Turkey itinerary: 14 days, 1 flight, 1,390 km

Turkey is too big to drive as a loop in two weeks. Istanbul to Cappadocia and back to the coast would eat too many days at the wheel. So this route uses an open-jaw ticket instead: fly into Istanbul and home from Antalya, skip the stretch to Cappadocia with a domestic flight, then drive west and down to the Lycian coast. That gives you the city, the high plateau and the coast in 14 days, without covering any road twice.

The route at a glance

Driving times: route calculation based on OpenStreetMap, without breaks. Add about a third. The flight from Istanbul takes approx. 1.5 hours.

1. Göreme
2. Konya
3. Pamukkale
4. Selçuk
5. Fethiye
6. Kaş
7. Antalya

Base map: Natural Earth

Safety: what applies on this route

The UK government advises against all travel to within 10 km of the Syrian border. The German Foreign Office goes further and says to avoid non-essential trips to the border areas with Syria and Iraq, naming the provinces of Şanlıurfa and Mardin. The southeast is left out of this route for that reason, and Cappadocia and the west lie far from it. Both governments still describe a terrorism threat across the country, so stay away from demonstrations and large gatherings. Wildfires are frequent in summer; follow local authorities and your hotel if a coastal area is affected.

Days 1–3: Istanbul

Three days are tight but workable. Plan around the historic peninsula, with the 6th-century Hagia Sophia and the 16th-century Süleymaniye Mosque, both on the World Heritage list, and save an evening for the Bosphorus. For getting into town, see Istanbul airport to the city centre. If you're unsure whether to add a day, how many days in Istanbul goes through it.

Istanbul trip planDay by day, with map and tips

Days 4–6: Cappadocia

Pick up the car here, as you won't want one in Istanbul. Nevşehir airport is closer to Göreme at 40 km, while Kayseri is 78 km away. Take whichever suits the flight times.

The three nights are your buffer for the balloon. In strong wind the authorities suspend flights, sometimes for several days in a row. Book a single night and you've staked everything on one morning. So aim for the first morning, which leaves two more as back-ups. You can compare operators through tours in Göreme^*.

The rock landscape is the real reason to come. The World Heritage area includes rock-cut churches and cells with Byzantine paintings, plus the underground cities of Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu, which served as places of refuge. Give one day to the open-air museum at Göreme and one to an underground city and a walk through the valleys.

Days 7–8: Konya and the long leg

The stretch west is the awkward part of this route: 634 km across Anatolia. Split it with a night in Konya, which you reach in just under three hours. The Mevlâna Museum, with the mausoleum of the Sufi mystic Rumi, is the reason to stop. Set off early and you can make a short detour to Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic site occupied from 7400 to 6200 BC.

Day 8 brings just over five hours of pure driving to Pamukkale, the longest leg of the trip. Start early, as the German Foreign Office advises avoiding rural driving after dark where you can.

Days 9–10: Pamukkale and Ephesus

Walk the terraces of Pamukkale on the morning of day 9. The mineral-rich water rises at a cliff almost 200 m high, and above it lies the ancient spa town of Hierapolis, with its theatre and necropolis. In the afternoon, drive just under two hours on to Selçuk.

Ephesus is a short hop from there. The Romans made it the capital of their province of Asia in 133 BC, and the Library of Celsus and the terrace houses date from that era. Little remains of the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders. You can buy tickets for Ephesus^* in advance; in high summer, early morning is the most comfortable time.

Days 11–14: the Lycian coast

Fethiye is your base for two nights, with the Ölüdeniz lagoon nearby. The sea is still fresh in spring, so bear that in mind if you travel in May.

On day 13 the coast road runs to Kaş. Stop on the way at Xanthos, once the capital of ancient Lycia, whose pillar tombs and rock-cut graves earned it World Heritage status. It doesn't take long. Kaş is small, and an evening at the harbour is a good ending. If you want more of this coast, walk a section of the Lycian Way, a waymarked 760 km path from Fethiye to Antalya that runs parallel to your route.

On day 14 you drive to Antalya. Leave a generous margin for the 183 km before your flight. To see the old town of Kaleiçi as well, add a night.

When to go

The general answer for the Riviera and Istanbul is in the best time to visit Turkey. This route adds Cappadocia, which is much colder than the coast. May and late September to October are the best weeks, because all three ends are comfortable at once. In July and August Kaş reaches 33 °C, while in winter Göreme's nights freeze and the coast gets most of its rain.

Temperatures: monthly averages 2015–2024 from the ERA5 reanalysis (Open-Meteo), rounded. A grid cell is about 25 km wide.

How YesTrip helps with this trip

For Istanbul there's a ready-made city plan you can adopt. For Göreme, Selçuk and the coast, the AI builds day plans. The balloon morning is the stop you're most likely to move. Travelling together, you all see the changed plan and can settle the car and balloon between you. The forecast covers your travel days, and the app shows festivals and holidays during the trip. You book with the provider; YesTrip books nothing itself.

What to know before you go

• Entry: current rules are on gov.uk or with your own government.
• Driving: traffic drives on the right. The UK government lists the permit you need with a UK licence, so check its page before you collect the car. After an accident, an exit ban can apply until the matter is settled, regardless of fault.
• Earthquakes: many parts of Turkey experience them, Istanbul included. Follow your hotel and the authorities if one happens.
• Mobile data: compare plans in our eSIM comparison for Turkey.

For the same mix of city, mountains and coast further west, compare the Morocco itinerary.

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