Speaking of Turkey, what is the first thing coming to your mind? Is it Mosque Hagia Sophia or Cappadocia Hot Balloon? After doing some research, I found that there are so many more than that! And there’s lot to consider as well when making/executing the plan.

After doing research, I finalized these 4 places:

1. Istanbul (North West)

2. Eskisehir (Central West)

3. Izmir (South West)

4. Cappodocia / Kayseri (East)

Turkey isn’t usually the first country that comes to mind when we talk about land area, but it’s actually quite large. It covers about 783,000 km² and ranks 36th in the world by territory size according to Wikipedia. That means traveling around definitely takes some time and plan!

Table of Contents

• My Planning Methodology 😃

  • 1. Research 💻

  • 2. List “want-to-go” spots 📋

    • Istanbul (3-4 days)

    • Izmir (2-3 days)

    • Cappadocia (2-3 days)

  • 3. Estimate required days 🌎

  • 4. Plan transportation & visiting order 🚙

    • Facts to consider

    • Feelings to listen to

    • Helpful route diagram

    • My final route across 4 places in the West and Eas …

My Planning Methodology 😃

When I plan, I don’t usually have a strict rundown-kind schedule, but an outline considering geography, distance and travel style. Before diving into the final route and details, here’s how I approached the planning process:

1. Research 💻

I call this step “building up your interest”, which I really enjoy doing! I usually go to blogs, google map, tour websites, government websites, Reddit to get inspirations. During the process, I am able to learn the culture, history of a country/city, which really satisfy my curiosity! The more I dig into them, the more excited I get! 😄🤩 (well, sometimes, it’s the opposite 🫢)

2. List “want-to-go” spots 📋

While doing research, I believe you would have came up some ideas in terms of what spots to go. Every time you look at the screen, and yelling “I want to go”, you are actually building up a travel list ha. Here’s my list in Turkey:

Istanbul (3-4 days)

• Mosque Hagia Sophia

• The Blue Mosque  

• Basilica Cistern

• Cagaloglu Hamami (Turkish Bath)

• Grand Bazar (traditional market)

• Kadıköy & Üsküdar (Asia side; cafe street)

• Karaköy Güllüoğlu - Nadir Güllü (famous cafe for the best baklava in Turkey)

• Topkapi Palace Museum

• Whirling Dervishes (whirling dance)

Izmir (2-3 days)

• Pamukkale (snow-white travertine terrace; UNESCO site)

• Ephesus Archaeological Site

Cappadocia (2-3 days)

• Göreme (hot balloon town)

3. Estimate required days 🌎

The nature of the activities and the accessibility definitely plays a role in estimating required days, so does your travel style! I’m the kind of person who likes to keep the momentum going. When I feel satisfied, I want to move on to next destination, rather than spending time thinking about “what else”.

For me, cultural site or museum for me are not even half of the day activity (The British Museum is an exception!). I usually go to just feel the vibe, appreciate its beauty and learn the history a bit, rather than carefully everything piece by piece. That’s why I planned the days the way I did.

4. Plan transportation & visiting order 🚙

This is the part that requires the most analysis skills, and is sometimes time-consuming. You have to compile together the options you have, analyze, compare and select the best option. And sometimes you may also need to adjust your original plan, such as adding or removing cities so the whole plan makes more sense.

I think I spent at least 2 hours figuring things out due to Turkey’s sheer size and a mix of other more complex factors, and ended up adding Eskisehir to the list since it’s a transit stop to Izmir. Here are the questions that I asked myself when planning the transportation and visiting order from my Turkey trip:

Facts to consider

1. Is it convenient to rent a car and return it in the city?

2. Is there any tourist attraction in between worth staying if it’s a long drive?

3. Is public transport available?

4. Am I able to make it if it’s an indirect route requiring transfer?

5. Does it take too much time to get to the destination?

6. Does it provide flexibility?

7. Does it cost too much?

Feelings to listen to

1. Will I feel too tired?

2. Will I have a chance to see other parts of the country while traveling?

3. Do I really want to visit the city?

Helpful route diagram

I didn’t want to sit on a long bus because my bones would be way too sore (getting old 🥲), and driving more than 3 hours one way felt too time-consuming. I also didn’t particularly want to visit the capital Ankara because I had the impression it’s more politically known, like Canberra, rather than historically famous; driving provides more flexibility since we wanted to visit Ephesus Archaeological Site between Izmir and Pamukkale . So driving a short way + taking an overnight train with bed + a flight felt like the best option, letting me see more of Turkey on the way and didn’t feel that time-consuming either.

My final route across 4 places in the West and East

Yep, this is the overall route. Stay tuned! I’ll dive into each city the following weeks!