Sunday, March 10, 2013
Pat Yale
It would take years to see all the great sights of a country as large as Turkey.
Unfortunately many visitors must make do with a rushed seven days, which makes careful picking and choosing particularly important, especially bearing in mind the long distances between the must-see attractions.
If you haven’t been to Turkey before, you will almost certainly want to spend several days in İstanbul, the great city on the Bosporus that was the capital in turn of the Byzantines and Ottomans, and is now one of the most happening places on the planet (for suggestions on how to spend three days in İstanbul see http://www.todayszaman.com/news-308588-exploring-istanbul-in-three-days.html). That’s the easy bit. Some people then embark on a mad dash to tick off all the main sights of western Turkey even though it probably makes better sense to focus on just a few of them so that you have long enough in each destination to appreciate it properly.
There are two particularly good options for using up the remainder of a week-long visit. The first is to travel south along the Aegean coast, using Çanakkale as a base for visiting the Gallipoli battlefield sites and the ruins of Troy, then Selçuk as a base for exploring the great Roman ruins at Ephesus. This is the option most likely to appeal to visitors from Australia and New Zealand, countries with strong historic ties to Gallipoli.
Alternatively, you could fly east to Cappadocia to admire the spectacular landscape of deep gorges and soaring fairy-chimney rock formations that make up one of Turkey’s world heritage sites. You need a minimum of two days to explore just the highlights of Cappadocia, but that still leaves a day spare to travel west from İstanbul to Edirne, home to the spectacular world-heritage-site-listed Selimiye Cami.
For those who really want to try to shoehorn everything into one week it’s possible, at least in high season, to fly from İstanbul to İzmir for Ephesus and then on to Kayseri for Cappadocia and back to İstanbul. At present there are no handy inclusive air-passes. The cheapest fares usually go to those who book earliest particularly over Turkish and European public holiday periods. They are at their highest from mid-June to mid-September when Turkish schools are closed and many locals are on the move.
Is it best to visit İstanbul at the start or end of your trip? You may find it hard to touch down in the city and then speed straight out again, but if you do you will probably have a more relaxed return to what is a very big city where you will have ample opportunity to do any last-minute souvenir shopping.
Should you get a travel agent to make your arrangements for you? Turkey is easy to get around with plentiful public transport and hotels to suit all budgets. The residents of the most popular destinations have had long experience with tourists and you should always be able to find somebody able to speak your language. However, since time will be tight you may prefer to have an expert make your bookings to ensure that nothing goes wrong, even if it does mean paying a little bit more. If making hotel reservations yourself, remember that you will often get a more competitive deal by using a site like the popular www.booking.com.
Option One: Çanakkale-Gallipoli-Troy and Selçuk-Ephesus
Buses from İstanbul’s Esenler otogar (bus station) take about six hours to get to Çanakkale, but you need to check that the bus company will also provide transport to get you into the town center. Hotels are clustered around the 19th-century clocktower and along the waterfront. There are plenty of them but demand routinely exceeds supply especially at weekends so be sure to book ahead.
Once in Çanakkale you will find travel agencies competing to offer half-day tours of the Gallipoli battlefields. Without your own transport, you will certainly find it easiest to sign up for one of them, and most offer excellent value for money, with guides who are good at evoking the horrors of the World War I battles that took place at sites that, these days, are deceptively peaceful. Unless taking part in the ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day commemorations on April 25 is important to you, it’s wise to steer well clear of that date when every local facility is stretched to breaking point.
It’s easy to get a dolmuş (minibus) to the ruins of Homer’s world-famous Troy from the town-center minibus stand. The ruins are beautifully situated but not extensive, so you won’t need more than a couple of hours to explore them. Provided that you don’t visit on a Monday you could also pay a quick visit to Çanakkale’s Military Museum, which contains a replica of a mine-sweeper used in World War I.
From Çanakkale you can continue south along the coast to Selçuk (changing bus in İzmir), a journey that will take at least seven hours. Selçuk makes the best base for visiting Ephesus because it’s within easy walking distance of the ruins and has a great choice of accommodation to suit all budgets. There are more boutique hotels close by in the Ottoman Greek village of Şirince, a short bus ride up into the hills. Allow the best part of a day for exploring the ruins, especially if you want to take a look at the slight remains of the Temple of Artemis that was once one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World on the way.
Afterwards, you can hop on a train from Selçuk to İzmir airport and fly back to İstanbul in comfort.
Option Two: Cappadocia and Edirne
Cappadocia is another of Turkey’s world heritage sites and a must-see for many travelers, especially since it became the destination in Turkey for hot-air ballooning. From İstanbul you can fly to either Kayseri or Nevşehir airport whence you pick up a transfer minibus to your final destination, which is likely to be Göreme, Uçhisar, Ürgüp, Avanos, Çavuşin or Ortahisar, the troglodyte villages and small towns that are the bases for exploring the area. You must book the transfer bus from the airport in advance or you will not be allowed to use it; your hotelier or travel agency will be able to do this for you. The ride takes about an hour.
When deciding where to stay you might want to bear in mind that the prettiest villages are Göreme, Uçhisar, Çavuşin and Ortahisar. Ürgüp has the best choice of places to shop and eat, while Avanos has the plus of a riverside setting and a thriving pottery industry.
Wherever you stay, your hotelier will be able to book you onto a dawn hot-air balloon flight, the best way to appreciate the dramatic scenery. They will also be able to book you onto a day trip that will include a visit to one of the extraordinary underground cities where Christians are believed to have taken refuge during the Arab raids of the early Middle Ages, and to the lovely Ihlara Gorge where a cooling stream flows through a canyon whose sides are pierced with tiny frescoed medieval churches. Especially if you stay in Göreme, you will be able to take yourself to the Göreme Open Air Museum, which contains some especially colorful frescoed churches. With what remains of your time, you will be able to trek or ride through one of the valleys, learn to throw a pot in Avanos, go wine-tasting in Ürgüp or even learn how to cook some favored local dishes.
It would be easy to spend a third day in Cappadocia, but if you get back to İstanbul with a day to spare you can catch an early-morning bus from Esenler otogar to Edirne in Thrace to admire the Selimiye Cami, the masterpiece of the 16th-century master architect Sinan. Too often overlooked by travelers, Edirne is a delightful small town with an array of historic mosques, Ottoman bridges and small museums to explore. What’s more, the fruit-shaped soaps on sale in its ancient hans will make perfect small gifts to take home. Just make sure that you’ve booked the bus back to İstanbul so that you can relax and enjoy yourself. The journey takes about two and a half hours each way.
Source: Today's Zaman
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