When I first started planning my 14 days in Turkey, I quickly realized I had a problem; There is SO much to see and do in Turkey!!! I only had 14 days, and I knew I was traveling with a backpack. I didn't want to spend my entire Turkey trip rushing from one place to another just so I could say I had been there. I wanted to actually experience each destination, meet locals, embrace the culture, and even find time for myself. So I started looking at the major areas people visit on their first trip to Turkey and you can kind of break them down into the following categories:
- Istanbul - think big city, history, culture, food, nightlife, and an international travel hub
- Cappadocia - hot air balloons, cave hotels, hiking
- Turkish Riviera - beaches, turquoise water, boating, coastal towns like Bodrum, Fethiye, Kas, Antalya etc.
- Ancient Turkey - Greek & Roman ruins, beaches, food, wine along the Mediterranean
- Black Sea - Mountains, forests, lakes, tea plantations, and a much greener and more rural side of Turkey
- Central Turkey - Ottoman history, religious heritage, traditional cities like Ankara, the capital.
There are obviously even more areas, but for a first-time trip to Turkey, I knew I couldn't realistically see everything. So I decided on:
Istanbul → Oludeniz/Fethiye → Kas → Cappadocia
And honestly, I think it ended up being one of the best itineraries I ever made. I got to experience a little bit of everything. Of course, as somebody who loves history, I would have loved to have gone to Ephesus or have gone hiking in the lush mountains by Black Sea. But I got to scratch my history bug by learning about the Lycian people and the Abandon Greek towns in the Turkish Riviera and hiked there also and in Cappadocia.
With this Turkey backpacking itinerary because I got to experience four completely different sides of the country without spending the entire trip in transit.
Backpacking Turkey Itinerary
Istanbul — 4 Days
I started my Turkey itinerary with four days in Istanbul (as most do), which I think was the right amount of time for me. Realistically, you could do it in 3 days but I wouldn't do any less than 3. There is just so much to see and do here. You have the obvious historic sites like Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and the Basilica Cistern, but then you have completely different neighborhoods, the Bosphorus, markets, restaurants, rooftop bars and just walking around and seeing what you stumble across.
I stayed around the Old City at Cheers Hostel, so I could walk to a lot of the major sights. I made sure to bring my ZenSpace and earplugs (trust me, you'll need it in Istanbul between the sounds of construction, cats, and calls to prayer at 4am). I spent time around Sultanahmet, explored the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar, wandered through Galata and Karakoy, and obviously spent time around the Bosphorus.
One thing I really liked about Istanbul was that it didn't feel like I was just going from attraction to attraction. You could have a morning looking at some of the most important historical sites in the world and then five minutes later you're sitting somewhere drinking Turkish coffee and watching people go by.
I also wanted Istanbul to be my introduction to Turkey because it gives you such a good sense of the country (plus helped me with my jetlag). It's chaotic, historic, modern, incredibly international and somehow all of those things work together. After four days, I felt like I had gotten a good taste of Istanbul without feeling like I needed another week there. Then I headed south.
Oludeniz & Fethiye — 3 Days
This was when the trip completely changed. I went from one of the biggest cities in Europe to turquoise water, mountains and beaches. For Oludeniz, my main goal was pretty simple: I wanted some adventure. And obviously, I wanted to go paragliding (yes, that is me in the main image of the blog article). Flying over the Blue Lagoon was one of the things I had been looking forward to before the trip, and it absolutely lived up to the hype. You get this crazy combination of mountains, bright blue water and the coastline underneath you. You land from paragliding right on the beach and in the main part of Oludeniz... so cool!!
One place I made sure to visit that is situated between Oludeniz and Fethiye was Kayakoy, an abandoned Greek village tucked into the hills. The town was once home to thousands of Greek Orthodox residents, but after the Greco-Turkish population exchange in the 1920s, the Greek population was forced to leave and the village was largely abandoned. Today, you can walk through the remains of hundreds of stone houses, churches, and buildings scattered across the hillside. It is a pretty surreal place to explore, and actually one of my favorite restaurants in all of Turkey was outside in Kayakoy, just outside of the abandoned Greek village called: Cin Bal
Oh, and if there is one that I would recommend everybody to bring with them to Turkey, is some kind of zippered wallet. I can't tell you how often you need cash in Turkey and since their currency is pretty weak, you need to carry around a large stack of bills. I really learned this once I left Istanbul.
Kaş — 4 Days
Kas was probably the destination that surprised me the most. It's much smaller than Istanbul and much more laid back than some of the bigger resort destinations along the Turkish Riviera. It's the kind of place where you can walk around town, find a good restaurant, sit by the water and not feel like you have to constantly be doing something.
But there is still a ton to do.
I wanted Kaş to be my combination of coastal Turkey, ancient history and water activities.
I spent time exploring the town and the coastline, went scuba diving and took a boat trip out toward Kekova and the Sunken City. That was one of my favorite parts of the trip because you're literally looking at ancient ruins while sitting on the Mediterranean. Just don't forget a waterproof phone bag for the day on the boat. And that's something I really liked about this part of Turkey. You aren't just visiting ancient ruins in the middle of nowhere. You can spend the morning exploring Lycian history, jump in the water in the afternoon and then be sitting at a restaurant in a beautiful little coastal town that evening.
If there was one thing I would change about my entire trip, it would be that I booked the wrong type of accommodation for Kas. I booked a place Can Mocamp. It was like a glamping hostel. There was nothing wrong with the place itself but I constantly was going to downtown Kas for food, to beach hop, to hop on my boat tour, and for nightly live music at the Hellenistic Theater... I should have booked something closer to downtown Kas.
Four days in Kas felt perfect for me. By this point, I had already experienced the huge city, the Mediterranean adventure side and the smaller coastal town side of Turkey. Now it was time for something completely different.... something to end my trip of Turkey with a bang.
Cappadocia — 3 Days
Cappadocia is just weird.... In the best possible way. After Istanbul, Oludeniz and Kas, I honestly wasn't sure what to expect. And then you get to Cappadocia and it looks like you're on another planet.
I stayed in Göreme, which was exactly where I wanted to be. It's a great base for exploring Cappadocia and it's also where you get those famous views of the balloons flying over the landscape in the morning.
Obviously, the Cappadocia hot air balloon ride was at the top of my list. But I didn't want Cappadocia to just be a balloon ride and a photo. I spent time exploring Goreme, hiking through the valleys, checking out the rock formations and visiting the underground cities and cave churches. That was probably my favorite thing about Cappadocia. There is so much more going on than just the famous Instagram photos. You can hike through these completely bizarre landscapes in the morning, explore an underground city in the afternoon and then watch the sunset over the valleys. And then, of course, wake up the next morning and watch hundreds of hot air balloons take off around you.
If you decided to ride on a hot air ballon (which you totally should in Cappadocia), then definitely bring a crossbody phone lanyard with you. Being so high in the sky and then in a basket with others, I was so scared about dropping my phone. Everybody was trying to get photos and elbows were hitting everywhere. But I REALLY liked the company (Turquaz Balloons) that took me on the hot air ballon. They even gave me a pretty decent discount when I paid in cash.
One really cool spot that I found in Cappadocia was at Nomad Cave Hotel & Rooftop. They had an amazing rooftop with great music but also has really cool classes to do during the daytime. One being a Turkish Coffee and Fortune Telling class which was beyond a cool experience!
Was 14 Days in Turkey Enough?
For me, absolutely. Could I have added Ephesus or Bodrum? Definitely.
But I would have had to give something else up, and that's where I think a lot of people can go wrong when planning a Turkey travel itinerary. You look at the map and think, "Oh, that's only a few hours away." Then you realize those few hours turn into packing your bag, getting to the airport or bus station, traveling, checking in, and doing it all over again. I would rather spend four days somewhere and actually experience it than spend two days somewhere just so I can put another pin on Google Maps.
For my 14-day Turkey itinerary, I ended up getting four very different versions of the country. Istanbul gave me the big city, history, food and culture. Oludeniz gave me the beaches and adventure. Kaş gave me the smaller coastal town experience, diving and ancient Lycian history (a civilization that lived in the area before the Greeks and Turks). Cappadocia gave me the landscapes, hiking, caves and hot air balloons.
And that's probably what I liked most about the route. Every time I moved, it felt like I was experiencing a completely different part of the country. Turkey is definitely a country where I could come back and do an entirely different trip. Next time I'd probably head toward Ephesus, spend more time along the Aegean Coast or finally make it up toward the Black Sea. But for a first trip to Turkey, 14 days, one backpack and four destinations? I'm REALLY happy with how it turned out and can't recommend this trip enough.
WRITTEN BY
MARK CIPOLLINA
