Turkey is known worldwide for its alluring architecture, stunning landscapes, beautiful textiles and scrumptious food. This country is filled with a plethora of Christian and Islamic history and perfectly instagrammable locations; ideal for any traveler. Whether you are interested in the rich history that is woven throughout this country, photography, or cuisine; Turkey has it all! It’s a truly an “East meets West” experience that will make you fall in love with Turkey.
This summer we decided to experience it ourselves. Our voyage started in Istanbul, arguably the most popular city in Turkey. It is a unique city spanning two continents, and one that is flush with wonders and tourists. We chose to stay in the Sultanahmet area; this is the town’s square. Staying here was a wonderful decision as all of the popular tourist destinations were walking distance from our hotel. In a city where narrow cobbled roads and traffic are rampant, walking was the best option. We visited the typical tourist destinations; the Hagia Sophia (Greek Orthodox Christian patriarchal cathedral, later an Ottoman imperial mosque and now a museum), Topkapi Palace (main residence and administrative headquarters of the Ottoman sultans), Blue Mosque (a 16th century mosque called Camii Sultanahmet in Turkish), Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar. There were a couple locations we visited, however, that are less talked about. One of these gems was the Basilica Cistern built in the 6th century. It is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie underneath the city of Istanbul, a site for a famous James Bond movie, several other movies and back drop for many novels. The length and depth of the architecture is astounding and can hold 100,000 tons of water. Another attraction was the Galata Tower, which is farther away from the main tourist attractions. We had to take the metro and then a funicular to get there. The tower is nine stories high and is a photographer’s haven. It offers stunning views of the Bosporus strait and the city of Istanbul. The viewing platform up top is narrow and always crowded. Queues can be long, plan well and get there early to beat the crowds or come at sunset to enjoy the view.
After crossing the Galata Bridge, we headed over to the coast to enjoy a cruise over Bosporus. Bosporus Cruise is a popular tourist point but is definitely a very good way to see parts of Istanbul that you may not visit otherwise and also provides many good photo opportunities. You can take off from the ferry to visit the Kadiköy neighborhood on the Asian side and enjoy rare local cheese selections and Turkish coffee.
The distant sounds of athaan (Muslim call for prayers), spectacular minarets and marvels of Islamic architecture all around makes Istanbul truly special and unique.
Voicebowl tips on Istanbul:
- Turks do smoke like Turks and there are no designated smoking areas. If you have asthma/sensitive airways, be sure to keep your inhaler/meds in sufficient supply while visiting Istanbul.
- Turks are quite compassionate towards stray dogs and cats (most have tags on them and are vaccinated by municipality), which are quite calm but are frequent on streets of Istanbul. Another reason to carry your anti allergy/asthma meds with you.
- Most stunning sunset view over Sea of Marmara and Hagia Sofia can be seen from the rooftop of the world famous Four Seasons Hotel in the Sultanahmet district. While staying at an affordable hotel in the area, you can still go up to the rooftop restaurant to order and enjoy tea or dessert while enjoying the view.
We then flew from Istanbul to Izmir and stayed in the coastal town of Kuşadası. It’s a convenient and beautiful town to stay in while exploring the 6th century BC city of Ephesus (A UNSECO World Heritage site) with impressive Roman settlements, Library of Celsus, the Great Theater and the remains of the Temple of Artemis, one of the “seven wonders of the world”.
We wrapped our Ephesus tour with a traditional Turkish lunch at Askerin Yeri, a family run local restaurant that uses all homegrown vegetables. This area is the fruit, vegetable and grain basket of Turkey – we saw peaches, apricots, cherries, mulberries, pistachios, capers growing all over, for anybody to pick and enjoy.
Turkmen Village in nearby town of Selçuk is a wonderful place to stop and learn about the production of Turkish carpets and kilims right from the step of obtaining silk threads from silk worms, techniques of dyeing the wool for weaving and finally the Turkish double knot style of carpet weaving.
Voicebowl tips for Kuşadası /Izmir area:
- Sunset over Aegean Sea can be seen from the terrace of La Vista Hotel in Kuşadası while enjoying a traditional Turkish dinner – a must do while your stay in the area.
No visit to Turkey would be complete without stopping at the one of the most Instagramed travel destination, the hot air balloon capital of the world – Cappadocia. Cappadocia is just as beautiful, as the bloggers and pictures make it out to be. It is another UNESCO designated World Heritage sites.
It has a breathtaking fairy tale landscape of cones, pillars, and chimneys, which rise as high as 130 feet into the sky. Along side mother nature’s carving of the landscape, humans from 1800 BC onwards fashioned caves, churches, living areas, food storages, and entire towns going up to eight stories underground. A tour of Kaymakli or Derinkuyu is highly recommended while in Cappadocia to truly experience and explore the ancient towns built deep into the ground.
Some of these caves are still being used as homes and hotels and provide a truly unique Cappadocia experience.
We stayed at one such hotel in the Uçhisar area, the Kale Konak Cave Hotel. They offer a complimentary traditional Turkisk breakfast with generous portions and variety. The staff and manager Amel were genuinely friendly and showed true Turkish hospitality. There are two friendly and calm dogs at the property and too numerous to count cats – none of them annoying or disturbing guests.
Voicebowl tips for Cappadocia:
- Instead of staying in the more touristy part of town called Goreme, enjoy a traditional cave hotel in close by Uçhisar. If you are willing to get up early at sunrise, you can catch amazing views of hot air balloons right from your hotel terrace.
Turkey is an exhilarating and diverse experience. Being there was unlike any other country I have visited. It has a homey feeling and I didn’t feel like a tourist in a strange place but it felt friendly and cozy. Turkey has rich Christian and Islamic history, magical landscapes from the gorgeous Istanbul skyline, the Aegean sunsets, ruins of Ephesus and underground caves of Cappadocia to the serene Mediterranean beaches and yes great kebabs!. With high food safety standards, you can pretty much eat anywhere without fear of getting sick. There are definitely many more places worth checking out and we will surely be going back – Turkey is a must visit!
Fun fact about Turkey
- Tulip is a native of Turkey, not Holland as most popularly believed. It’s the most prevalent flower in the hand painted Iznik ceramic tiles seen in the 15th century Blue mosque, in areas of Topkapi Palace and many other Islamic architecture buildings.
Photo Credit:
My adventure buddy @_ayeshazareen_ on Instagram
For the Iznik Tile Photo: Dennis Jarvis
Do you have other tips that you’d like to share? Leave them in the comments below!!
