🇹🇷 TURKEY 🇹🇷
I never thought I would say this, but Turkey has replaced Iceland’s number one spot on my list of favorite countries😱 The people, the food, the scenery, the cute community dogs and cats — everything was incredible! Below is my itinerary, photos and FAQ/ additional tips 😊 Hope this is helpful!
The itinerary:
Day 1: Istanbul
- Galata Tower
- Umbrella Street In Han Karaköy
- Lavanten Karaköy (drinks and shisha)
- Dolmabahce palace
Day 2
- Seven Hills restaurant for breakfast (view of Hagia Sophia)
- Sultanahmet Mosque
- Kubbe rooftop (photos with birds on rooftop. You might wanna bring a change of clothes because I definitely got shit on🤣 We joked the rest of the week and called that dress the “bird shit dress”)
- Balat neighborhood (colorful houses on Kiremit Caddesi)
Day 3
- flight to Alacati
- spent the afternoon wandering through the picturesque streets
- stayed at Mai S’ema boutique hotel (highly recommend!!)
Day 4
- flight to Cappadocia
- Silk Road Cafe for lunch (order the sac tava!!)
- Galerie Ikman Carpet Shop (80 TL for pictures inside and 30 TL for pics in the lamp store outside)
- Dinner at Sultan Cave suites
- Stay 3 nights at Sultan Cave Suites
Day 5
- Sultan Cave Suites rooftop at sunrise for views and photos
- Breakfast at Sultan Cave Suites
- Fairy Chimneys
- Uchisar castle
Day 6
- Sunset point at sunrise for balloon views
- shopping & lunch in Göreme
Day 7
- Hot air balloon ride at sunrise
- Flight to Istanbul
- More Cafe in Balat – BEST MANTI 🤤
Day 8
- fly home to US
❓FAQ/TIPS📝
Photos 📸:
• Some of these photos were taken with a Canon M50 (24mm/2.8f) and some were taken with an iPhone! My gf Sandy Goliszewska took photos for me and I took photos for her 🙂 We are not professionals by any means but have a decent eye for travel photos. Photos were edited in Lightroom! I will be posting many more Turkey photos on my personal page and Instagram – if you’d like my handle then just message me or comment.
• Get up EARLY if you want photos with no people. We were up at 5:30 every single morning to get ready and get out the door by 7am. This way, we get photos without disturbing others and without fighting crowds. Also, we were done with photos 2-3 hours later and had the rest of the entire day to explore, eat/drink, shop, meet locals etc.
Transportation 🚕:
• Taxis were widely available throughout Turkey. We tried to use Uber mostly (when the app would work😣) as we found it to be reasonably priced, especially for longer distance rides. It also reduces the chances of getting scammed. Although we had read about the taxi scams in Turkey, we did not experience any. We rented a car for Cappadocia and glad we did! *Side note – Props to Sandy for driving through the narrow, hilly streets of Cappadocia 👏🏼
Safety👮🏽♂️:
• Turkey is SAFE. I never once got cat-called at or ever felt uncomfortable! The locals were SO NICE and welcoming. Honestly watching the news with the US relations and Turkey had us a little worried but everything was fine. It just goes to show that you can’t believe everything you see on TV.
• Something else I would like to note about the locals in Turkey is that they take care of their stray animals like no where I have EVER seen. There are so many stray dogs and cats to love on and they are all so friendly and sweet. The locals would walk past and pet them and feed them. I even saw one shop owner cleaning a dogs eyes before giving her a little snack. Bless 🥰 The locals never ever shooed them away, the animals are like their family. Those actions really showed me that they have wonderful character.
Hot Air Balloons in Cappadocia 🎈
• The balloons fly everyday, year round if weather permits. We got incredibly lucky and the balloons flew all 3 mornings we were there. Sunset point is great for up close photos of the balloons, and Sultan Cave suites is great for rooftop photos. You do have to be a guest at the hotel to take photos there.
Clothes 👗
• Pretty much all of my clothes are from an online boutique called VICI. The teddy jacket is from Target and the red dress is from Fashion Nova
Money 💰
• Usually I use my Chase Sapphire Reserve when I travel, but I had problems using it in some places and in other places it worked fine. It would be safe to have cash on you at all times in case the card machines do not accept your card.
If you don’t see an answer to your question above, feel free to comment 🤗