Cappadocia Turkey Itinerary

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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. 

Hippodrome Istanbul

Hippodrome

Hippodrome – Off to the Races

The Ancient Romans and Greeks are descendants of the Proto-Indo-European (aka Aryan) tribes who were a horse riding culture from the Caucasus.  The PIE invented the chariot and it was the primary war technology that enabled the PIE tribes to invade India (Vedic people), Turkey (Hittites and Lycians) and Europe (Romans, Greeks, et al).

Off to the Races

So it is not surprising that the ancients loved chariot racing.  Built in the 4th century CE, the Hippodrome was a 100,000 seat venue for chariot races and other entertainment.  The name is derived from the Greek words hippos ("horse") and dromos ("course").  I wonder what the tickets cost?  Unfortunately, nothing is left of the stands, which were mined for building materials.  All that is left is the modern road paved over the location of the oval race course, which is actually well below the current ground level.

The park before the Blue Mosque was the location of the royal lodge, where the imperial family watched the races. It was connected to their palace, which stood on the grounds of the Blue Mosque (coming to a post near you).  

 

Tripod of Plataea

Delphi, Greece

All empires pillage the art and sculpture of their conquered territories.  The Byzantines decorated the spina (spine) of their track with artifacts from around the empire.  Constantine ordered the Tripod to be moved from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and set in middle of the Hippodrome.
 

Serpent Uprising

The Tripod of Plataea, now known as the Serpent Column, may not look like much.  It celebrates the victory of the Greeks over the Persians at the Battle of Plataea (479 BC).  One of the Persian objectives was to punish Athens for supporting the Ionians, who occupied the Turquoise Coast.  The war ended with the defeat of the Ionians in a naval battle outside Miletus (their capital) in 494 BC.  While the Persians conquered Ionia (temporarily), the war marked the last time the Persian Empire attacked mainland Greece.

What you see today is the bodies of three serpents twisted into one pillar of brass.  What you don't see are the three heads supporting a golden tripod.  What you don't know is that the bronze column was built using the bronze from the melted-down Persian weapons.

Obelisk of Thutmose III

 

1/3 of Original Obelisk!

The Obelisk of Thutmose III was originally erected at the Temple of Karnak in Luxor during the reign of Tuthmosis III in about 1490 BC.  Theodosius had the obelisk cut into three pieces and brought to Constantinople.  Today only the upper third remains! 

Racing with Theodosius

One of the most interesting things is to examine the rectangular base closely.  Bas-reliefs on the base depict Emperor Theodosius watching the races from the Royal lodge. 

How to raise an obelisk


The Hagia Sophia side depicts the raising of the obelisk using pulleys.  It's still hard to believe how they could lift such heavy red granite. 

 

Another more recent monument is the German Fountain, which will be described in a future post. 

 

Nika Riots

The New Empire

Emperor Justinian (527 - 565) expanded the empire to its greatest extent reclaiming much of the original Roman Empire.  He took back Northern Africa from the Vandals and Dalmatia, Sicily, Venice and Rome from the Ostrogoths.

Chariot teams were identified by colours blue, green, red, and white. Social/political classes would support their own chariots.  The team associations had become a focus for various social and political issues for which the general Byzantine population lacked other forms of outlet. 


To Victory -- Nike!

The Nika Revolt was named for the rebels battle cry "Nika", or victory.  This derived from the Greek goddess of victory, Nike, whom we met in Ephesus -- she is also the origin of the name of the running shoe company.

The Nika Riots were a sports riot fuelled by rivalry in the Hippodrome and opposition to the high taxes impose by Emperor Justinian!  At this same moment he was negotiating a peace treaty with Persia.

Justinian had called for races on January 13th. By the end of the day the crowd changed their chants from blue or green to Nika. For the next 5 days they assaulted the palace.  They started fires.  Some senators opposed the new legal system and the new taxes saw this as an opportunity to overthrow Justinian and declare a new emperor in the Hippodrome itself.  Justinian paid off the Blues in gold and they left in the middle of the coronation in the Hippodrome.  The imperial troops then killed the remaining Greens.  In the end 30,000 rioters were killed.  So that rivals any soccer/football hooliganism of today!

Hagia Sophia v3.0

Half of the city as well as Hagia Sophia version 2.0 was burnt down during the Nika riots.  Justinian then built the current version 3.0 of Hagia Sophia with the largest dome raised since the Pantheon in Rome.

 

 

Vitale Byzantine Mosaics

He built the Byzantine mosaic masterpiece of San Vitale Church in Ravenna, Italy.  He constructed several underground water supplies like the Basilica Cistern, to ensure adequate water supply in the event of a siege.

His biggest legacy might be the rewriting of Roman law, which is the basis of civil law in many modern countries.  So why did the Byzantine Empire decline?  It started with the bubonic or Justinian plague.  We who live in the present cannot appreciate the impact of huge losses of population.

Last Post:  Basilica Cistern & Superstitious Romans

  

Next Post: Blue Mosque Exterior

Grand Bazaar Istanbul

Grand Bazaar – Gigantic!

Covered Bazaar

In Turkish the Grand Bazaar is called Kapalı Çarşı, which means “Covered or Closed Bazaar”.  It is not the oldest bazaar in the world – a better claim would belong to Tabriz, Persia, a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. Even though Constantinople was the main terminus of the Silk Trade Routes (see the Silk Routes Map), the Grand Bazaar was only started in 1455, just after the Ottoman conquest of Byzantium. Of course, there were commercial “forums” before then but the Grand Bazaar was covered. Perhaps we can say this was the oldest indoor shopping centre. 

 

Books on the Grand Bazaar

Sirkeci Mansion




It’s hard to believe we are back in Istanbul for our second four-day sojourn. Eight days may seem like a lot of time but in some ways it feels like we are just scratching the surface. For maps and travel advice we would recommend the book Rick Steve's Istanbul and the free Quick Guide Istanbul (author Serif Yenen), which I believe we got at our fabulous hotel, Sirkeci Mansion. The Quick Guide is a set of cardboard brochures including a glossy map and info on the Grand Bazaar.

 



Tram from Sultanahmet

Getting to the Grand Bazaar

The Grand Bazaar west side can be reached by tram at the Beyazıt-Kapalıçarşı stop. For the east side, we hopped on the modern electric tram to the earlier Çemberlitaş stop.

Çemberlitaş Column

Shopkeepers

The first thing we saw was the Çemberlitaş column. It was constructed by Emperor Constantine in 330 CE to celebrate the town Byzantium being renamed Nova Roma and becoming the capital of the Roman Empire. However, the people called it Constantinople (city of Constantine) and that name stuck.

As discussed in the Amazing Ancient Rome Walk, the Roman Empire did NOT fall in AD 476.  Rome the city fell.  The rest of the territory was still called the Roman Empire. The term Byzantine Empire is a 16th century German invention: it never existed.

Ottoman Artifacts

The Çemberlitaş column was so damaged by an earthquake in 416 CE that it is on life support with iron hoops holding it together.  The top of the column used to support a statue of Constantine that lasted until it was toppled by a storm in 1106.  The column is ugly but it’s the last remnant from Constantine, who put Istanbul and Christianity on the map and thus changed world history.  In fact, the column marked the centre of the forum, Constantinople's main square.



The Seven Hills of Nova Roma

Interestingly, Constantinople was situated on seven hills just like Rome!  The comparison was intentional since it was originally called Nova Roma.

Hagia Sophia

The first hill contains Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace.  The Grand Bazaar is on the second hill on the site of a former palace and the Forum of Constantine.  The third hill houses the Süleymaniye Mosque.

Nuruosmaniye




At its peak in 200 CE, it is estimated that Rome had 1,000,000 people. This decreased dramatically due to various plagues brought in via the Silk Routes and then the fall of Rome.  Constantinople then became the largest and wealthiest city of Europe up until its zenith in the 12^th century with a population of around 600,000 people (600 CE). 

Venice

Venice was both a trade partner and adversary of the Byzantine Empire, sacking Constantinople in 1204, seizing many of its Mediterranean territories, and carting off many treasures, including the metal decorations around the Çemberlitaş column.  Venice was one of the three largest cities in Europe in 1171 with a population of a mere 66,000 people. 

Nuruosmaniye Gate

Nuruosmaniye Gate 

Nuruosmaniye Walking north towards the Nuruosmaniye Mosque (1755), we entered the oldest gate, Nuruosmaniye, near the Nuruosmaniye Köftecisi (meatball shop).  Nuruosmaniye means sacred light of Osman, the name of the family that became known as the Ottomans.  The gate leads to the main east-west street, Kalpakcilar Caddesi or Hat Maker Street. Today this is jewelry alley.

  

Explore Side Streets

The Ottoman Empire not only controlled a vast area across three continents, but had complete monopoly of the former Silk Routes.  As the hub for Mediterranean trade, it is logical that this led to an enormous shopping mall (47,600 sq. m.) covering 61 streets.  Each street was dedicated to a particular trade or bedesten.  Because the Grand Bazaar was a caravansary, there used to be places to house the camels and the people.  To ensure security, the bazaar was closed at night. 

Zincirli Han

Zincirli Han

There are many hans, multi-storey buildings surrounding an inner courtyard.  The lower floor would be for animals.  In the middle of the coral-coloured Zincirli Han is a courtyard with a marble fountain for washing.  This han specialized used to specialize in chains, zincir. Today it houses down-to-earth jewelry shops and we did not get hassled while in this han.

3,000+Shops

 

Elegant Boutique



The Grand Bazaar is an overwhelming patchwork of 3,000+ simple shops and elegantly decorated boutiques.  We generally followed the self-guided tour in Rick Steve's book.  There are some signs hanging from the arched roof above you at major intersections but it’s good to get off the main streets.  Make sure you go off the main streets into the side alleys and courtyards. There were amazing things to see – glinting gold, shiny silver, and suave silks.  I cannot see any Turkish woman wearily such slinky dresses, at least not in public. 



Colourful Lights



The photos show three of our favourite shops. The classic multi-coloured lamps made of glass can be seen throughout Turkey. In fact, many hotels and restaurants use them for decorative lighting.  Because Islam forbade images in the mosques, artists excelled in calligraphy and geometric motifs.

Exquisite Pottery

There is a lot of overpriced pottery for the tourists.  One store in the north part of the bazaar was spectacular. While the prices were high - especially for the large vases and other pieces – the quality was very high as well.  

Ottoman Dress

Another shop had incredible Ottoman clothing, supposedly antique. We were skeptical until the owner said the display robes were not for sale. Nevertheless, it was hard to believe that the displayed clothes were that old, given their great condition. 

Ottoman Clothing

In 2014, it was the most-visited tourist attraction in the world with 91,250,000 visitors – that’s an average of 250,000 shoppers each day!

Last Post: İncekaya High

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