Get Straight To It

Turkey is an absolute Gem! This is the type of trip that ANYONE and EVERYONE could love. There’s tons of history, culture, adventure, family-friendly options, food, relaxation, shopping, and romance. The best part about Turkey for me, was definitely the food and the diversity. We explored the big city of Istanbul and smaller towns like the coastal town Kas.

Each area of Turkey has so much to offer. The main areas I explored were Istanbul, Cappadocia, Antalya, Kas, and Pammulkale. Istanbul had the best food. We even tried Persian/Iranian food there and yall the Goat Neck (kuzu gerden) SNAPS! Please do yourself a favor and visit Reyhun Iranian Restaurant. Everything from the food to the drinks and even the price tag were outstanding!
You can do a whole foodie tour around Istanbul trying all the different Turkish delight options as well as the baklava and goat. There’s so much food to try check out the “recommendation” section for more. O and don’t forget to try the Turkish ice cream (specifically pistachio, thank me later). The ice cream is extremely creamy but has a more elastic property that is supposed to maintain its form longer than traditional ice cream. It is sooo good, do not miss out! Whilst in Turkey we were invited to a private party and got to see the nightlife. The club we went to played house music all night long and there were drinks flowing the entire night. It’s good to have friends there because I noticed that they like to keep things “exclusive”.

While in Istanbul we also checked out the Blue Mosque which was under renovation so there wasn’t much to see. The main appeal there is all the blue tile, which was all covered up so it was a quick visit. We also managed to go to Hagia Sophia which was spectacular. The mosques require you to cover your hair and ensure you are conservatively dressed or wear something to cover you, if not. We saw people with disposable gowns which resembled hospital gowns. They also provide scarves you can borrow. I brought my own scarf to toss over my head. The high ceilings, chandeliers, and overhead paintings make the Hagia Sophia magical to see. Lastly, we visited the Grand Bazaar and hunty it was definitely grand. It is a maze of vendors indoors. Think of an indoor flea market but 50x’s bigger. You can buy replicas of bags, jerseys, and everything else you can think of. The grand bazaar is absolutely hectic and sensory overload. If you go, be prepared to haggle!

After Istanbul we headed to Cappadocia. On our first full day in Cappadocia we woke up early for our hot air balloon ride. We were picked up via van and transported a short distance to the valley. They provide a breakfast box with snack-like food and drinks. The hot air balloons are then blown up with a giant fan and fire. Once the balloon is inflated and the basket is upright you climb into your section which will likely have others and it’s a smooth sail up. During the ride we shuffled around so that everyone could get their pictures and enjoy the view. After the flight Deluxe held a champagne toast and provided a flight certificate.
The next day in Cappadocia I wanted to go to a bunch of random unrelated activities. My hotel Charming Cave Hotel came through with organizing a driver for the day to do just that. We went to Dalton Brothers Ranch to hang with the horses (100TL), Sultan Carpets (200TL) for a picturesque backdrop and traditional dress, Ceramic workshop (Free) to create pottery on the handwheel and learn the process of how it’s made. We went to the small valley of Pasabagi where you can find the rock formations and inside the chimney quarters. This hodgepodge tour was what I wanted to see and do in Cappadocia. I recommend doing a search and finding what interests you. The standard tours were many valleys that honestly looked the same in my opinion. The last day we opted for the classic car tour which takes you to love/red valley and the sunset point. The tour was a bit short (2 hours) but well worth it to travel in style and get some good pictures while enjoying the history and views.

After leaving Cappadocia we flew to Antalya and stayed in a fabulous boutique hotel called Palm House 17. I cannot recommend this place more! The details in the decor are unmatched. The place is run by a couple who take great care of you during the stay. The room we chose was extremely spacious and had plenty of amenities. I love a room with a robe and slippers. They also provided some fancy bath products and the bathroom contained a bidet.

In Antalya we went to a fabulous private beach ($5/person). The beach entry price includes beach chairs and umbrellas. They also have towels, floaties, etc. for a small additional fee. The view was spectacular and the water was nice and warm.

The next day we opted to do a boat trip which turned out to be not what we expected or paid for (we were told it would be a small boat for more of a personal experience) but we made the best of it. We made the mistake of utilizing a street vendor to book the boat the night before. The street vendor had us prepay and ended up scamming us. He claimed he had fallen asleep and it took a whooooole fiasco to get the money back, but bae did a little finesse (aka cussed the vendor out). There was a standoff and the vendor claimed to go to the ATM to get the money to refund us. The neighboring restaurant owner had been sucked into the drama but when he realized that the vendor wasn’t coming back (and was actually scamming us), he paid us our money back. The boat we ended up getting on was a 4 story pirate boat filled with like 200 people. Think small cruise. There were sun-tanning bed on the top floor, booths and a dance floor on the third floor, tables and chairs on the second, and a shower and diving board on the first floor. The boat had people young and old. There was a spectacular party where the captain eventually stole the show and danced off the boat into a backflip off of the third floor. My mind is still blown! As much as I didn’t want to enjoy the dance party, I did. The crew teaches dance moves and it ends with a foam party. The kids on the boat most enjoyed the foam. I’m not trying to be a debbie downer but foam kinda disgusts me when its a bunch of strangers playing in it. The boat turns into a soapy, dirty mess. Luckily the shower and sunbeds were still options so I could avoid our booth after the foam. During our last stop on the boat, we were invited onto a yacht. The yacht belonged to a Turkish man who had retired and begun living on the boat during quarantine. It was just him and his daughter and they welcomed us with coffee. We talked about politics, retirement, languages, favorite spots in Turkey, and traveling.

After Antalya we went to Kas, which we learned about during the trip. Soooo many people had recommended going to Kas that we had to see it for ourselves. Kas turned out to be everything they hyped it up to be and more. Kas is a special place. Although it’s gaining more tourists it still feels like a well kept secret. The hotel offered a private beach and the staff was accommodating to our every need. The last day we enjoyed one of the beaches and shopping in town. The shopping is cute af. The small shops all have their own appeal. You can purchase lamps, blankets, towels, jewelry, cloths, carpets, etc.

We met wonderful people while in Turkey. My favorite part about travel is the people you meet. This man was from Kurtish from Kurtistan. He told us about the history of the Kurtish people and how Turkey had not acknowledged that Kurtish people existed for a long time even after they helped Turkey fight. He yearned to tell the story so that people everywhere could see his people and his kids or grandkids or great grandkids would eventually be seen and their culture and history could live on. He was kind and genuine. When you meet people such as this you can see it a mile away. I know that it was no coincidence that we shopped at the Kas markets from street to street and ended up at his brother’s store and these were the only two shops we ended up buying from. How unlikely, we had no clue they were brothers or there was any connection until we were checking out with his brother and he comes in and greets us and tells us that is his brother. His brother is the lamp plug. He will ship his lamps and they are gold! I will warn you Kas to me it reminds me of a bougie hippie/boho town, so souvenirs here aren’t always the cheapest. Namely the clothes and jewelry but you can find something affordable if you hunt and bargain.

Did I mention the street food ? There’s mussels with lemon, you read that right. I was shocked to see mussels as street food but it was very common all around Turkey from the city of Istanbul to the beach town. They are actually stuffed. There’s street corn, and chestnuts.

Lastly, we headed to Pamukkale to take a dip into the picturesque thermal pools. Getting from kas to Pammukkale was a bit tricky. We originally wanted to rent a car to drive ourselves but everyone from Antayla to Kas had told us renting a car would be difficult and expensive. The next option they gave us was to take a bus that goes to another city and then from that city we could take another bus to Pamukkale or hire a private ride from there. I did not like that option because I wanted to maximize the time we could stay in Kas. I have experience in other countries hiring a taxi driver to be a private driver at a negotiated fixed rate. Bae talked to one of our taxi drivers and negotiated to pay $100 for a ride from kas to Pamukkale which is amazing because the ride from the other city that they were offering us which is closer to Pamukkale was quoted at $200. This way we were able to leave that evening and enjoy the sunset in Kas and got to Pamukkale right at 9pm. We tip our driver handsomely and went on our way.

In Pamukkale we woke up early to get to the thermal pools asap. There are two gates, one walking gate which opens at 0800 and the driving gate which opens at 0630/0700. I’m so glad we chose the drive inside because the pools became packed around 0800/0830. The pools look just like the pictures. They are just not as nice to get into. You cannot wear shoes to get to the pools so you have to walk bare feet on the calcium ground which hurts like hell. The pools also weren’t as warm as I’d hoped but it’s probably because they are naturally heated by the sun and in the morning they haven’t had much time to warm up. Later on I’d bet they were a bit warmer but that also means being surrounded with tourists. I don’t know about you but I’ll take the cool empty pools for 500 Alex.

Pamukkale offers paragliding for like 30euro but we didn’t get a chance to try it out. Other than that with the entrance fee to the pools you also have access to the surrounding ruins. The ruins are massive and impressive. There’s an amphitheater that I highly recommend seeing. You can also pay an additional fee to access the museum and swim in Cleopatra’s pool. You can see Cleopatra’s pool for free though if you don’t want to get in.

Planning Tools

Suggested Minimum Budget	$50/night accommodations $20/day food $15/day transportation
Suggested Duration	14 days +
Suggested Time of Year	April-May and September-October

Recommendations

Food; Try gozleme, pottery kebab, shish kabab, simit, corn on the cob, anything with goat, Turkish ice cream (dondurma), baklava, Turkish delight, mezze, manti.

Drinks: Try apple tea, Turkish tea, and Turkish coffee. If you’re brave try Raki, it’s liquor but it tastes like liquorish flavored rubbing alcohol.

Culture; In the mosque be sure to cover your hair (women) and dress appropriately.

Activities

Hot air balloon ride (I booked Deluxe Balloon through Charming Cave Hotel)

Blue Mosque

Grand Bazaar

Hike Mount Chimera (live fires)

Hagia Sophia (Mosque)

Pamukkale thermal pools

Pottery making (Free Demo at Kybele Boutique Ceramic through Private Driver)

Sailing

Lake Tuz (Salt Lake that reflects when wet)

Love Valley

Beaches

Green Canyon

Classic Car Tour (I used Classic Car Cappadocia)

Whirling Dervish Show

Turkish Nights Show

Turkish Bath aka Hammam (Traditional Spa-like experience)

Accommodations

The Magnaura Palace Hotel-Istanbul

Charming Cave Hotel – Cappodocia

Palm House17- Antalya

Amphora – kas

Transportation Details

IAD-IST Direct flight to Istanbul

IST-NAV Flight from Istanbul to Cappadocia

ASR-AYT Flight from Cappadocia to Antalya

Bus from Antalya to Kas

Private driver from Kas to Pamukkale $100

DNZ-IST flight from Pamukkale to Istanbul

IST-IAD Flight from Istanbul back home

Insider Scoop

As much as I can rave about Turkey it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t also give the real REAL inside scoop. First off lets address the smoke, it was horrendous for me. At every given opportunity everyone around lights up a cigarette, doesn’t matter if there are kids around, you’re eating, or even standing nearby. That didn’t stop me from loving my time there it just made me want to avoid being around people at all costs.

I don’t know if this is a common thing but food came out extremely fast at the restaurants we ate at. It happened more times than not and it shocked me every time that the food was speedy and delicious!

I thoroughly enjoyed the cats all around Turkey. They are everywhere and I’m not a cat person but they definitely grew on me. If you are afraid of stray cats and dogs you may have a hard time, I cant lie.

We did NOT have great experiences when purchasing tours, tickets from the street vendors. You know the little tourist shops all along the roads? I’ve used these types of vendors all around the world and some countries have better experiences/quality than others. Again we did not have great experiences booking through the street vendors in Turkey. I suggest utilizing your accommodation’s services. For example in Cappadocia our hotel booked everything besides our classic car tour for us. They quoted us prices and we never pre-paid for anything or paid anyone besides the hotel. This ensured timely and professional services because the hotel held them accountable and they didn’t already have our money so services were much better than prepaying a street vendor. At the end of our stay in Cappadocia we paid for all the tours during our stay.

Lastly, If you’d like to get inspiration for what to wear check out my Turkey Lookbook.