8 Days itinerary for Turkey

Goreme open air museum

Turkey is the Country which is a perfect amalgamation of East & West. From witnessing Rose valley through a hot air balloon in Cappadocia to taking a dip into the natural spa of Pamukkale & the magnificent Hagia Sophia Museum in Istanbul, Turkey has a lot of unique & beautiful things to offer. Not only this, the food that this country serves you is yummylicious, no restaurant would leave you complaining or unsatisfied (Indians are much particular about tasty food, so we can bet that they serve awesome food). For everyone planning to do an 8 day trip to Turkey, here is a perfect itinerary to visit Cappadocia, Pamukkale & Istanbul!

Summary of the trip-

This trip is ideal for people who want to have a relaxed vacation with Family or a romantic one with your partner (Perfect for Honeymoon trip).
Day 1- Arrive in Istanbul
Day 2, 3 & 4- Visit Cappadocia
Day 5- Marvellous Pamukkale
Day 6, 7 & 8- Enchanting Istanbul
This is just a sample itinerary, you can swap the places as per your comfort.

 

Day 1- Arrive in Istanbul

Most of the people start & end there trip from Istanbul (Mostly international flights lands here only & it is easier to reach Cappadocia & Pamukkale from Istanbul then other places), so one can visit it either during the beginning of the trip or in the end. You can stay there for a day at an airport hotel- If you are seeking a budget hotel, you can try Ibis Airport Hotel. It has some good restaurants as well to eat around.

 

 

Day 2, 3 & 4- Visit Cappadocia

You can either take a flight from Istanbul or a bus or drive through road to Cappadocia. If you are flying to Cappadocia, you will have to reach Nevşehir Kapadokya Airport or Kayseri Erkilet Airport. From both the airports you can hire the cab to reach Cappadocia, it takes around 1 hour to reach. It will be best if you pre-book a cab, both these airports are not very crowded or have a lot of flights so it might be difficult to manage it at that time. We took an afternoon flight from Istanbul. There are very limited options to fly from Istanbul to Cappadocia.

Goreme open-air museum: Go to your hotel, keep your stuff & you could visit Goreme open-air museum on the first day (Hot air balloon rides only happen during morning hours). Don’t forget to carry your shoes, as you will have to do a lot of walking in this UNESCO World Heritage site. In ancient time, humans have formed these caves out of eroded rocks. You can spend a few hours appreciating the beauty of this museum and buy souvenirs & other local items from the market present outside it.

 

Hot air Balloon Ride: Hot air balloon ride is only available early morning, you will be probably picked up from your hotel at around 4-5 AM in the morning. You can opt for balloons that would carry from 2 people to 20 people, it starts at around 5:30 AM. They will take you high above in the sky with hundreds of more balloons & you will be able to get the magnificent view of the rose valley, pigeon valley & whole of the region. It is surely a unique experience that you will witness. They will drop you back to your hotel by 8:30-9:00 AM after champagne raise ;).

 

ATV Ride tour: Take the ATV ride tour in the evening & make this trip adventurous. The tour guide will make you visit all the places that you have seen from the sky in the morning. Going through the terrains of this place will be a lot of fun. This will be a beautiful end to day 2.

For sure, you would not want to miss the view of the hot air balloons in the sky from land. On day 3, wake up early to see these balloons in sky & witness it’s beauty while having the Turkish chai.

Kaymakli Underground City: In the afternoon, you can go witness this beautiful underground city, where people used to live in the ancient time. Get back to your hotel after visiting this & pack your bags to move to your next destination Pamukkale.

Best Hotels to stay in Cappadocia:
1) Hermes Cave Hotel
2) Museum Hotel
3) Sultan Cave Suites

Also, do try Sakli konak restaurant for food in Cappadocia. They provide some awesome varieties & do ask for their home-made lemonade. You can thank us later for this!

 

Day 5- Marvellous Pamukkale

The only way to reach Pamukkale directly from Cappadocia is via Road. You can either take an overnight bus or Drive through road. There are no direct flights & the ones with stop will probably take a few hours which will be waste of time. Overnight buses are really comfortable & they will drop you to your destination early morning.

Travertines– Check-in to your room or keep luggage in the lobby of your hotel (if an early check-in is not allowed) & move to visit the beautiful travertines. Make sure you wear your swimsuits & start visiting travertines only from the bottom gate. We do not recommend anyone to start visiting it from the top as it is very touristy & you won’t enjoy the view in the way that you would enjoy from the bottom. Take a dip in the natural thermal spa here. Do make a note that you carry something to keep your footwear as wearing them here will not be allowed.

 

Cleopatra Antique Pool, Hierapolis- Take a dip in this hot spring swimming pool & relax. It is at a walking distance from travertines. Have your lunch by the poolside & move forward to see the ancient city of Hierapolis. Roman theatre is something that you should not miss. You can easily spend a full day relaxing here in the pool & visiting the ancient city.

Take an early flight from Pamukkale on the next day to Istanbul or take a bus. For taking a flight, you will have to reach Denizli airport which is an hour from Pamukkale. There are very limited flight options to reach from Pamukkale to Istanbul. Make sure you plan accordingly & take the earliest possible option.

Best hotel to stay in Pamukkale-

1) Hal-Tur hotel
2) Venus Suite Hotel

Day 6 & 7- Enchanting Istanbul

The best area to stay in Istanbul is around Sultanahmet square, as it is around the famous places in Istanbul so commutation will be easy (mostly walking). This city is mostly about visiting historical places, the Bosphorus river, doing lots of shopping and of course, not to be missed Turkish bath.

Turkish Bath– After you reach your hotel (day 6), you can go for a Turkish bath on the same day. Your hotel will be able to help you out with selecting the best one around you. It will be a relaxing time & will take around 2-3 hours, based on the duration you choose. The bath area is generally separate for males & females, though there are certain places that do have options for couple bath as well.

Bosphorus Cruise– In the evening, go for dinner on a Bosphorus cruise. You will be witnessing the famous places of Istanbul from the cruise & while you are sailing between Asia and Europe. There are professional entertainers to make sure your sail is more special. Bosphorus cruise & dinner cruise Istanbul are two good options to try.

Grand Bazaar– For the ladies, here is the best part of the itinerary for you- Shopping! The doors of Grand Bazaar opens at 9 AM in the morning. Start your day 7 with shopping in the oldest market of Istanbul- shop for beautiful winter shawls, Turkish delights, night lamps, crockeries, carpets, hand-made soaps & much more. Don’t forget to bargain while making any & all purchases here. Start early & make sure that you are done with this by 3 PM.

Basilica Cistern- From there you can move forward to visit the Basilica Cistern if you are much into history. It is a place that was used to hide water for the town several hundred years ago. You can find statues of Medusa here & read the details engraved there.

 

 

Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace Museum & Blue Mosque- From there move to these 3 architectural beauties of Istanbul. They have some beautiful stories to tell you about the history of Turkey. Ladies make sure that you have your knees & head covered while you visit the Mosque, it is strictly prohibited to enter there with uncovered head or knees. All these are very touristy locations & you might have to wait in the queue to enter them.

Once you have visited all these places from inside, sit in the garden located in the campus for Blue Mosque & Hagia Sophia for some time. During the sunset, it is time for prayer in the mosque. The prayer conducted here is in a unique way on a loudspeaker where the chants are conducted from the Mosque & a moment later the same is reciprocated from the opposite side. Make sure that you know that timings of prayer for that particular day.

Galata Tower-That’s the highest & oldest tower of Istanbul, you can have a 360 degrees view of the old town from here. It looks beautiful in the night, so you can visit it in later half of the day.

Pack your bags on day 8 to end the trip. If you have time on this day, you can visit any pending place or probably go for one more Turkish bath ;).

Best hotels to stay in Istanbul-

1) Deluxe Golden Horn Sultanahmet Hotel
2) DoubleTree By Hilton Istanbul

This country is one of its kind; you will experience unique things here. Let us know if you follow this itinerary for your trip to Turkey by writing in the comment section below Or by contacting us via contact us page Or DM us on Instagram. We will be happy to hear from you.

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