My husband and I are going to be in this region of Turkey in
August. We want to stay in a village that is not too
touristy. Is there such a place? How about Urchisar. If we
stay in a place like this is it too far from Goreme to see
everything? One other question we thought we would take the
overnight sleeper from Istanbul to Ankara and then bus to
the region is this better than the bus? I would really
appreciate any help here. One other thing is it posssible to
get a gulet from Antalya to Fethiye rather than go by road.
How long would it take and the name of a company that does
this would be appreciated. Many thanks
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Sarah, lived in Ankara for 5 years and visited Cappadocia
often. The whole area is devoted to tourism. It will be
crowded in August. The area is small. Goreme, Uchisar,
Avanos, Urgup--all less than 10 miles from each other. Two
places less crowded than most: Mustafapasa, a small village
about 5 km from Urgup. Ask for directions in Urgup. We
checked out a place there called The Old Greek House. Nice,
clean pension in a large old Green mansion. Another option:
Ortahisar. It's south of the road from Nevsehir to Urgup,
more or less across and a little east from Uchisar. We
stayed in a nice small hotel there once, can't remember the
name. Overnight train from Istanbul to Ankara is neat,
saves a day of travel, sleeping compartments are fairly
nice, good breakfast available in breakfast car, you are
expected to tip the porter who makes up your bed at night
(do it at the end of the trip). In august you will need to
make reservations for the train as soon as you hit Istanbul.
The train leaves from the Haydarpasa train station which is
across the Bosporus. You get there by taking the ferry from
Kadikoy docks which is just across the Galata Bridge from
Sirkeci. Upon arrival at Ankara, if you are just passing
through, you can get a taxi just outside the train station
to the bus terminal (otogar). They are honest--pay what is
on the meter. If you elect to take bus from Istanbul, take
Varan, the best bus company in Turkey. Their check in point
is at their office just off Taksim square. You are shuttled
by minibus to the big bus. Very nice bus service. Trip
takes between 6 and 7 hours. If you take the bus during the
day to Ankara, sit on the left side; right side will be in
the sun. Don't know much about gulets except that we took
a one day trip from Datca to Knidos and back and that was
enough for us. I personally think they are boring, and we
would rather be on the land looking at people on the boats,
with our freedom to go do what we want, than be trapped on
the boat with people we don't know, looking at people on the
land with freedom.... I don't think there is regular
service where you just walk up to the pier and book two
spaces on the next boat to Fetihye, but I could be wrong.
Feel free to e-mail with any further questions.
I can really recommend Uchisar. Great views, excellent
walks and much less touristic then Goreme. Have a look at
my Cappadocia site for more info.
I would advise taking the bus, this will put you from
Istanbul in any village you want after an overnight trip.
(Take warm clothes, the AC gets very cold at night).
www.1000traveltips.org
Hi Sarah,
Cappadocia is one of the best sites in Turkey and I have
been there myself five times. Most of the villages there are
touristic anyway. Mustafapasa is somehow remote than
other places but it is not an advantage in a way. Most
travelers stay in ▄rgⁿp and G÷reme. It is more convenient
staying in ⁿrgⁿp. There are excellent resturants, local wine
houses and a beautiful old town with cobbled streets and old
houses.
You can take a train from Istanbul to Ankara and then a
connecting bus from Ankara to cappadocia but it will take
longer and you need to get from train station to the bus
station and then catch the first available bus. If you have
many luggages, it will be hard. The buses are comfortable
anyway in Turkey. All the buses are big, airconditioned
buses. The trip to Cappadocia from Istanbul takes around 10
hours and it is direct. The buses are overnight departing
around 9pm from Istanbul.
I would also like to help you in giving you some tips and
recommendations for your trip. Where else would you cover in
your itinerary? Let me know if you have any further
questions or if you need any further information about
Turkey.
Also I would suggest you to check our site at
www.lodgingturkey.com. It has valuable info on lodging in
Turkey.
You can reach me at halifax@superonline.com
Best wishes,
Mehmet SEN