Cappadocia

[kayakebab]

got the overnight bus from Fethiye, just £20 each way

12 hours, but went really quickly, luxury coach, plenty of leg room, free hot and cold drinks and cakes

watched Redep Ivedik on the bus - although all in Turkish its a must see film, very funny!

stayed in a cave hostel,went in a hot air balloon over Cappadocia, which was awesome and on a trip to Derinkoyu underground city and the Ilhara Vallay, which was a great day out and can be booked direct with Nomad travel in Goreme, or via hostels and hotels

stayed 4 days and got bus back.

Advice to anyone thinking about doing this trip....

1. take warm clothes, its freezing in the evenings!

2. wear modest clothing for the journey ! I might as well have been naked for all the looks I was getting in my shorts at the stops along the way, didnt even dare get off the bus in Konya - the women wear full cover clothing, some even have their faces covered - its not a problem in the main resorts as theres a lot of Aussie, Canadian and Korean backpackers also in shorts!

3.hire a car, we've been spoilt by the frequency of dolmuses in Fethiye region, they are 1 or 2 hourly there.

4. do the balloon trip if you can, its a £100, but worth it for the mempries and the photos

5. try some of the clay pot cooked dishes that are special to this area

6. be prepared to pay 5YTL for beer - and a lot of places dont sell alcohol at all

enjoy- its spectacular

[Gorgeous_bird]

Thansk for the information, was the coach trip comfortable? Did you book all this with a tour operatot?

[kayakebab]

we booked a backpackers cave hostel online from UK and simply went to Fethiye Otagar and bought our tickets about 3 days before we wanted to travel. The return ticket we bought on the day we wanted to come back from bus office in Goreme

coach on way there was company called Tokat Yildiz, and was very comfy, the one on the way back was called Nevsehir and was an older coach and had an awful rattly grill thing by the overhead baggage bit, which nearly drove us crazy, and became a challenge of stuffing things in it to stop the noise....polystyrene cup seemed to work the best
also, no film with Nevsehir and only 1 cake and also took an hour and a half longer...

both stopped about 4 times, for either 10 or 30 minutes, and both stopped at overnight eateries that had delicious authentic reasonably priced food- and started my mercimek addiction
would recommend using Yildiz both ways!

the best thing is they travel overnight so you can sleep and dont end up losing any holiday days !
we met some people who took sleeping tablets from Istanbul to Fethiye and slept a full 8 hours!

must go, I have a pan of mercimek on the boil and need to go check it- bet it doesnt taste the same in UK...

[suwater]

do you think we could get a single from cappododia to fethiye overnight as in august we are flying from dalaman to ankara and then we are catching a bus to cappodicia and the same as you we are staying 4 days but have not organised the route back to fethiye the overnight bus sounds a good option
sue

[kayakebab]

yes,you can,not sure where you will be staying, but in Goreme Otogar there were about 5 offices selling tickets to Fethiye, we actually bought our return to Fethiye 2 hours prior to travelling, as we decided last minute to go back to Fethiye a day early - but of course might be busier in August.
If I were you I would purchase the return ticket the day you arrive in Cappodocia to be safe.

alternatively go to Nevsehir town (probably the ugliest town I've ever seen) they have a bigger bus station so even more chance of getting a ticket. Certainly if you want to go with Tokat Yildiz you have to go to Nevsehir town as they dont have a Goreme office.

buses are 7.30 and 8pm each evening from Goreme.I think there may have been a 10pm one with one of the companies
You may be able to book by phone
Tokat Yildizi  03562143596 fax 03562140764    Fethiye branch 02526141438 fax 02526142130

http://www.tokatyildizi.com.tr

[pookie]

Is there any advice on the best time of year to visit Cappadocia ?  Unfortunately we won't be visiting Turkey now until next June / July (daughter has the dreaded GCSEs....).  Would it be too hot and uncomfortable to visit at this time, or best at another time of the year ?  Any suggestions ?  thank you

[Tors__]

Kayakabab have u got the web address for the company you used to book the backpackers cave hostel?x

[kayakebab]

Hi Tors

it was hostelbookers.com   theres also lots on hostelworld.com

theres lots of hostels to choose from, all very reasonable. We stayed at the Shoestring hostel, beautiful, great position,very basic but was disappointed by the filthy pool with no sunloungers!

Have a look on Tripadvisor too,for reviews, really helpful

pookie it was june/ july when we were there, lovely daytime temps but very chilly in the evenings

[Firo]

Just returned from Cappadocia today (3 nights) and got to say if you haven't been there it's a must do trip in my opinion.
It is stunning, WOW and justly deserves its place as one of the top 7 Natural wonders of the world.
Weather was great, not too hot (t.shirts daytime) but chillier in the evenings so take warm clothes.
We drove up which took about 9 hours stopping en route to see other sites and breaks etc but took a different route home which was better & quicker and avoided the Antalya roadworks & traffic.
Roads were fantastic all the way with very little traffic.
Advantage of having our car was that we saw the tourist sites but were also able to discover many other places that the local tours do not cover. Days guided tours average price 58 ytl each.
Stayed in the Arch Palace in Goreme (best place to stay as it's right in the centre of everything) run by a great guy called Mustafa who could not have been more helpful. Well priced and large rooms within 3 mins of the restaurants etc.
My 90 year old mum went on a balloon flight(recommend Kapadokya Balloon company) for her birthday trip and after grumbling about the 5.30am start landed to say it was one of the best things she had ever done....cost 140 euro with champers on landing.
Could chat about where to go, what to see for pages but suffice to say we are going back in April for a week to see lots more.
Thoroughly recommend Cappadocia best break we have had for years.
Fi