The Turkey Itinerary

The start

One morning, my mother called and said they were going through some travel websites and came across an itinerary for Turkey. She wanted me to go through it and suggest if it was worth it. I did some quick research and concluded that it was good to go. Later in the day, Nam and I were discussing it in detail and a question popped into our heads – if the itinerary is good, then why aren’t we going? After all, we hadn’t travelled anywhere in the last 2 years due to Covid (the last trip was Seychelles in 2020). And now, we had baby P as well – he had just turned 1 year old – having the grandparents around would be a good way to test out our first big trip with him. So, the very next day, we called them back and said we’re joining them too! Super excited for Parth’s very first international trip!

For a geography and history buff like me, the Republic of Türkiye is one of the most interesting places in the entire world. It is the bridge between Europe and Asia – 3% of its land comes in Europe and the rest is in Asia. It has coastlines along the Black Sea, the Aegean and the Mediterranean. It has land borders with 8 other countries and straddles the Balkans, Caucasus and the Middle East. You can find everything from snow-clad mountains to pristine beaches to other-worldy landscapes like the volcanic “fairy chimneys” of Cappadocia and the white terraces of Pamukkale. It is also the origin of the historical Mesopotamian rivers – the Euphrates and Tigris. The Anatolian peninsula of Turkey has history dating back to the oldest known man-made structure in the world – the Göbekli Tepe from 9600 BC. 

Best Time to Visit

The popular months to visit Turkey are April-June and September-October.

The typical advice of avoiding the peak summer months and peak winter months. Turkey has a variety of landscapes and you will have a truly unique experience no matter which season you choose to visit. Our trip was planned for November – not really a preferred month for travel due to unpredictable weather. We hoped it would not mess up our plans and went ahead with it anyway.

Getting to Turkey and Visa

Cut to a couple of months later – we were checking into our Air Arabia flight to Sharjah at 3:30 AM. Parth was super excited, running all around the terminal trying to watch the planes – lucky for him, there was another excited kid trying to find the A380 Emirates (me!).

We were quite worried about Parth, especially how he would manage a 4 hour flight. To our surprise (and relief!), he slept for most of it! The Sharjah airport had a children’s play area which Parth put to good use.

The next flight to Istanbul was 5 hours long. The flight from Air Arabia was a low-cost carrier and did not have any in-flight entertainment. So, Nam and I decided that in the worst case scenario, we would bring out our phones if we had to entertain Parth – something that we had never shown him before (we were planning to keep him off screen-time till he turned 2). We were super lucky again – Parth slept for most of this flight as well – not sure if it is the low hum of the engines or something else. Anyway, we didn’t complain!

Istanbul is one of the most well connected places in the world, thanks to its location. I really enjoyed watching the departure and arrival display boards – there were planes flying to almost every continent from here! So, there is no doubt that the most convenient point of entry to Turkey is Istanbul.

We arrived at Istanbul’s new international airport – an airport so big that it took us forever to get from the runway to the gates! The airport was still looking very new and well maintained. We even got a baby stroller at the point where we entered the airport – a huge relief!

Immigration was smooth. Getting the Turkish visa from India was quite an ordeal (more so because of the poor quality of service at the VFS centre in Bangalore – absolutely horrible to say the least) and the visa came in with just five days to go for the trip. The documents required are mostly the same as any Schengen country – a super painful process for an Indian! We had to put together an additional set of documents for the newest member of our team – Baby P. If you have a valid US Visa, then you can apply for an e-Visa to Turkey – making it really convenient and fast. Nam had a US Visa and we could clearly see the advantage it gave.

Before we head further, some info on Istanbul’s airports. The old Ataturk airport is in the heart of the city but all flights have now been shifted to either the new IST airport (called Istanbul International Airport) or Sabiha Gökçen airport (which is on the Asian side). Both are international airports – make sure you check this before you make your bookings. 

Getting to the city and Currency

The city is 40km away from the airport (very similar to Bangalore) and cabs are super expensive. We headed to the -2 level where the buses come – we were looking for bus number 16 which would take us to Taksim Square. There are a couple of operators of buses – we went with Havaist. It was an AC bus and the ride was comfortable. It took us about 35-40 mins to reach Taksim. As of 2022, there were no metro lines running till the airport.

We found a currency exchange and converted enough to last us the entire trip. As usual, the exchange rate here was way better than what they were offering at the airport.

The local currency is Turkish Lira (TL) and at the time of us visiting (Nov 2022), it was at 19 TL for 1 Euro. The currency has been falling consistently over the last 4 years – to give you an idea of how much it has devalued, 1 Euro would only fetch 6 TL in 2019. The biggest drop was seen last year where the conversion rate moved from 9 TL to 19 TL. Inflation is running wild and the local economy is walking a tightrope. And yet, the tourism industry was booming – thanks to the people there – among the most friendly and welcoming that you can find!

Local travel

We crossed the street over to the metro station. We bought an Istanbulkart – a travel card that you can load and use on any of the public transport modes in the city – metro, bus, tram and even boats! The city is very well connected if you decide to use a combination of different modes of transport. Up to 5 people can use the same card to travel which makes it super convenient and cost effective (read more about Istanbulkart here). This is a great option as Istanbul’s streets are narrow and notorious for traffic – something that we Bangaloreans are not strangers to! It was a bit tough carrying a baby and our bags, but we had packed light and managed to get through. The actual trains were running deep underground – we had to take escalators and lifts going down about 3-4 floors!

We got down at the next stop – Şişhane. Our hotel was a short walk away from here. We had not taken a local SIM for this trip and relied on offline maps to find our way to the hotel – there were many narrow streets and it was a bit tough to find the right one. Finally, we made it!

How many days to spend in Turkey?

Turkey is a large country (larger than any in Europe) with interesting things to see across its vast expanse. Our trip concentrated on the west and central parts and we can’t wait to go back to explore the rest of the country as well. We would recommend spending at least 13-15 days exploring all parts of the country – take flights to reduce the travel time between the far flung places.

Our Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive in Istanbul. Explore the Kadıköy (don’t worry, that “i” does not have a dot – it’s in Turkish) area on the Asian side and İstiklal street on the European side. Enjoy the street food of Istanbul.

Day 2: Explore more of the neighbourhood of Karaköy and Beyoğlu. Keep eating at every opportunity. Don’t worry, there will be a dedicated food blog for Istanbul itself! Leave for Çanakkale.

Day 3: Visit the ancient city of Troy, the ancient hospital at Asklepion and leave for Kuşadası.

Day 4: Explore Ephesus and leave for Pamukkale. Enjoy the cotton castle and explore the remains of Hierapolis – the gateway to Hades.

Day 5: Drive to Konya and visit Rumi’s tomb. Stop at Sultanhanı Caravanserai and continue the drive to Cappadocia. Stay in a cave hotel.

Day 6: Explore the unique landscape of Cappadocia. Enjoy a hot air balloon ride. Dinner at cave hotel.

Day 7: Leave for Ankara. Visit Mustaka Kemal Atatürk’s mausoleum. High speed train to Istanbul after lunch.

Day 8: Explore the iconic mosques of Istanbul – Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia) and Blue Mosque as well as the Topkapı palace. Walk through the Grand bazaar. Explore more of the Karaköy side. Dinner cruise on the Bosphorus.

Day 9: Return flight to India.

As mentioned earlier, we covered Central and West Turkey. There is plenty to be seen in the South as well as the South East – places like Antalya and Gaziantep. Hopefully, we get to visit Turkey again and go to these amazing places too.

In the next episode of the Turkey series, we start our exploration of the historic city of Istanbul. Stay tuned!

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Check out all the other Turkey blogs here:

• The Turkey Itinerary – planning a perfect trip to the crossroads of Asia and Europe
• Lahmacun, Pide and Kunefe – Eating our way through Istanbul
• Unfinished business in Istanbul and an Earthquake – unforgettable experiences
• Troy, a giant horse and forgotten Greek cities in Turkey – travelling in western Turkey via Çanakkale, Asklepion and Ephesus
• Cotton Castles and Whirling Dervishes – exploring the towns of Pamukkale, Konya and Sultanhanı Caravanserai
• Fairy Chimneys, Windy Days and Atatürk – the fascinating world of Cappadocia, a salt lake and the capital city of Ankara