Turkey Travel Guide

Turkey is two holidays that happen to share a country. Istanbul is a city of fifteen million with a Byzantine cathedral, an Ottoman palace and a covered bazaar inside one walkable square kilometre. Cappadocia, an hour and a half away by air, is a volcanic valley of carved rock where two hundred balloons go up at dawn. Add Ephesus, Pamukkale and the Turquoise Coast and it fills two weeks easily. The one thing to plan early is the visa, which takes Indian travellers more time to arrange than most countries do.

Turkey sits across two continents, and Istanbul is the only major city in the world that does the same. It was the capital of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires in turn, and the buildings of all three still stand within walking distance of each other: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and the Basilica Cistern running underneath on submerged Roman columns. Add the Grand Bazaar's four thousand shops and a ferry between Europe and Asia for the price of a bus ticket, and three days in Istanbul is a minimum rather than a generous allowance.

The rest of the country is why people stay longer. Ninety minutes east by air, Cappadocia is a valley of carved rock spires with underground cities eight levels deep, and at first light around two hundred hot air balloons lift off together over it. On the Aegean coast, Ephesus is among the best-preserved Roman cities anywhere, with the white mineral terraces of Pamukkale inland from it. Further south, Antalya, Fethiye and Oludeniz are the beach end, with gulet boat cruises along the coast and paragliding off the hills. Ten days covers Istanbul and Cappadocia with one coast added. April to June and September to October are when all of it is at its best, and winter is cold but cheap, with snow on the Cappadocia valleys.