I LOVE TURKEY SO MUCH! Okay that may be a bit of an aggressive way to start off a blog post about everything you need to know to travel to Turkey, but I just had to get it out. We planned to spend 2 weeks in Turkey and ended up spending a MONTH. Turkey has everything you could want in a country. Welcoming people, sparkling waters on the turquoise coast, bustling city life full of culture and excitement in Istanbul, otherworldly landscapes in the Cappadocia region, and some of the BEST FOOD! (And that’s coming from a vegetarian so that’s saying a lot!!) In this post we will cover everything you need to know to visit Turkey (which is actually called Turkiye just an FYI).

GENERAL INFO FOR TRAVEL TO TURKEY

Language – Turkish, before you travel to Turkey it will help to learn a few words! I listed some below

Currency – Turkish Lira (₺ TRY), depending on when you travel to Turkey, the currency value fluctuates a lot but at the time of posting this $1 USD ~ 18 TRY. Note that if you read blog posts from more than a few months ago that haven’t been updated and they quote prices in lira, it’s likely outdated as most places are quick to price adjust (for example, in 2021 when we were there, $1 USD was approximately 8 lira). For that reason, I’ll list prices in USD since they tend to price adjust to keep the USD conversion similar.

Fun Fact – the average Turk drinks 1,300 cups of tea a year! That’s 3.5 cups per day! So make sure to down some çay when you’re there, it’s the best!

Check out my Amazon Storefront for some of my must-haves for travel!

 

AIRPORTS

I wouldn’t usually have a whole section dedicated to which airports to fly into, but it’s necessary when you travel to Turkey. Chances are you are probably going to fly into Istanbul. The thing that’s important to know is there are 2 main airports in Istanbul, IST and SAW. They’re both around the same distance from the city, and both fine options to fly in.

What’s important to keep in mind is that if you are flying into Istanbul but plan on just laying over & then flying elsewhere in Turkey, you HAVE to make sure both those flights are from the same airport. They are not close together and it could take you hours with traffic to get from one to the other. We flew in/out of SAW every time and had no issues!

GET CONNECTED

I always recommend getting a local SIM card no matter what country you’re going to. It’s the best way to get connected to the local cell networks, for the lowest price. For example, if we were to use our US network to connect internationally, it would be $10 PER DAY each! Based on my research for which SIM cards to get to travel Turkey, we decided to go with TurkCell. While I definitely think I got quite a bit up-charged it wasn’t that big of a deal since I was able to get 20 GB of data for $47 USD.

PS: if you travel to Turkey as a couple, family, or with friends, unless you really need to all be connected, I’d recommend just getting one SIM card to save money. For us, I get one and then Austin just uses his phone on wifi since we’re quite literally ALWAYS together.

HOW TO BE A GOOD TOURIST

Turkey is a pretty relaxed and chill country from a tourist perspective, but you never want to be THAT tourist that is making everyone around you uncomfortable by completely ignoring the cultural norms.

 

Do: Dress Appropriately!

When you travel to Turkey, you are not required to dress any certain way, but you should to be respectful. What is considered “appropriate” will fully depend on where you are/what you’re doing. If you’re walking around Istanbul I’d just recommend wearing something below the knees and not showing any cleavage.

The only places you HAVE to cover up would be when you go into mosques. Women will need to cover knees, shoulders, cleavage, and have a cover for your hair. Men just need to cover past their knees and shoulders. Some of the bigger mosques in Istanbul have clothing rentals if you aren’t dressed appropriately but it’s better to just already be wearing what’s considered appropriate. I always travel with this scarf in my purse in case we decided to visit any mosques unplanned! In beach towns on the coast, bathing suits and shorts are fine!

 

Do: Learn a few phrases in Turkish!

Turkish is known for being quite a difficult language, but even if you completely butcher it, it will mean a LOT that you tried. Note: the ş and ç make a “sh” and “ch” sound. So the word çay is pronounced chai (can you guess what çaymeans?? tea!). Here’s a few phrases that are helpful to know:

• Thank you: teşekkür ederim (teh-sheh-kull-erh ed-erh-im)
  • Pro tip: a Turkish guy told me if you say “tea sugar dream” really fast and try to slur it. It sounds close enough!
• Hello: merhaba (mare-ha-ba)
• Yes: evet (eh-vet)
• No: hayır (hah–yuhr)
• Tea: çay (chai)

Do: Be Respectful when Visiting Mosques

Don’t go during prayer times, take pictures of people praying, talk loudly in the mosques, talk on your phone, or dress inappropriately.

GETTING AROUND

The best and easiest way to get around in Istanbul is via the IstanbulKart metro! You can buy a metro card at most stations (you will need a separate metro card per person) and they cost around $1.50 each. They don’t come preloaded with any fares so you’ll need to load credits onto it to use it. You can only pay for it in cash, and the yellow machines don’t give change so whatever you put in is what will be loaded on the card. Most rides cost around $0.50. Note that once you get the card you may need wifi or cell service to activate it online.

Uber is a little complicated in Turkey. It was introduced, then banned, then they had a compromise to use Uber but only for yellow and blue taxis. We used it a few times and it works, it’s just a bit different. Basically you call the car, they pick you up and turn the meter on. At the end of the ride the taxi driver enters the metered fare into the app and then the Uber app charges you. I usually tried to take a picture of the meter before I got out just in case the driver tried to up-charge at all.

Walk! Turkey is very safe. I never once felt uncomfortable or concerned. Feel free to get lost in the streets, following whatever fresh bread you smell baking around the corner or pop into a little café for an afternoon çay.

On the coast, rent a car! The roads are so easy, and rental cars are affordable. When you travel to Turkey you’ll likely be surprised by the rental car costs. We paid $21/day for a small basic rental car. It gives you the freedom to make whatever stops you want and take things at your own pace. We booked ours through BeeCar via MyRentACar and they were great!

FOODS YOU HAVE TO TRY WHEN YOU TRAVEL TO TURKEY

• Turkish Breakfast – you can’t travel to Turkey and NOT have a Turkish breakfast which consists of massive spread of cheeses, meats, veggies, eggs, bread, jams, more bread, and more bread
• Drink çay – while it’s pronounced chai, it’s NOT chai tea, it’s just awesome black tea! – in my opinion it’s best with 1 sugar cube!
• Drink Turkish Coffee – I didn’t know this until being in Egypt but the grinds are in the bottom so don’t stir it up! It’s strong so make sure to order it with at least a little sugar
• Hot Helva- an awesome warm dessert
• Borek – my fave is the spinach & cheese!
• Turkish Delights – my fave is white roll ones with filling on the inside
• Try çorba soup – a great lentil soup
• Simit – Turkish staple, like a skinny bagel covered in sesame seeds. The ones on all the red carts are just okay, the ones from Simit Sarayi are better. Get it with Nutella!
• Baklava – there’s a feud between whether it’s more Greek or Turkish, but I gotta say I prefer the ones we had in Turkey!
• Pide – like a Turkish pizza! So freaking good.

PS: One of my other favorite food cities is Oaxaca, Mexico. If it isn’t already on your bucket list, add it after you travel to Turkey!

ULTIMATE ITINERARY FOR TRAVEL TO TURKEY

I’d recommend a minimum of 2 weeks to travel to Turkey to give you the best opportunity to explore some of what this incredible country has to offer. If you have more time I’d add days to Istanbul, maybe a stop on the coast, or consider visiting the Black Sea! We didn’t get the chance to visit that side of Turkey but we will definitely go back!

Istanbul – 3 to 4 nights

Istanbul has SO much to offer! It is truly one of my favorite major cities in the WORLD. I honestly could see myself living there. You can easily spend a week in Istanbul and not see everything, but I’d say 3-4 nights when you travel to Turkey will give you enough time to explore most of the major must-sees! Fun fact – Istanbul is the only city that spans 2 continents! (Europe & Asia)

SAW Airport Transfer to Istanbul

The SAW airport is a bit out of the city, so it’s not as easy as just getting on a single bus or taking a quick Uber. I’d always recommend having a plan for how you’re going to get from the airport to your hotel in a new country. There’s few things worse than the stress of landing, getting your bags, and then scrambling to figure out if you should take a taxi, train, bus, uber, etc.

For Istanbul, we prearranged an airport pickup through our hotel which I’d highly recommend. It was pretty expensive at $48 USD, but if you contact the company below directly it should be around $28 (250 lira at the time). We got their contact info and used them multiple other times for airport drop off/pickup to/from SAW (we flew in/out of Istanbul quite a few times!)

SAW Airport Transfer Contact:

Website: www.sawairport.com

WhatsApp: +90 532 688 55 92

Email: info@sawairport.com

Accommodations

Accommodations are very affordable in Turkey. We stayed in Cheers Lighthouse Hostel in a private room with a private bathroom and it was great. They have an awesome free breakfast every morning with fresh bread, veggies, fruit, eggs, cheese, coffee, etc. I’d recommend one of the superior rooms with sea views, they’re amazing!

I’d suggest staying in the Sultanahmet area since it has quick access to any part of the city, close to tourist attractions, and walking distance to metro. If you’re looking for a less touristy part of the city to stay in I’d look at the Karaköy neighborhood or Kadiköy.

PRO-TIP

Download the Yemeksepeti app! It’s Istanbul’s version of UberEats except the delivery fees are MUCH lower. If you only get one thing delivered to you, make it the original helva from Helvaci Ali, you WON’T be disappointed (one of my favorite desserts EVER).

Istanbul Must-Sees:

• Sultanahmet Square (free) – the square between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. It is one of the more touristy areas, but beautiful. This ares is where the most people will come up to talk to you to try to “offer help” when they really just want you to come into their shop & buy something. Even though it feels rude, it’s best just to ignore them when they talk to you and keep walking.
• Hagia Sophia (free) – was a museum until July 2020 when it was (controversially) turned back into a mosque (it was originally a Christian church when it was built). It’s stunning inside! It’s open 24/7, so I’d go early in the morning or late at night because it gets busy during the day
• Sultan Ahmet Camii (Blue Mosque) (free) – the ceilings have been under reconstruction for awhile so parts may be covered, it’s a kinda must-see for travel to Turkey so it’s worth a few minutes even if you can’t see the ceilings
• Nuruosmaniye Mosque (free) – good example of everyday mosque
• Sulemaniye Cami Mosque (free) – in my opinion, the most beautiful mosque I’ve been to
• Grand Bazaar – (free) more than 4,000 shops, great place for souvenirs but don’t be afraid to negotiate! It’s not unreasonable to pay 50% of the originally quoted price
• Take a free walking tour – freeistanbultours.com, tipped around $10 USD/person, 2 hours
• Turkish Bath – we did the basic package for 200 TL per person at Aga Hamami, which is over 560 years old,highly recommend! (bring a bathing suit)
• Galata Tower – get your ticket at the little stand across from the tower and then wait in line for the elevator to take you up. I’d go an hour before sunset when the light is beautiful over the city, you can see Europe & Asia from here!
• Cruise Bosphorus River between Asia & Europe – I’d recommend taking the ferry across to the Kadikoy neighborhood! Where else can you say you had breakfast in Europe, lunch in Asia, and back to Europe for dinner? The metro ferry uses the same card as the train!
• Shop for clothes! Turkey has some of the best clothing in the world, and it’s SO affordable compared to prices back home in the States. Next time we go I’m bringing an empty duffle to do all my shopping for the year!

Istanbul Additional Things To-Do:

• Basilica Cistern (~$10) – we really wanted to go here but it was closed when we were there!
• Dolmabahçe Sarayı (Palace) (~$17/ticket)
• Topkapi Palace (~$23/ticket)
• Explore Kadikoy – a great place to get away from the hustle & bustle of the city with super cafes & shops especially on Bahariye Street
• Spice Bazaar – similar to Grand Bazaar just a little smaller with lots of spices
• Picnic in Gulhane Park with bread, cheese and wine
• Walk down Istiklal Avenue – busy street lined with restaurants, shops, clubs, etc and a cute train cable car running through
• Watch sunset from Galata bridge, it’s amazingly beautiful & lined with fishermen which makes it a unique atmosphere
• Visit the Beyoglu neighborhood
• Visit the Taksim neighborhood (Time Square of Istanbul)
• Visit Balat neighborhood – most colorful neighborhood in Istanbul!
• Visit Karakoy neighborhood – considered the young hipster neighborhood
• Visit Beşiktaş neighborhood
• Walk along Çatladikapi Park in the evening when all the fishermen are out
• Whirling Dervish Ceremony (~$10/ticket) – every Sunday at Galata Mevlevi House (Galata Lodge) at 5pm

Food to Try/Places to Eat:

• Seven Hills Restaurant – their rooftop is famous for the views of Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque, along with their massive seagulls. I’d go either for a traditional Turkish breakfast or even just in the evening for a tea and appetizer around sunset
• Helvaci Ali – get the traditional hot helva with ice cream, you won’t regret it
• Viyana Kahvesi – get the cheese croissant warmed, it’s huge but you’ll want it all to yourself
• Eat Borek from Gel Gel Café
• Istanbul Anatolian Cuisine – nicest people with some of the best food in Istanbul
• Velvet Café – another place with good helva, I prefer Helvaci Ali but my friend likes this one more!
• Hafiz Mustafa for Turkish Delights – if you travel to Turkey and don’t have Turkish delights, did you even go??
• Try a fresh grilled fish sandwich/wrap at Galata Bridge – at the end of the bridge on the Karakoy side, there’s a guy selling fresh grilled sandwiches, SO good. He moves around his stand though so you will have to look for him. He stacks his grill on styrofoam boxes, but there’s usually a small crowd waiting for him to cook their sandwiches.
• Ziya Baba – awesome cheap eats in Sultanahmet neighborhood, really good corba
• Eat Baklava at Karaköy Güllüglu – I liked the original best, Austin loved the chocolate one!

From Istanbul I’d recommend flying from Istanbul to the Kayseri Airport to get to the Cappadocia region. What can be confusing is people refer to this entire region as a singular place “Cappadocia”, when in reality they’re mostly referring to Göreme. Göreme is where the hot air balloons take off from and where most people stay. The other smaller towns around Göreme are super cute and worth a visit though!

Göreme (Cappadocia) – 3 nights

Social media really increased the number of people who want to travel to Turkey, and it mostly has to do with Cappadocia. But one of the things that makes the Cappadocia region SO unique is the dozens of caves carved into the soft volcanic rock. These caves weren’t carved for hotels – they were lived in for hundreds of years and recently converted into hotels, homes, shops, etc. The caves initially were inhabited in the 7^th and 8^th centuries for communities to live in secrecy and protect themselves from foreign invasion. They were later used by Christians in the 14^th century to hide from the Mongolians.

Now that you know WHY the caves exist, are you ready for some of the most magical sunrises of your entire life?! You will likely leave this region exhausted from waking up for sunrise at 4am, but it will be SO worth it! If you gather nothing else from this section – know that you absolutely should plan to spend MORE time here than you think for multiple reasons:

• The famed sunrise hot air balloons are not guaranteed to fly every morning. If it’s deemed too windy, the balloons with be cancelled. You want to ensure a MINIMUM of 2 nights to make sure you get another chance in case they’re cancelled. I’d recommend 3 to be safe. (I know some people who stayed 3-4 and never got to see them, so be warned!)
• There is SO much history in this region and I highly recommend becoming acquainted with some of it. It’s wildly interesting but also really important to help preserve the culture and authenticity of the area. Becoming an “insta-famous” location has it’s pros, but some of the cons is the dilution of what originally brought people here in the first place.
• The landscapes are stunning! To fully appreciate them I’d plan to hike a few of the valleys and even take an ATV tour.
• You don’t want to be that tourist who comes to travel to Turkey for hot air balloons and ignores the rest of what makes this region so unique in the first place

Accommodation

We stayed at 2 places in Göreme. For a great budget option, I’d recommend the Travel Inn Cave Hotel! They have cave rooms so it’s great for those afternoon naps after the early mornings and they have a decent free breakfast. Or, if you want the top-notch bucket list experience on the BEST rooftop in Göreme, stay at the Koza Cave Hotel. This hotel is basically social media famous and for good reason. Their rooftop is INCREDIBLE, but the staff?? Amazing. By the time we left we felt like we were good friends with the whole family who runs & owns this hotel. Their breakfast is also 10/10, I overate every time to the point I left every breakfast with my pants unbuttoned (shh don’t tell Austin he gets embarrassed by me).

PRO-TIP – Cappadocia

Use this website to check to see if they balloons are flying that morning. That way you don’t get up, get ready, go to the roof & sit around for nothing like we did the first morning. If it’s a red flag that means it’s likely going to be cancelled completely (although this CAN change so I’d check again in like 20-30 minutes after waking up), yellow means they’re undecided/delayed,  and green is a go!

Cappadocia Must-Sees

• Sunrise hot air balloons are an obvious must-see! In my opinion it’s more unique to watch them from the ground, but also understand it may be a bucket list item to actually be IN one for sunrise. If so, expect to pay around $200/person.
• Hike Zemi Valley (aka Love Valley) – only about a 15 min taxi from Göreme, it’s not a quick hike in/out. I’d hike around 20 min in and then turn around unless you want to hike for 4 hours like we did (on accident). We were so unprepared that I was wearing JEANS.
• Göreme Open Air Museum (~$10) – UNESCO World Heritage site. The Open Air Museum contains the caves church’s of monks from the 10^th to 12^th centuries
• Ucisar Castle ($2) – has the best views of the surrounding region!
• Underground City of Derinkuyu ($3) – underground city built during the Arab-Byzantine Wars around the 8^thcentury that had around 20,000 inhabitants!
• Underground City of Kaymakli ($3) – this is the one we visited. At one point it had a population of around 3,500, actually connected to Derinkuyu via an underground tunnel but that’s not open to the public, you’ll have to drive between them to see both!
• ATV Sunset Tour of the Valleys – it’s a bit touristy but it’s worth it! We got to see so many of the valleys in such a short period of time (Rose Valley, Love Valley, Red Valley). The sunset from the ATVs was one of the best we saw in Turkey! We paid ~$24 to share 1 ATV

Where to Eat

• Dusk by Koza – even if you aren’t staying at Koza, they open up the rooftop and Terrance in the evenings to the public and have an AWESOME cocktail bar serving up the best drinks in Cappadocia!
• Cappadocia Cuisine
• Organic Cave Kitchen
• Seten Restaurant – great patio views of the area, we got the cheesy mushrooms here and WOW, so freaking good
• King’s Coffee Shop
• Büyük Adana Kebap – get the roasted garlic, you won’t regret it
• Try Kaymak – it’s like a dried cheese cracker served with honey, and it’s surprisingly good!

From Göreme I’d recommend flying from the Kayseri airport to either Antalya or Bodrum to do a road trip on the coast. The itinerary below assumes you would fly into Antalya, rent a car and drive north, then fly out of Bodrum. If you fly from Kayseri to Bodrum first, just reverse the route and fly out of Antalya!

Kaş – 3 nights

Welcoming to the sparkling Turquoise Coast of Turkey! You can’t travel to Turkey and not soak up some sun on it’s beautiful beaches. It’s like a mix of Italy meets Greece meets Turkey. The clear waters are a stunning shade of deep blue, very salty, and typically a little chilly! Spend the next few days enjoying the various beaches in the area, relaxing, and exploring. The best way to explore the area is definitely via a rental car.

Accommodation

We stayed at Hideaway, which was SO cute. The free breakfast was so good that we didn’t even need to eat lunch because we were so full. They have a cute rooftop terrace that overlooks the area, and secure parking lot next door for your rental car. It’s within walking distance to the main area of Kaş, so it’s very convenient!

PRO-TIP

One of my favorite things we did in Kaş was actually one of the easiest & cheapest! We bought a bottle of wine from a little liquor store in town, asked them to open it & if they had 2 paper cups. After grabbing the wine and cups, we climbed on the rocks around the harbor and watched the sunset with a bottle of chilled rosé. If you sit long enough you may even get lucky and see a sea turtle swim by!

Kaş Things To-Do

• Kaputaş Beach – it’s a 25-ish minute drive from Kaş and it’s my favorite beach we went to on the coast of Turkey! It was only $5 for us to rent 2 chairs and an umbrella for the day which you will want because it gets HOT. Go early otherwise parking is difficult since you have to park along the road. Be prepared, there’s maybe 100 stairs down to the beach from the road!
• Kayak Over the Ruins of Kekova
• Day trip to do a boat tour to Suluada Island
• Oburus Momus – vegetarian/vegan restaurant
• Smileys Restaurant – nice views of the town & water
• Pisekar Vegan – AWESOME vegan restaurant. We got the burrito and it was incredible
• Walk around the cobblestone pedestrian streets and browse all the cute boutiques, I got some neat jewelry here!

Fethiye – 2 nights

The drive from Kaş to Fethiye is only around an hour and a half. On the way, stop at the Saklikent Gorge! I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Saklikent Gorge since it’s where I dropped my phone in the water which was the death of it. I then had to pay $200 to get it repaired in Istanbul after not having it for TWO WEEKS.

Accommodation

We stayed at Hotel Dove Apart which was a great budget stay. Nothing fancy, but it included a great breakfast, plenty of parking, good A/C and wifi, and a pool! If you want, you could also stay 25 minutes away in Ölüdeniz.

Fethiye Things To-Do

• Stop at Saklikent Gorge on way from Kaş & make sure to bring a waterproof phone case
• Can take a boat ferry from Ölüdeniz to Butterfly Valley to hike
• If you’re interested in trying paragliding, this is the area for you!
• Nazilli Pide – the best pide we had in Turkey! We ate here twice. They also have parking and will let you leave your car here if you want to walk and shop around
• Shop all the boutiques! The white dress I wore at sunrise with the hot air balloons was from a little shop here called White by Nature
• Motif Restaurant – great place to watch the sunset on the water and grab a quick dinner
• Fethiye Fish Market – this is such a cool, unique spot for dinner! It’s a huge fish market where you can pick out your fresh fish, then choose one of the little restaurants to cook it up for you and get all the sides, wine, and bread you want!

Pamukkale – 1 night

The drive from Fethiye to Pamukkale is a little longer, but still not bad at just under 3 hours! Pamukkale is a small inland town which mostly attracts tourist for it’s famous travertine pools. The terraced pools were frequented by Cleopatra!

Accommodation

We stayed at the Melrose Viewpoint Hotel which had a decent free Turkish breakfast, good wifi, comfy beds, and within walking distance to the Pamukkale entrance gates.

Where to Eat

For dinner I’d recommend going to Kayas Wine House – get the grilled veggies! It’s the best veggies we had in all of Turkey and they came on an open flame – not sure how “up to code” the open fire was but it made for a very yummy dinner! The next day I’d go to Hiera Coffee & Tea House. Some of the NICEST staff, and if you like sauces then this is the place for you. They also gave us a HUGE platter of fresh fruit for free just because. Turks are the best!

Tips for Visiting Pamukkale

• Get there right at opening, it gets crowded quickly! The hours seem to fluctuate based on the time of year (even though Google says 6:30am). So just ask your hotel and they will know what time the gates open! I’d plan to enter through the South Gate
• The entrance fee is around $10 a person and does not include entrance to swimming at Cleopatra’s Ancient Pool which is an additional $7. You can still enter the area around Cleopatra’s pool to take a look, you just won’t be allowed to swim unless you pay the additional fee
• When entering from the South Gate, you will have to walk up the travertine pools to get to the top. The lower the pools, the dirtier they are as the water flows from top to bottom. As it gets crowded though, the upper pools get crowded quickly, so I’d recommend heading straight up to enjoy the upper pools first
• Note: you will not be allowed to wear shoes on the travertine since soles can damage it, so you will be required to take off your shoes. I’d recommend bringing a bag to carry your shoes!
• The entrance fee includes more than just the travertine pools! You can also go walk around the ancient city of Hierapolis. There’s a few plaques explaining what some of the ruins are
• At a minimum, don’t miss the ancient theater if you’ve never seen Greek theater ruins before!
• Plan to spend around 4 hours to properly explore and enjoy, and make sure to wear your bathing suit!

Selçuk – 1 night

After you finish exploring Pamukkale, grab a quick lunch and make the drive to Selçuk. The drive is only 2.5 hours, so you’ll arrive before dinner time and have a chance to get settled into your hotel for the night.

Did you know that you can travel to Turkey and see some of the most well preserved Greek ruins? The draw to Selçuk is to visit the incredibly ruins of Ephesus which was once the most important Greek city.

(If you’d rather spend a few days in İzmir, you could go from Pamukkale to Izmir, then take a day trip from Selçuk to İzmir.)

Accommodation

We stayed at the ENA Serenity Boutique which I’d highly recommend. The room was small, but the breakfast and coffee was soooo good, and the rooftop terrace is super cute!

Tips for Visiting Ephesus

• Go early! The entrance opens at 8am, and tour groups arrive around 9am to 10am. Once they arrive it gets packed fast!
• The entrance fees are around $15/person and can be paid with a credit card
• If you can swing it, pay extra for a guide! We didn’t get one and we regret it a bit because the city is HUGE and SO beautiful but I can’t help feel like we didn’t get to fully appreciate it without the additional info
• After you get your tickets, head straight to the Library of Celsus, the best reconstructed & most beautiful building in my opinion at Ephesus. If you want any good photos at/of it, you’ll need to go there first!
• I’d plan to spend at least 2 hours walking the grounds to fully appreciate all there is to see!

If you have extra time, from Selçuk you can head to İzmir, Bodrum, or Çeşme for a few days of extra coastal time! Otherwise, fly out from Bodrum!

Whether this is the end of your trip, or you continue on, I have a feeling this won’t be the last time you travel to Turkey! We will be back time and time again, I’m sure of that.