G'day All,

I'm from Sydney and planning to come to Istanbul around late September or October. I was told it is cooler to see around as I hate to be in the heat while sightseeing.

I intend to have a day sightseeing followed by a couple of days rest since I have some leg pain.

I'm interested in staying in Istanbul for few days and then visit Gallipoli and Troy to start with either in a hired car -maybe with a driver depending on the driving situation I have to make a decision in my first days in Istanbul.

I'd like to find out your experiences in what to see, where to go, where to stay, costs related to hiring a car and perhaps a driver too.

I appreciate any suggestions very much

Thank you in advance and all the best

dear gragra,
i personally don't think late sept is any cooler than late july, but that's me. October would be better. for travelling around, i highly suggest the http://www.nisanyan.net site for finding hotels (webowner is author of small hotels of turkey book). makes a huge qualitative difference to your travels.

istanbul sites to see: haghia sofia, blue mosque, topkapi palace (especially the harem and treasury), definitely go for a boat ride, walk around Istiklal street to see what downtown is like...

for the excursions to gallipoli and troy, taking a car instead of bus is usually much more fun, but if you don't speak the language, a driver isn't a bad idea. not that cheap an idea, but maybe someone on the forum has some leads...

last time i went to troy, the daily closing time was 4pm. you may want to check on that and plan your day accordingly.

I remember thanking Pollyanna here earlier. It seems deleted by admin I guess.

Would there be anybody here can suggest sights to be seen in Eagean / Mediteranean cost as well as hire car and perhaps a driver possibilities costs etc.

Cheers

sorry gragra -- a wee problem occured on the server of our hosting provider making that we are missing a few post that had been made last friday. see also our post titled 'Missing Posts' in the RULES, News and Announcements forum. no intentional deletion of posts here, our apologies.

on an other note: welcome to ExpatinTurkey and i hope you will have a great time in Turkey once you come over; perhaps we could meet up for a drink when you are coming through Istanbul.

Take care -- FD

if you're coming from troy, going south along the coast, I would definitely stop by Behramkale/assos, then Bergama, then whatever else in between until you get to Kusadasi/Selcuk/sirince (make sure to see those!)

how much time do you have?

*Thank you, for the info and invite, Flying Dutchman. I'd love join for a drink while in Istanbul


*Thank you Pollyanna. Appreciate your input very much.

I intend to be in Turkey for around 2 weeks starting from Istanbul ( 4-5 days stay perhaps), then go to Gallipoli and Troy then Assos as you suggested ...

I'm not clear on the rest since I'd like a day sightseeing followed by 2 day rest pattern I'd like to have, due to my leg pain.

I'd like to go as far as I could, as long as I could come back to Istanbul on time to fly back.

All the best

Graham

PS. Anyone has any info on hire car/driver info/cost etc


Would the admin also move this post to Travel section perhaps.
Thank you.