This is a review of our trip to Turkey, May 2...
Turkey
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May 25 - Jun 5, 2024
This is a review of our trip to Turkey, May 24, 2024 to June 5 2024.
First we would like to say that our guide for 8 days, Ms. Sebnem Altin was truly exceptional (5 stars!!). She was friendly, knowledgable, and fun to be with. We would definitely want any future travel by us to this region to involve her friendly services and expertise.
There were too many high points of our trip to review them all here. We would like to focus on a couple of things:
1. Hotels: Our favorite was Nisanyan Hotel in Sirinje. It was pretty much perfect in atmosphere, location, and charm. It had excellent service, and good food.
Bank Hotel in Istanbul was good, it was very well located the City, and had good things to do within walking distance. It was a little bit on the "high end" for us, in terms of luxury, but still OK. One note about this Hotel (if you communicate with them) regards the in room electrical set-up (e.g., lights). They were very difficult to use.
The Hotel in Pammukale was billed as a "Spa resort". It was just a Ramada franchise, and was our least favorite. All of the "Spa" water facilities there were closed. It was full of bus loads of tourists, and had cafeteria-style food in a large common room. We would have been much better off to skip this and drive on to the Hotel Anatolia (Sebnem knew this place and took us there for lunch), and stay there (the restaurant Anatolia there was excellent).
Swissotel Bodrum : This was comfortable and nice, and the location on the sea was good. However the atmosphere was veery high end and exclusive. The restaurant in this hotel had a limited menu, and there was nothing else within walking distance. We did discover on our own a town near Bodrum, called Yalikavak. In Yalikavak there is a region called the "old city", this had a very nice atmosphere with small shops and cafes in a charming pedestrian zone. This would probably have been a better location for us.
2. As for the daily tours with Ms. Sebnem, everything was great. She was very knowledgable, helpful, friendly, and we saw and learned a great deal. If we were to change anything, (knowing what we know now), would probably leave Pamukkale out altogether. It was crowded and touristy, and the hotel was a letdown. In retrospect we would consider replacing it with Cappadocia, or possibly just visiting Hieropolis, and then going on to hotel Anatolia.
Thanks for helping us make this trip so memorable!
Best regards,
Walt and Marilyn Madsen
Hotel Reviews
Great location in the city. Walking distance from many good shops and cafes.
Very charming location with multiple quiet, beautiful terraces. on the side of a mountain overlooking the town. The room was very nice.
The atmosphere is high end and very exclusive.
Activity Reviews
The neighborhoods Fener and Balat were well worth visiting. This brought home many of the more interesting aspects of life in Istanbul, seeing interesting small shops and everyday houses and buildings.
The quality of the restorations are remarkable, giving this site a remarkable feel of somehow being there when it was thriving.
This site is truly impressive, just magnificent.
Very informative walking tour with a great guide (Sebnem Altin).
The views of the city from the water are spectacular and worth seeing.
Another good day with our guide. Seeing and learning so much. We are not sure if this was the day we took a side trip to the restaurant Ciya Sofrasi on the Asian side for lunch, but that was one of the more special things we did in all of Istanbul.
The town is nice. The shops are pretty geared for tourists.
Hierapolis was really good. It is worth strolling the ruins, and particularly the necropolis (largest in the ancient world). Pamukkale was very crowded and touristy.
The site is large and very interesting. The ongoing restorations are amazing. We were lucky to be there when it was not at all crowded, so it was relaxing and felt very special.
Kusadasi is a busy metropolis with high end euro boutique shops. The restaurant was excellent. The best fish of the whole trip.
Miletus has a fantastic Roman colosseum. Didyma has spectacular huge columns.
Really good to see so much up so close.
Dear Walter,
Thank you for this detailed review!
We are happy to hear you had an overall positive experience in our beautiful country.
I also noted down the remarks on the hotels and will make sure to offer better choices to future travelers. Thank you very much for choosing us and for taking the time to write this review - much appreciated. We look forward to welcoming you again in the near future.
All best regards on behalf of Trail Travel team,
Berat