Turkey in 11 days: Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus and Pamukkale

Day 2 — Imperial Sultanahmet

Note the closure days when you plan: Topkapi closes Tuesdays, the Grand Bazaar closes Sundays.

• 9:00 — Topkapi Palace + Harem (~9:00–18:00, closed Tue; ~2,750 TL) — four courtyards of Ottoman power: the treasury, the kitchens, the Bosphorus terraces. Do the Harem; it’s the best part. 3 hours.
• 12:30 — Lunch off the tourist strip — the lokantas (steam-tray canteens) around Sirkeci beat any square-side menu.
• 14:00 — Hagia Sophia (visitor gallery ~9:00–19:30; €25 for foreign visitors) — 1,500 years of empire under one dome: mosaics upstairs, prayer hall below. The euro ticket stings and it is still non-negotiable.
• 15:30 — Blue Mosque (free; closed to visitors during the five daily prayers) — modest dress, scarves provided.
• 16:30 — Basilica Cistern (~9:00 till evening; ~1,950 TL daytime) — the drowned column forest under the city; the two Medusa heads hide at the back.
• 18:00 — Grand Bazaar (closed Sun; until ~19:00) — 4,000 shops of glorious commerce. Haggle from half, walk away once, enjoy the theatre.
• 20:00 — Dinner in Sultanahmet or tram to Karaköy for the livelier table.

Day 3 — The Bosphorus and the new city

• 9:00 — Tram + walk across Galata Bridge (fishermen up top, breakfast below); Karaköy’s café lanes.
• 10:30 — Bosphorus ferry cruise — take the public Şehir Hatları short circular (cheap, ~90 min) over the private “yacht tours”: same strait, fraction of the price. Palaces, fortresses and two continents from the water.
• 13:00 — Fish sandwich (balık ekmek) at the Eminönü stands or lunch in Karaköy.
• 14:30 — Dolmabahçe Palace (closed Mon; ~2,000 TL) — the Ottomans’ last, Versailles-scale home — or skip in favour of slow Karaköy and the Istanbul Modern.
• 17:00 — Up through Galata’s lanes; the Galata Tower view is €30 — honest verdict: a rooftop café with the tower in the view beats the queue for less.
• 18:30 — İstiklal Avenue with the nostalgic tram, into the Çiçek Pasajı arcades.
• 20:00 — Meyhane night: mezes, raki and noise — the Asmalımescit or Karaköy taverns. Book weekends.

Day 4 — Two continents, one hamam

• 9:30 — Ferry to Kadıköy on the Asian side (20 min, Istanbulkart) — the market streets, Moda’s seafront cafés, and a Tuesday-to-Sunday food scene locals prefer to Europe’s side. Lunch here — çiğ köfte, midye dolma, künefe.
• 14:30 — Ferry back; Süleymaniye Mosque (free) — Sinan’s masterpiece, calmer and to many finer than the Blue Mosque, with the Golden Horn spread below its terrace.
• 16:00 — Spice Bazaar (daily) — saffron, lokum, pistachios; prices better in the streets just behind it.
• 17:30 — The hamam: Kılıç Ali Paşa (Sinan-built, beautifully restored) or Çemberlitaş (1584) — full scrub-and-foam service ~€60–90. Fly to Cappadocia scrubbed of the city.
• 20:30 — Last Istanbul dinner; pack for an early flight.

Day 5 — Fly to Cappadocia, first valleys

• 8:00 — Fly Istanbul → Kayseri (ASR) or Nevşehir (NAV) (~1h20); transfer to Göreme (~1 h from ASR — book the shuttle with your hotel).
• 12:00 — Check into your cave hotel; lunch in Göreme.
• 14:00 — Göreme Open Air Museum (~€20; ~8:00–18:30) — Byzantine cave churches with frescoes still bright after a millennium; the Dark Church add-on is worth it.
• 16:30 — Walk into Pigeon Valley or Love Valley (free) — the fairy-chimney landscape on foot.
• 18:30 — Sunset at the Göreme viewpoint or Red Valley (park entry ~€25 where charged) — the rock glows exactly as advertised.
• 20:00 — Dinner: testi kebab — the meat stew cracked open from its sealed clay pot (~€10–15).
• Early night — the balloons fly at dawn, and so do you.

Where to stay in Göreme (three nights, cave hotels — book the famous ones months ahead)

• Splurge: Sultan Cave Suites — the rooftop the whole internet photographs at balloon hour.
• Mid-range: Chelebi Cave House — superbly rated, cosy, stunning terrace.
• Budget: Aydinli Cave Hotel — real cave rooms, panoramic views, remarkable value.

Day 6 — Balloon dawn, then the north

Balloon strategy, honestly: standard shared sunrise flights run €120–250 per person by season and demand. Weather cancels roughly one morning in four — so book the flight for your first morning, giving two rebooking chances. Licensed operators only; if the price looks too good, so is the safety margin.

• 4:45 — Pickup in the dark; tea while the balloon inflates.
• 5:45–7:00 — The flight — a hundred balloons rising over the valleys at first light. It costs real money and remains one of travel’s best hours.
• 8:00 — Champagne-and-certificate ritual, back for the rooftop breakfast you’ve seen in every photo.
• 10:30 — The northern circuit (self-drive, taxi-tour or “Red tour”): Uçhisar Castle (~€9) for the highest viewpoint, Paşabağ’s mushroom chimneys, Devrent’s imagination valley, Avanos pottery town on the river.
• 17:00 — Nap. You were up at 4:45.
• 19:30 — Dinner in Göreme or Uçhisar with a valley view.

Day 7 — Underground cities and the green south

• 9:30 — The southern circuit (“Green tour”, ~€60–75/person with lunch and guide — worth taking guided for the distances):
• 10:30 — Derinkuyu underground city (~€13) — eight storeys deep, ventilation shafts and rolling stone doors: whole civilisations hid here. Not for the claustrophobic; unmissable for everyone else.
• 13:00 — Ihlara Valley — a green canyon hike along a river between cave churches; lunch by the water.
• 15:30 — Selime Monastery — a cathedral carved into a mountain.
• 18:30 — Back in Göreme. If your balloon got weather-cancelled yesterday, tomorrow dawn is the final retry — this buffer is why Cappadocia gets three nights.
• 20:00 — Farewell Cappadocia dinner; pack for the Aegean.

Day 8 — To the Aegean: Selçuk

• Morning — Fly Cappadocia → Izmir (SunExpress direct most days, otherwise via Istanbul; check when booking), then train or shuttle to Selçuk (~1 h) — the friendly farm town at Ephesus’s gate.
• 15:00 — Check in; climb to the Basilica of St John (~€6) — the apostle’s hilltop tomb with castle views — and the lone standing column of the Temple of Artemis (free), one of the Seven Wonders reduced to a stork’s nest pedestal. Both are better the evening before Ephesus: context first.
• 19:00 — Dinner in Selçuk’s plane-tree square — köfte, gözleme, Aegean greens in olive oil.

Where to stay in Selçuk (two nights)

• Boutique: Ayasoluk Boutique Hotel — superbly rated, pool, the town’s best restaurant terrace.
• Mid-range: Ephesus Centrum — spotless and central.
• Budget: Tuncay Pension — courtyard breakfasts and warm hosts, the classic backpacker-family pick.

Day 9 — Ephesus at opening, Şirince by afternoon

• 7:45 — Be at Ephesus’s upper gate at the 8:00 opening (entry €40) and walk downhill through the marble city ahead of the heat and the cruise buses (they land ~10:00). Curetes Street → Hadrian’s Temple → the Library of Celsus nearly alone → the 25,000-seat theatre.
• 9:30 — Add the Terrace Houses (€15, separate ticket) — the frescoed homes of Ephesus’s rich under a protective roof; most skip it, which is exactly why you shouldn’t.
• 11:30 — Exit lower gate; optional House of the Virgin Mary (~€12.50) in the hills, or the Ephesus Museum in town (€10) for the artefacts the site is missing.
• 13:30 — Drive up to Şirince (20 min) — a hillside Greek village of stone houses, fruit wines and long lunches. Eat here, taste there, amble.
• 18:00 — Back to Selçuk; sunset from the castle walls, quiet dinner.

Day 10 — Pamukkale’s white terraces

• 9:00 — Bus or transfer to Pamukkale (~3 h). Check into a village hotel below the terraces (small family-run places with pools; pick by current reviews), light lunch.
• 14:30 — Pamukkale + Hierapolis (€30; ~8:00–20:00) — enter from the village gate and climb the travertines barefoot (rule, not suggestion — carry your shoes). Know before you go: only rotating sections hold water, by design — dry terraces are conservation, not disappointment.
• 16:30 — Hierapolis on the plateau: the vast necropolis, the theatre — and, if you want the classic indulgence, Cleopatra’s Antique Pool (extra ticket) to swim over submerged Roman columns.
• 18:30 — Sunset on the terraces — the white turns rose and gold, day-trippers have gone, and staying the night pays for itself in this hour.
• 20:00 — Village dinner — gözleme and Denizli kebab.

Day 11 — Fly home

• Morning — Optional: tandem paragliding over the terraces (Pamukkale is one of the cheapest places anywhere to fly), or a last barefoot hour on the travertines before the buses arrive.
• 12:00 — Transfer to Denizli airport (DNZ), ~1 h, fly to Istanbul (~1h10, several daily) and connect home — Gulf travellers land the same night.