Hey people,

My sister is coming on Monday and after staying in istanbul for a couple of days we are thinking about taking a nice and relaxing vacation. Somewhere outside of istanbul but not too far away though. Do you have any ideas on where we can go? Çeşme will probably be the limit on how far away we want to travel

Requirements:
We really want to RELAX, want a nice beach, not a too crowded city, historical places close to the city, night clubbing scene should also be good.

Any suggestions?? Anything close to istanbul??

Please don't say Antalya or Marmaris...

şile, ağva on the black sea coast

Assos out near Canakkale way...ive heard these are nice places

or theres anatolian goddess's Stone Owl Cottage out near Troy?????????????

ya da kilyos!!!

Don't go to Agva at the moment - there's some kind of festival on and its massively crowded. Also as a result everyone is cashing in so as an example the road verges where it was previously free to park the car are now carging 5 YTL. Oh yeah and there is that delightful aspect of turkish holidaymakers that they see fit to leave piles of rubbish everywhere - to be frank its fcuking despicable that in just a few short days they've managed to turn what was a lovely beach into a disgusting tip.

Agva used to be one of my favourite places but after our last trip I doubt whether I'll go back for a long while.

For sea Ayvalik, Boscada, Assos

For site seeing Bergama, stay in the spa at Gonen and then travel the scenic route from Gonen....truly outstanding.

The list is pretty much endless

Silivri, still within the Istanbul "Il" on the Sea of Marmara.
Erdek, Yalova, Armutlu, Çinarcik, all on the other side of the Sea of Marmara. You can take a fast ferry to the latter three.

okay..while the STONE OWL COTTAGE is extremely restful and offers the best prices and best food this side of almost everywhere...we don't have a beach at the door...it's 5 miles away! but if you want a NEW experience, we're here and we're cheap.

No one's mentioned Gorceada....which is super, if you have a car, but a bit pricey...still..it's a place i'd go to again (been there twice) but off-season...Bozcaada is too crowded these days and prices have soared.

i know of a place with a nice beach and 'good' rooms but i find it very expensive...if you're interested, get in touch with me and i'll point you there...it's near me...and i'm 'south of troy' but closer to Assos than truva.

arlene.carol@gmail.com

a/g

Sorry to be offering only negative comments but the only reason I'd return to Yalova is to catch the ferry out of there. Same for pretty much anywhere on the Sea of Marmara, okay for day trips but I wouldn't want to stay.

I wasn't necessarily referring to staying on Boscada, rather opposite of it, we stayed there a few years ago and it was fab. Very quiet, with the ancient city of Alexandria close by; apparently there were several cities named Alexandri, before anyone posts a replying otherwise.

..... and one day I may be able to write a form of english that makes grammatical sense!

the site you're referring to is alexandria troas...
it's just starting to be excavated...and is TOTALLY impressive.
but don't go there in summer...it's bloody hot!


a/g

Thanks for the many ideas to where we can go on vacation... I'll post your ideas to my sister for her to get an idea about the many possibilities .

Partial excavation had already taken place in 2002 but even in May it was starting to get hot; apart from the sea which was absolutely freezing!

I'll post some piccies on the board from there, the poppies shown in my album were from there as well!

we must have been there at the same time!! i have some poppy pix too.
i also ran into two archeo-geologists leading a tour group. they told me that the mayor of Ezine has tried to stop excavation in the area for years...he's a fundamentalist!
a/g