20 Days in Eastern Türkiye - An Introduction & Itinerary

Last year, we began planning an adventure that would take us through the diverse landscapes and rich history of Türkiye. Our 20-day journey started in the capital city of Ankara in the center of the country and stretched all the way to the Syrian border in the south, the ancient Ani ruins near Armenia, and up to the forested Black Sea coast. The more research we did, the more stops we added to the map. Each waypoint begged more questions - how long had this been there? who made it? where did they go? We embarked on our journey expecting a fantastic trip full of culture and we got much, much more. Towards the last few days of the trip, we sat sipping Dibek coffee we picked up in Mardin from our trusty French press. A lush hillside unraveled beneath our bungalow. We admitted we were sad to be nearing the end and that we had grown substantially in the way that travelers do. I will be writing this in segments, sharing experiences and tips from each leg of the trip as well as a conclusion on what we loved, would skip and what we learned along the way. From the oldest known ruins in the world to modern bustling cities, we marveled at the diversity—from steep forests and rugged mountains to incredibly vast desert landscapes and the equally diverse people, food and culture. Join me as I share the stories from our unforgettable journey, exploring Türkiye’s historical treasures and natural wonders.

What’s In This Series

• Intro & Itinerary (you’re here!)

• An article on each area including stops along the way, where we stayed, what we did, where we ate and any relevant tips

• Travel summary with travel tips, what we packed, what we’d do differently next time

• Reflection summary on how this trip impacted me and what I am bringing into the rest of my life from these twenty days.

Our Background

We live part time in a 100-year old home in the quaint village of Plomari on the island of Lesvos, a Greek island that is closer to Türkiye than to mainland Greece. We work full time, so there is no extended vacation and because traveling is a part of our daily life, we adhere to a budget. That means that during the week all travel and adventure ends around 4:00 PM to be on calls and work emails as the U.S. wakes up. Travel time has to work accordingly, we must have WiFi, and there are no long lazy dinners out on weeknights. To make some of the long drive days easier on this trip, we blocked off Fridays from calls so if we ran over-time we could always make it up over the weekend without the pressure of a client waiting while we sort connections. If you’re interested in more on this, stay tuned and/or browse through the existing articles in both the Travel + Lifestyle sections!

Money

We travel frequently and that means adhering to a budget - both for financial reasons as well as a personal inclination to not waste resources. Friends often comment that every day is a vacation for us - but that’s due to how we structure our life, spending and where we live. We set a budget of $1,500 max for 20 nights of hotels. We wanted a variety of experiences - rustic, affordable luxury, and some Airbnb’s where we can cook our own meals and do laundry mid-way. We wanted to carry 1-backpack and 1-carry on luggage each the whole way and brought extra bags to break things up for easy access in the car and during travel. We did a lot of research on the car rental (not an easy thing to do in a foreign country) and found that we could rent the car outside of Ayvalık at EDO airport and return the car in Trabzon at TZX airport and fly back to Ayvalık cheaper than we could if we added time towards Ankara or drove to return the car. We had a loose target of being back to Lesvos for a week in the first part of July. I looked for hotels that included free parking, wifi, and breakfast for 2 in the price so there were no surprise fees and we paid at the time of booking. I booked on Hotels.com and Airbnb and looked for highly rated hotels under our budget $100/night total with some wiggle room in bigger cities. We only lost on one hotel (we couldn't get into the country of Georgia with our rental car).

• Hotels $1,400

• Car Rental $1,000

• Food & Shopping $700

• Sightseeing $100

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Total $3,200 for 2 people for 20 nights

Need to Know

• Find out if you can rent a car as a foreigner in Türkiye and what you need to do so

• Folks in many areas do NOT speak English, be familiar with using Google Translate

• Turkish driving, drivers and roads are wild

• Be aware of very quick no-warning merges on freeways, dogs, pedestrians, potholes, unmarked bumps, sheep, etc…

• Jandarma stops (military) - let them know you are a tourist as soon as you can, odds are they want as much to do with you as you do with them

• Know the exchange rate!

• Do your research on areas you go to both before you arrive and while you are there - we used ChatGPT religiously throughout the trip. We found out more about history, culture, what food is best in different areas and what to watch out for in each city.

Our Itinerary

Our itinerary starts with a long travel day from the island, which unless you are living here, you can cut that out! We also spent extended time in Van visiting relatives. Some stops are almost necessary as way points - the driving in Türkiye can be harrowing at best but you’re guaranteed stunning views! A 5-hour drive can take much longer than 5 hours and be more demanding and exhausting than you’d imagine. We had to balance our limited time with some longer pushes in drive-time. There is also a never ending amount of things to see on the way that you won’t find on your map! We enjoyed crossing legendary rivers like the Euphrates and the Tigris and couldn’t help but fork off from the road to dip our fingers in and sit riverside, catching a glimpse of the serene views the ancient civilizations had. We couldn’t resist stopping at something called Hell’s Well somewhere between Kars and the Black Sea - a much longer hike than anticipated followed by tea and fresh boiled corn on the cob. Markets spring up from nothing with villagers selling pounds of cherries for $0.25 and handmade goods that you will not find anywhere else. Needless to say, plan on stopping! (Note: * = spent the night).

• Day 1: Plomari-Mytilene-Ayvalık-Ankara*

• Day 2: Ankara - Cappadocia (Ürgüp)*

  • Stopped in Tuz Gölü (salt flats)

  • Hiked around Aksaray (caves + church)

• Day 3: Cappadocia*

  • 18 mile hike exploring caves all day

• Day 4: Cappadocia-Nemrut Dağ*

  • Explored Mount Nemrut

• Day 5: Nemrut Dağ -Şanlıurfa*

  • Kahta Castle, Arsameia

  • Abraham’s pool

  • Şanlıurfa markets

• Day 6: Şanlıurfa*

• Gobekli Tepe

• Abraham’s cave

• Day 7: Şanlıurfa - Mardin*

  • Harran - Jacob’s well, Harran historical area, Harran beehive homes

• Day 8: Mardin*

• Day 9: Mardin to Van*

• Ancient City of Dara

• Hasankeyf (Tigris River)

• Day 10, 11, 12 Van*

• Day 13: Van to Kars*

• Day 14: Kars*

• Ani Ruins

• Day 15: Kars - Batumi, Georgia (but wound up in Fındıklı*)

  • Hell’s Well

• Day 16: Fındıklı - Ayder Plateau*

• Day 17: Ayder Plateau*

• Day 18: Ayder Plateau - Maçka*

  • Uzungöl

• Day 19: Maçka*

  • Sümela Monastery

• Day 20: Maçka - Trabzon - Ayvalık - Mytilene - Plomari

Stay tuned for Türkiye 2024: Part 1 - Plomari to Ankara! >>