After some major changes in career, I had a two week break and wanted to travel somewhere exotic after being locked up at home for more than 2 years due to pandemic. I started searching within India and somehow ended up deciding to travel to Turkey. One advantage is, if you have a valid UK, US or schengen visa you can travel to Turkey with e-visa which you get instantly through their Turkish Immigration website and the fee was nominal of around INR 2500. So since I didn’t have any hassle of requesting for any visa and the country was also open up for travel planned a 11 day itinerary and travelled solo to Turkey. I’ll maybe write on tips how travelling solo in a different blog and will keep to only itinerary in this one.
Day 1 – Reached Instanbul around 8 pm and I flew through Emirates from Chennai. I planned to reach Cappadocia first, so stayed at Istanbul airport for the night as the flight to Cappadocia was next day morning. Stayed at Yotel which is a group of hotels mainly situated inside airport. It was not a budget hotel and was on a higher end but it provided much comfort after a long journey. If you intend to stay inside the airport Yotel is the best option as I felt it was hassle free provided I was travelling alone.
Day 2 – Reached Capaddocia around afternoon and did a small walk around the town checking out the old volcanic town. I booked a cave hotel through Airbnb and it was right in the centre of the city, in that way it provided much lesser time for travel within the city. All hotels and kebab shops was within 100-200 mts. Strongly recommend staying inside the cave hotel which is pretty close by.
Day 3 – I had booked the Hot air balloon along with the Green Tour for the day. The day starts pretty early around 4-5 am. The hot air balloon starts around 5 am and closes around 7-7:30 am. They have the pick up service from the hotel and provide you with light breakfast before the flight. It was amazing to see how the hot air balloon is set up, then they take you inside the cabin and the flight starts moving up. It reaches a height of around 7000 ft and they move along the fairy chimneys. It was a spectacular sight to see from the hot air balloon. They descend down around 7 am and once they land, they have a small celebration for safe landing with Champagne. They also provided a nice little certificate for your first flight.They will drop back at the hotel around 8 am.
The Green Tour started around 10 am and its like a half day tour which ended at 3-4 pm. This includes places like Selime monastery, Monk Valley, Pigeon Valley, Underground city along with lunch. Personally liked the underground city to see how floor after floor it was carved underground with most of the amenities needed centuries back. I booked a group tour which is a smaller group of around 6-8 people. It was good to meet people from different countries. During the tour they also take you for some leather, jewellery shops. After the tour they will drop back at the hotel.
Day 4 – Planned for Red Tour which compromises of Zelve Open air museum, Goreme valley, fire chimneys and cave houses. It was good to see the ancient settlement esp the cave houses. This also has the pick up drop facility along with Lunch. The hot air balloon along with these tours I booked through the hotel I stayed and they co-ordinated most of these tours for me. If you are planning for Hot air balloon plan 2-3 days of stay at Cappadocia as it depends on the weather condition, if one day get cancelled you can still check for the next days. I was lucky to get it at the first day itself. I saw many people in the tour and at the hotel missing the hot air balloon due to bad weather conditions. At night I booked bus to Antalya and travelled through Kamil Koc bus service which is one of the largest in Turkey and most sought out after. I booked these bus tickets through flix bus website and it was the cheapest mode of travel. I also booked airport pick up to the hotel and they were on time waiting at the airport.
Day 5 – Reached Antalya and I had booked pick up from bus station to hotel and they were waiting on time at the bus station. I went around the town of Antalya which is a small historical fishing town and was buzzing with tourists. It was fun to walk around the city all the way to the old fishing village and all the streets was fully occupied by vendors selling Turkish items like towels, souvenirs, ceramics and mainly sea food. If you have a day or two make sure you visit Antalya and it will be worth visiting. And if you love seafood this place is heaven!
Day 6 – I booked for a tour for Perge and the Duden waterfall. First visited the lower Duden falls where it reaches the ocean and then went all the way to upper Duden where the waterfall starts. There is little cave and it was fun to walk around the upper dude falls. Then left to visit Perge, which is an old historical roman settlement, you can walk around ruins to see the stadium, old streets etc. I had an evening bus to Pamukkale which is like 3 hours from Antalya and used the same Kamil Koc bus service. Reached Pamukkale around 8 pm and checked in at the hotel.
Day 7 – First of the day I was just relaxing at the hotel and after Lunch decided to check the Hierapolis and the cotton castle. I booked an Airbnb right opposite to the cotton castle and it was literally crossing the road to the cotton castle. Started trekking from the nothern entrance and reached Hierapolis, it was one of the biggest Greek city in the olden times and especially the stadium was huge. It was a hard trek to reach above the top of the stadium but was worth it. Right after the stadium, you will see the cotton castle which is the thermal waters flowing out which are rich in minerals esp calcium, these deposits are formed over years and gives white snowy look. The path which is open was built later, the original ones are closed for tourist as they started deteriorating after public use. It was fun to walk around the thermal waters and I personally enjoyed walking down the pamukkale cotton castle. Definitely a must visit during the Turkey trip.
Day 8 – I booked the local train to Ephesus to see the Ancient Greek city. Booked a day trip which had pick up and drop to the station. The train starts at 6 from Pamukkale and reaches around 8:30. The tour starts around 9:30 and they can drop back at station about 3 pm and you can reach Pamukkale back by 4 pm train. The Ancient Greek city is again a must visit, the ruins especially the library of Celsus was astonishing. You can see various carvings of Greek gods and the stadium too. You can find Nike, the greek goddess for sports carved out and it still remains in tact. After this, they also took to Temple of Artemis which is not fully there, most of the pillars are in different museums and you will find only one pillar, the original picture of the temple was again a magnificent architecture. After the tour returned back to Pamukkale.
Day 9 – I had booked an early morning flight to Istanbul where I wanted to have the final leg of the tour. Reached Istanbul around afternoon and checked in. The afternoon I just wanted to relax and booked the Turkish bath, its one of the kind experience which you will get only in Turkey. Prices might be little higher in Istanbul due to Tourism but you can visit the old Turkish bath sets and get pampered.
Day 10 – Visited the usual tourist spots around Sultanahmet as I was staying right in the centre of it. The Topkapi palace, Blue mosque, Hagia Sophia and Basilica Cistern was all walkable and I did a walking tour myself to these places. Unfortunately I couldn’t visit the Cistern due to renovations going on which I wanted to see. Galata Tower is like 2 stops in metro from Hagia Sophia, you can get a ticket from the station go visit Galata Tower and ride back to Sultanahmet. Topkapi palace is definitely worth a visit to see the historical artifacts, they have a separate section for clocks which I personally liked and also the armoury. The palace has also sections on artifacts for cooking, dining, medicine etc which was worth seeing. Hagia Sophia is another marvel which should be visited in Istanbul. I reached back room by evening after all this sight seeing, I wasn’t keen on the Grand Bazaar as many local people told its very similar to the Khan Al Khalili market in Cairo which I visited some years back. I found good shopping near Hagia Sophia where I bought some souvenirs. You could also opt for a Bosporous Cruise in the strait which again I wasn’t interested in.
Day 11 – I had a return flight back to Chennai from Istanbul and wasn’t doing much of any sight seeing.
Overall cost – I booked the trip at the last moment, so flight was the most expensive part of the trip. If you can book in advance you can book it at almost half the price. Hotels were mid range, again it depends on what range you might want to book. Other than flight and hotels everything else was cheaper. I booked most of the intercity travels with the Kamil Koc which has cheaper bus tickets. The buses are good with AC, wifi and they even provide with good snacks. I booked all my tours, pick up and drop with the hotels I was staying in, it was hassle free as I was travelling solo and I know someone will come and pick and drop me without waiting for bus or metro. If you can book in advance you can very well manage within INR 1,00,000. On the itinerary too, if you want to reduce or add more place you can do it based on your preference. Most people will skip Antalya or they only visit Istanbul and Cappadocia. Plan the trip surrounding what interests you the most. This is the whole leg of the tour I did.
Coming to the culture, many people was skeptical when I told I’m travelling to Turkey on a solo trip. But it was really safer and I found most of the people really friendly. When people knew I was on my own, they helped me in so many ways be it from the hotel owners who packed some early breakfast, dropping at the bus station or when I checked out for a late bus or flight, they made sure I was comfortable at the hotel and kept providing me coffee or tea. I met a lot of solo travellers or group of old people who was giving me company in the tours.
Food is again another major highlight of Turkey, be it the Kebabs or the fresh fish in Antalya or the desserts like Baklava and Kunafa. People love to feed others in Turkey and you can feel the hospitality everywhere you go. If you love history, food and culture then Turkey is the place and is one of the safest place to travel to!
Chennaivaasi 