafe

We walked on Recip Peker Cd two blocks then turned right to Arik Cd 4 to find the non-descript Can Can Pide ve Kebab Salonu. We had a late lunch of two yummy mercimek çorbası (lentil) soups, one pide (type of pizza), and two teas. I still think the pide in Toronto is better. Even though we were only a couple of blocks away from Kaleiçi, there were no tourists. We shared the table with the locals. That meal cost TRY 17 for both of us! In the tourist area the mains alone were TRY 20 ($10) each!!!

Wedding Photo Shoot

I also became a wedding photographer today. I was walking down the narrow alleys and came upon a shocking sight. A Turkish couple all dressed up and making dramatic poses. They were so cute and really seemed to be enjoying their photo shoot.

I even photographed the wedding photographer as she was wearing special outfit as well.

Capturing the Photographer

After that we walked to the clock tower – wow, this is where the locals were hanging out. Then we walked back via Uzun Çarşı Sokak. We were nearly back – I think it was around Kaledibi Sokak – when I saw a sign for sahlep TRY 3. As mentioned in the Topkapi Palace Paradise post, the aromatic sahlep drink is made from wild orchid root, milk, honey, cinnamon and vanilla – and it is yummy! I could have had a second cup.

Because that very late lunch was filling, we never did have supper. We went back to the pension but sat downstairs in the Ottoman lobby where there are divans and sofas and had tea (just ask the desk) and talked with the concierge.

Hidirlik Tower

Kaleiçi Day 2

It was a glorious sunny day. We went to the Ancient Roman Hıdırlık Tower at the end of Hespaçi Sokak.

Taurus Mountains

We discovered the extensive Karaalioglu Park along the sea with fabulous views of the snow-capped Taurus Mountains across the bay. So that’s why people like it here.

Our Oldest Breakfast Table

We returned to our hotel for breakfast in the Ottoman foyer. In summer everyone goes outside to eat in the inner courtyard. In the mornings we talked with the owner, Metin, and especially his very helpful nephew who was working the reception at the hotel. Breakfast consisted of fresh fruit, cereal, cooked meats and cheese, and very good coffee.

The Youngest Tourist

At breakfast, we met the cutest Dutch girl who had a gorgeous smile, and loves football (soccer). Unfortunately, she didn't talk very much – but you cannot have everything. She is only 14 months old!!!

Next Post: Stupendous Aspendos and Köprülü Kanyon
Last Post: Antalya Archaeology Museum

Terra Encounters – Turkey

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Wednesday, 24 January 2018

Cappadocia Turkey Itinerary