Turkey Travelers Recommend

If time is tight, focus on Istanbul's Big Four: Topkapi Palace, Haga Sophia, the Blue Mosque and shopping at the Grand Bazaar. Or get your bearings on the 90-minute Istanbul City Tour, hopping on and off at several stops, before taking a half-day tour highlighting an aspect of Istanbul's millennia of history. Compare the city's European and Asian faces on the Istanbul Two Continents Tour, or focus on the city's Ottoman past on an Ottoman Relics Tour taking in Topkapi Palace, Rustem Pasha Mosque and the Grand Bazaar. Having covered your major bases on day one, this is a day to get under the city's skin. The private tour of the Egypitan Bazaar and cruise on the Bosphorus combines shopping for spices with beautiful views from the water. The private tour of Haga Sophia and Grand Bazaar blends history and shopping at two of Istanbul's most famous sites. And in the evening, when the city's mosques and monuments are floodlit.

The Historic Areas of Istanbul were added the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1985. The designation includes sites such as the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Galata Bridge and Suleymaniye Mosque and is divided into four zones: the Archaeological Park at the tip of the Bosphorus Peninsula, the Suleymaniye Quarter, the Zeyrek Quarter and the zone of the ramparts. While all four zones are relatively close together, you realistically need several days to see all of the sites. Of greatest importance is arguably the Archaeological Park, an area known to most visitors as Sultanahmet. If possible, allow two days to explore everything this area has to offer. On day one, start with the 6th century Hagia Sophia, followed by the Blue Mosque and the ancient Hippodrome of Constantine. Then, spend the second day at the former residence of the Ottoman sultans, Topkapi Palace, and if time allows, check out the underground Basilica Cistern as well.

Cappadocia has history and landscapes that will keep your mind amazed and your camera clicking. Head straight to Göreme and explore the Göreme Open Air Museum for your first look at the cave churches and Byzantine wall paintings for which the area is so famous. Then head to the Göreme National Park and walk through Pigeon Valley to see the fairy chimneys. Begin the day from another perspective with a hot-air balloon ride over the fairy chimneys and sculptural landscape. Visit an underground city at Kaymaklı or Derinkuyu to see how people used to live to avoid attack from marauding tribes. Head to Avanos via the fairy chimneys of Zelve and the Imagination Valley where the rock formations look like zoo animals. In Avanos, visit one of the historic red-pottery workshops and then head out onto the Kızılırmak, or Red River, for rafting or canoeing, or perhaps camel or horse-riding.

The extraordinary staircases of blazing white thermal pools at Pamukkale are made of soft limestone and connected by calcium-filled waters that trickle down a 200-meter (656-foot) cliff overlooking the Plains of Cürüksu near Denizli, south-east of Izmir. The semi-circular pools range in size up to about six meters (19.5 feet) and are filled with water naturally heated to a pleasant 35°C, which has been known for its therapeutic properties since Roman times. The mineral waters are believed to aid high blood pressure, kidney stones, rheumatism and a variety of skin diseases. The Roman city of Heirapolis grew above the pools and owed its existence entirely to its proximity to Pamukkale; it began life as a spa town in the second century BC and flourished for centuries before falling into ruin. Today the baths complex and temple remains can clearly be seen alongside churches, a theater and a cemetery.

Close by to Antalya are two important historical sites, and you can visit them in one day. Perge is the place where most of the statues that are on display in Antalya Museum were unearthed. An important city of ancient Parnphylia, it was originally settled by the Hittites around 1500 BC. Here you’ll find carvings, an intact city gate and a long colonnaded road once paved with mosaics and lined with shops, a large agora, the public baths and a gymnasium. Side is a pretty resort town. Its ancient ruins, two sandy beaches, numerous shops and extensive tourist accommodation attract hundreds of visitors. The extensive Roman baths are now a museum, which houses one of Turkey's finest archaeological collections. Kaleiçi is the historical quarter of Antalya, and one of the major reasons for the city’s tourism-led renaissance.

One of Turkey’s most popular coastal resort towns and the gateway to the picturesque Bodrum Peninsula, Bodrum has a wealth of natural and historical sights right on its doorstep. Make a beeline for Bodrum’s most striking landmark, the imposing Castle of St Peter. Situated high on the town’s coastal cliffs, the castle houses the fascinating Museum of Underwater Archaeology, most famous for its Bronze Age shipwreck, the Uluburun. Escape the crowds for a scenic day tour of the Bodrum Peninsula to explore the traditional Turkish villages that line the coast, catch a view of the hilltop windmills or take a boat cruise to Bodrum’s neighboring islands. You can’t visit the Aegean coast without enjoying the beaches’ fine sands and clear, warm waters. The ones in Bodrum are ideal for swimming and sunbathing, while also providing ample opportunities for snorkeling, scuba diving and windsurfing.