Where to travel? Istanbul and somewhere else?
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bp5678
Forumite 336 posts
I have my mind set on travelling around Turkey - particuarly Istanbul (1 week) and Cappadocia (3 days).
I can travel for up to 3 weeks in total so I'd like to combine my trip to Turkey with somewhere else. Ideally somewhere no more than about 3 hours away.
I'm looking for everywhere cliche about travelling as a 20 something. Eg somewhere authentic, unique, a challenge to travel and explore, a real adventure, somewhere a bit rough round the edges, somewhere difficult to travel, somewhere with warm friendly locals. I'd really like to make lifelong memories and for it to be a special and ideally life changing trip. Would also ideally like it to be reasonably priced.
I was considering Belgrade, somewhere in Iran or Tsbili in Georgia.
I'll probably travel in May (approx) although I'm flexible on which month I travel.
I can travel for up to 3 weeks in total so I'd like to combine my trip to Turkey with somewhere else. Ideally somewhere no more than about 3 hours away.
I'm looking for everywhere cliche about travelling as a 20 something. Eg somewhere authentic, unique, a challenge to travel and explore, a real adventure, somewhere a bit rough round the edges, somewhere difficult to travel, somewhere with warm friendly locals. I'd really like to make lifelong memories and for it to be a special and ideally life changing trip. Would also ideally like it to be reasonably priced.
I was considering Belgrade, somewhere in Iran or Tsbili in Georgia.
I'll probably travel in May (approx) although I'm flexible on which month I travel.
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I went on a 2 week tour round the country and it was well worth it. The people are fantastic and very welcoming.
My own biased opinion is that both Istanbul and Cappadocia are fantastic, each worth at least a week (particularly if you include the wonderful Ihlara valley in with Cappadocia). I also really enjoyed Georgia earlier this year: hospitality there is legendary, although language can limit the depth of your interactions with locals. Georgia is far more than Tbilisi (although that is a great city to visit): it is easy to visit the highest inhabited place in Europe and go for mountain hikes there, although a guide costs ten pounds a day and you pay a similar amount if you want to travel on horseback.
You could also take a ferry from Turkey to northern Cyprus.
There is so much to see in Turkey itself as well as Istanbul and Cappadocia.
What about all the other sights like Pammukale and Troy and Ephesus and Pergamon and a visit to Gallipoli? And go around the south coast to Antalya and Aspendos and Patara?
There's heaps to see and you could get around very easily on their excellent bus/coach network.
I just got my Iranian visa last week, but I'm travelling on a New Zealand passport. Travelling there for the first time next month.
I think that even visas for UK citizens can take a lot less time than 'a good couple of months'. You can get an Iranian travel agent in Tehran to get your visa approval, and then the actual visa can be done same day at the London consulate. I believe. That seemed to be the experience of the people that I met at the consulate.
For people on a UK passport, you can fly into Iraqi Kurdistan and get a visa on arrival. The visa you receive will only allow you to visit the Kurdish region, but that's the safest bit of Iraq.
Not on my bucket list.
There are huge numbers of trip reports online, on youtube, etc. By people who have actually been there.
Less than a month until I'm there in person. I'll report back.
Starting in istanbul, you could make your way to Cappadocia via Ankara. After Cappadocia you could either head south towards Adana where you could spend a day or two exploring the city and nearby canyon walks before heading on to Mersin. Mersin is a Turkish holiday resort, not on the radar of most other European residents yet, its a great place for a relaxing couple of days but has lots of live music, good restaurants and reasonable priced accommodation. You could then visit some of the other holiday resorts such as Side, Alanya or Antalya where you'll be able to enjoy some good hiking and things like river rafting at that time of year.
Alternatively after Cappadocia you could head towards the black sea coast to explore this area or even head to Lake Van in the east for somewhere a bit different.
If you're planning to visit the US after being in Iran, read this.
Not really a big deal: it just means that you cannot use an ESTA and would need a US visa. Some of my family friends (UK passports) have been through this: they had a very good reason for visiting Iran which they explained to the US consul and their visas were issued without any problems.