TURKEY

From our own first hand experience, I can report Turkey is perfectly safe to explore without any uneasiness, whatsoever.  In fact, we felt safer road tripping in Turkey than we would in many parts of the USA.

Our Turkish visas were valid for 3 months.  We focused our 3 month visit (July thru September) road-tripping along the Mediterranean Coast (aka Turquoise Coast).  Going from beach town to beach town and always being surrounded by the beautiful blue Mediterranean sea.

We loved the food, the kindness of the locals, the quality of the Airbnb’s, the ease of navigating around, the incredible blue sea wherever we visited and the breathtaking views all along the coast.

Barbie and I both underestimated what the Turkish coast has to offer.  Türkiye gets the big thumbs up.👍

We elected to fly into Izmir from Italy simply because we were looking to begin our Turkish journey in a more relaxed manner rather than diving directly into the more frenetic pace of the big city life in Istanbul.

We flew from Naples, Italy direct into Izmir and flew out from Istanbul after our 90 day visas expired. Izmir is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara.  Following our week stay in Izmir, we rented our car and drove three hours south to the popular resort beach town of Bodrum.

ALSANCAK is the best area to stay in Izmir.  The neighborhood had a good vibe, packed with tons of cafes, restaurants and a vibrant nightlife.  The highlight was chilling and walking on the grassy waterfront promenade (aka Kordon) with all the locals who congregate for sunset every early evening, with the weekends especially festive.  It was such a pleasant place to hang out and was nice to see everyone having good times together in a beautiful outdoor environment.

ACTIVITY –
Kemeralti Turkish Bazaar
Alsancak Waterfront Promenade (aka Kordon) – a must during sunset every evening.
Bostanli Bazaar – held on Wednesdays. Hop on a local ferry to arrive.

RESTAURANTS –
Tavaci Recep Usta
Izmir Sakiz Alsancak
Numan Pita – old school place for lunch serving Turkish food in the Kemeralti Bazaar

Best Caffeine Fix:
Caffe Nero Alsancak
Baristocrat 3rd Wave Coffee
Poka Coffee Roasters
Kahvechi Omer Usta – vintage Turkish coffee cafe inside Kemeralti Bazaar

CESME / ALACATI –

We had heard good things about this resort area just south of Izmir.  We took a pass and drove our rental directly south to Bodrum.   I mention it because we would include this area on our itinerary on any return trip to Turkey.

TURQUOISE COAST ROADTRIP –
We allocated a bit over two months for this roadtrip with the following stops lining the Mediterranean coast.

Our route, in order, took us from: Izmir to BODRUM, YALIKAVAK, DATCA, AKYAKA, MARMARIS, DALYAN, FETHIYE, OLUDENIZ, KABAK, KAS. OLYMPOS/CIRALI, ANTALYA and we finished off in ISTANBUL.

PRO TIP – All the places we visited were really cool in their own way but I probably would not recommend a visit to any one particular location if you only have 1-2 weeks vacation.  You really need to set aside a minimum of one month or more as the sum of the places are what makes this Mediterranean road-trip so amazing.

MUGLA PROVINCE –

BODRUM –

Bodrum is a super popular summer retreat resort town w/ big nightlife that attracts many locals and foreign tourists. The town is very compact and walkable. We elected to stay a bit away from the tourist masses in a local neighborhood Airbnb up in the hills.   This provided us with a way more relaxed environment which offered an amazing view overlooking the thick of the action along the waterfront marina.   The Airbnb felt like living in a home where we could cook our own meals.   Another example of how Airbnb delivered an entirely different experience than staying in one of the resorts in the more touristy waterfront area. Years ago, prior to Airbnb, a traveler never really had this option available to them.

YALIKAVAK –

Just a 30 min. drive west from Bodrum is a cool little beach town with one of Europe’s chic-est marina areas filled with some pretty impressive yachts, high end stores and restaurants.

Other potential towns to stay in the Bodrum peninsula area: Gumusluk, Turbuku/Golturkbuku.

DATCA –

Instead of driving the long way to get to Datca, we opted for the car ferry from Bodrum. Datca is definitely off the beaten path of most tourist visits.  We loved the relaxed feel of the town and was a good transition from the way busier and congested tourist town of Bodrum. The drive all around the Datca peninsula and to our next destination (Akyaka) was really nice and reminded us of our roadtrip in New Zealand.  Another reason having the freedom and independence of our own rental vehicle was great.

The car enabled us easy access to one of our favorite mellow beach hamlets on Ovabuku Beach. I cannot think of a more perfect day than having Turkish lunch at ADA PANSIYON directly on a beautiful ocean cove in a natural setting with access to Ada Pansiyon’s free beach loungers to chill on for the remainder of the day.   Ovabuku Beach had the feel of what remote SE Asian beach areas looked liked many years ago, prior to the mass tourism and subsequent development.  We really enjoyed making the drive multiple times from Datca town and hanging out here.

ACTIVITY –
Ovabuku Beach – a must visit for ‘old school’ beach vibes.
Datca Town – walk around waterfront promenade and town.
Old Datca Town – early dinner and walk around this Instagram worthy tiny stone town.
Palamutbuku Beach – never made it to this beach which is a bit further from Ovabuku Beach.

RESTAURANTS –
Sevinc’in Lezzet Sofrasi – fav hole in wall joint for home cooking Turkish food.
Datca Koftecisi Sami Usta – outdoor restaurant popular for their meatballs.
Sail Coffee Roastery – good place for coffee fix with nice setting on water.

Best Caffeine Fix:
Sail Coffee Roastery
The Coffee Grinder
Noema – in Old Datca town

Other potential more laid back areas to base in this area: Selimeye, Iclemer, Bordubet

ACTIVITY –
Cinar Beach Club – best place to chill and enjoy the sea as the main beach in town sucks.
Sedir Island – did not go, but popular ferry to Cleopatra Beach
Azmak Riverfront Area – walk riverfront, take a cold dip and a 30 min. boat trip down river
Turgut Falls

RESTAURANTS –
Akcapinar Town – dinner (we ate at Yengec Restaurant….other options: Maki & Vento Italian)
Azmak Riverfront Area – seafood lunch/dinner along river at Kordon, Halil’s Place and Orfoz

Best Caffeine Fix:
Mame Coffee House

The Calis Beach area is a big zippo, so its best to stay directly on the marina.  The cheap water taxi departing Fethiye marina to Calis Beach for lunch was the perfect amount of time to explore the Calis Beach area.

Our Airbnb was first rate, with spectacular views of the sunset directly alongside the marina. (see below)  There are tons of good local Turkish Coffee joints around the marina to get your morning fix. However, you can always succumb to visit the super popular Starbucks which was right next to our Airbnb.  This location has got to be one of the highest grossing Starbucks in the world as it was always buzzing with locals and tourists getting their caffeine fix right thru the evenings.

ACTIVITY –
Beach Clubs: Help Beach Club & Sea Me Beach Club
Kayakoy Ghost Village
Gocek Sunday Market- boats leave Fethiye marina area.  Can self drive or local Dolmus bus.

RESTAURANTS –
Fethiye Pas Kebap
Hilmi Restaurant – @ Fish Market
Lezzet Lokantasi – our fav hole in wall local Turkish food joint.  Loved their 3 course meal (8 choices) for $2 bucks. I splashed out and doubled down, 6 courses for $4 bucks.  A true value play.

Best Caffeine Fix:
Starbucks on Marina – I know, not very indigenous but great location.
Keci Coffee Roastery

OLUDENIZ –

A fun bustling resort town with great energy.  Tons of water activities, restaurants nightlife and beaches to chill on.  It is also the paragliding capital of the world.  It was kinda trippy seeing hundreds of paragliders flying thru the sky and landing directly on the main beach promenade right amongst the tourists.  A sight I will always remember.  It was also real cool watching all the paragliders take off high up from Babadag Mountain which can be reached by cable car/gondola or self drive.  There is a restaurant up here.  I assume it would be awesome for sunset.

The setting along the main beach of Oludeniz is really nice being surrounded by huge green mountains and some of the bluest sea water I have seen during our travels. We were in Oludeniz during the peak summer season.  The beach was crowded but since it was such a massive beach area, you can find a comfortable space.  There is an alternative, I would recommend in order to avoid the crowds by spending the day at one of the private beach clubs.  We parked our butts down at a place called No. 1 Beach Club.  They have sun loungers with umbrellas, good food and a DJ playing every cover song imaginable.

Outside of the main Oludeniz Beach, a 10 minute walk will lead you to the famous ‘Blue Lagoon”.  It is a ‘must see’ but we headed directly to our little oasis at No. 1 Beach Club just down the beach because the Blue Lagoon was absolutely packed to the gills with people.  It was an amusing sight to see how humans absolutely love to congregate in close quarters.  I would assume if we timed our visit to the shoulder season in early September, the Blue Lagoon would look magical.

Oludeniz is just a 20 minute drive away from Fethiye.  However, I would recommend a separate stay at one of the boutique hotels for a few nights, directly on the beach in ‘Lower Oludeniz’, in order to take in the true vibe of the town and everything being accessible by foot.

Oludeniz town also has an upper part just 10 minutes north, called Hisaronu.  It’s an ugly strip of tourist restaurants and shitty shops.  Definitely stay in the lower part of Oludeniza right on the sea at one of the top boutique hotels.

ACTIVITY –
Beaches:
Oludeniz Beach
Kidrak Beach
Blue Lagoon
Beach Clubs: No. 1 Beach Club & Virgo Beach Club

Paragliding
Babadag Mountain – observe paragliders taking off high up on the mountain
Pirate Ship Boat Excursions – for young guns only who like to party.

Lycian Coast Hike – for diehard advanced hikers, this renowned 300 mile hiking trail snakes along the coast with the trail stretching from Oludeniz to Antalya.  The entire trail takes about 30 days where you can stop/overnight at various villages to resupply.  A 30 day hike sounds fairly miserable to me but you can opt to do parts of the trail between the beaches to get a taste of this renowned hike…. as long as you avoid the sweltering hot summer months.

Best Caffeine Fix:
Fly Coffee
Pellini Coffee

KABAK –

A small village on the Turkish Mediterranean with a laid-back atmosphere.  The 45 min hairy drive from Oludeniz to our accommodation on Kabak Beach was really spectacular.

It is the perfect place to escape the noise and package tourist groups.  It was great waking up to the sound of the waves.  The big activity is doing nothing and enjoying the beach and natural environment.

The atmosphere and setting (directly on the beach) of our accommodation @ Sea Valley Bungalows reminded me so much of the many old school bohemian Southeast Asian beach enclaves we loved visiting during our RTW.  It felt like living in one big adult summer camp and was absolute perfection.  I assume Kabak Beach changed over the years but it sure looks like the area has retained its authenticity and has not gone hipster like so many similar unique beach enclaves.

Kabak was not originally on our itinerary as it’s a bit out of the way.  However, with no real time constraints during our time in Turkey, spontaneously adding unique destinations like Kabak is what makes our journey so fun.

The scenery around the mountains and cove of Kabak Beach was beautiful. The best way to describe it would be Zion National Park meets the blue ocean.  Surrounded by the most beautiful aspects nature has to offer…. mountains, greenery and blue sky with animals walking around.

There are a few highly rated upscale boutique resorts to choose from in the Faralya/Kabak area but the oceanfront location of Sea Valley Bungalows is what appealed to us.

If you enjoy camping out in tents and are outdoorsy, Kabak is the ultimate destination.  One of many options include Kabak Natural Life. The campground reminded me of my childhood days at summer camp and we loved walking to their coffee joint (PSI Coffee) behind our resort for our daily caffeine fix and partake in our old backpacker vibe with fellow travelers.

Best Caffeine Fix:
PSI Coffee

ANTALYA PROVINCE –

KAS –

Following our stay in the remote area of KALKAN, we embarked on another spectacular scenic drive (reminiscent of our Australian, Great Ocean Road Drive) toward our next stop along the Turquoise coast, the small seaside town of KAS.

Beach in Town:
Kucuk Cakil (aka Derya Beach/Cinar Beach)
Buyukcakil Plaji (aka Big Pebble Beach)

Best Caffeine Fix:
Godo Coffee

OLYMPOS /CIRALI –

Hate to sound like a broken record but we got to experience another amazing coastal drive from KAS to our next stop, CIRALI.   We passed numerous beaches on the drive to Cirali.  At any point, if you are feeling adventurous, you can pull off to the side of the road and walk down to your very own private beach cove.  The best beach cove of the bunch to stop for a swim looked to be Finike Mağralı Koy.

CIRALI is a bohemian hippie enclave with great beaches and ancient ruins. The town had a very similar laid back atmosphere as the previously visited Kabak Valley but with a much larger beach and town to explore.  Cirali had a very Southeast Asian island feel to it and it also reminded me of a cleaner version of the hippie/rastafarian enclave of Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica.

Cirali beach, with the green mountainous backdrop, was one of my favorite places on our Turquoise Coast road-trip.  We vegged out for an entire week on the comfy beach loungers at Karakus Restaurant and got our extended swim everyday in the beautiful sea.  We could have easily hunkered down here for a way longer period of time as the relaxed tropical atmosphere is so conducive to taking it easy.

We had a rental car during our stay but it remained parked for our entire stay as the proper mode of transport is by bicycle which can be rented in town or simply walking about.  It’s now onto our last stop along the coast, Antalya.  We conclude our Turkish journey in Istanbul to close out our 3 month stay in Turkey.

Best Caffeine Fix:
Beaver Coffee House

ANTALYA –

Despite the many activities on tap in ANTALYA, we found ourselves wanting to do absolutely nothing but go for swims in the sea.  We have discovered doing absolutely nothing is one of the best things to do after years of being on the move traveling around the world.  Having no agenda and simply sitting back, cooling out, taking in the amazing Mediterranean views from the balcony of our Airbnb was the ultimate form of meditation.

Antalya is a large city.  Therefore, we split our ten night stay in half in order to experience two different areas.  Our first five days were spent in a condo directly on the best beach in town (Konyaalti Plaji).  The Konyaaliti Beach strip is filled with many condos/hotels, relaxing coffee shops, restaurants and beach clubs.  The walking/bike path running along the ocean was great for exercise when the sun went down as it was hot as shit during the day.  The days are best spent in the ocean.

After five days staying right across the street from Konyaaliti Beach, we moved out tack to the Old Town for the remainder of our stay in order to explore a much different side of Antalya.  It was fun walking around the maze of alleyways of the Old Town and to marina area where Mermerji Beach is located.

We spent 8 nights in Istanbul at the very end of our 3 month trip through Turkey.  Sadly, Istanbul marked the end of our Turkish journey and the departure point for our flight out to our next stop on our RTW.   We will next be spending a month exploring the still under the radar but growing in popularity…… Madeira Island.

Istanbul can be intimidating for first-time visitors because of its overwhelming size and seemingly infinite sites.  The secret to effectively see Istanbul is to divide the sprawling city into sections (as outlined below) and strategically visit all key areas on separate days.  With our 8 nights allocated, we had plenty of time to see all the best neighborhoods without feeling rushed.

There are so many awesome things to do in Istanbul.  And, the more days you can add to your Istanbul itinerary, the more you can go beyond the popular mosques and landmarks to discover the city’s most desirable neighborhoods.  Simply wandering around and exploring these vibrant neighborhoods is high on our list of favorite things to do in Istanbul.

The neighborhoods sections can be divided into three areas, with the Bosphorus River cutting thru and dividing Istanbul into these three areas. Taking the ferries that frequently ply between the sections below is a ‘must do’ as it’s a great way to see this magnificent city scenery from the river water.

EUROPEAN SIDE (NORTHERN END) AREAS:

Beyoğlu District –

The Beyoglu district is on the northern European side of İstanbul, separated from the old city (southern end) by the Golden Horn.  The Beyoğlu district includes the below: Galata, Karikoy & Taksim Square area.  The famed Istiklal Caddesi is located here.  This buzzing pedestrian filled street is lined w/ tons of eateries, clothing stores and the popular dessert shops that serve up the widest variety of Baklava I have ever seen.  The dessert shops also serve up tons of other Turkish desserts with one of my favs being the hot & cheesy, Kunefe.  The addictive Turkish delight candy is available everywhere and will satisfy anyone with a sweet tooth.

Galata –
In my opinion, the Galata neighborhood is the most desirable area to base.  We stayed in a great Airbnb amongst the locals on a real nice cobblestone road (Serdar- Ekrem Caddessi) lined with boutique shops and cafes.  It was nice to wander the streets at night surrounding the Galata Tower and along the renowned Istiklal Caddesi pedestrian friendly shopping street.