#Turkey2017: Travel Budget & Itinerary

The blogs I was mostly following for my ideal itinerary all mentioned either a minimum of 5 or 8K AED per person so we were hesitant to go because it's almost the budget we're planning on for our grand European trip. However, after much research and colleague interviews, this is what we ended up spending in total for 2 for our 9 day Turkey odyssey:

Note: Not including the international and domestic air tickets and visa fees because we paid for all these in advance, along with 1 day of of accommodation free at The Cappadocia Hotel courtesy of my miles ^^ #creditcardperks #travelwisely #beprepared #prebookingislife. If air tickets and visa fee included, it will be a total of only 5,530.38 TL for 2 or 5,287.32 AED.

You can still reduce your own costs if you book your hotels in advance, and sign up for promo fares in budget carriers like Pegasus Airlines. Our domestic flights actually cost us only 29.99 TL each for Istanbul to Kayseri and Izmir to Istanbul per way versus booking them at the last minute for almost 200TL. And make sure to buy your air tickets ahead of time and apply for your visa at least 30 days prior to your stay to avoid rebooking fees. ^^

Also, we didn't do the hot balloon tour or paragliding because these kept getting cancelled due to bad weather. We mostly spent our money on entrance fees, food and souvenirs. Pero you know what, this is actually the first time we were able to follow our scheduled itinerary with the bus transfers and everything so sulit narin :) sooo proud of us both ~ we're really learning with each escapade on how to be more adventurous and how to use our strengths effectively (he's my navigator and I'm the planner)! Japan was a bust, Taiwan & El Nido were trial runs and now in Turkey - it's a success :) I love it!!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I patterned our itinerary on Lady's from Lady and her Sweet Escapes so the one I'll be sharing is much like hers, only customized for a 9 day trip:

Day 1: Dubai - Istanbul, Istanbul - Cappadocia

04:05 - Flight from Dubai to Istanbul via Pegasus Airlines
08:10 - Arrival in Sabiha Gokcen Airport
14:35 - Flight from Istanbul to Kayseri via Pegasus Airlines
15:50 - Arrival in Kayseri Airport
16:00 - Airport shuttle to The Cappadocia Hotel
20:00 - Early dinner in Urgup town center

- When I was booking our cave hotel (for free courtesy of my Dubai First miles) I didn't read up on exactly where our hotel was located. Turned out it was located in Urgup which was quite a distance from Goreme so we were unable to hike up to Sunset Point before our tour. Not bad though, because we were able to see their historical caves up close.

Day 2: Cappadocia Historical Tour + Bus to Pamukkale

Green Tour from Angelo's tours (arranged by The Cappadocia Hotel)

09:00 Hotel pick-up and check-out
17:30 Drop-off at bus station
18:00 Early dinner at Sadaf Restaurant
20:00 Night bus to Pamukkale

Day 3: Pamukkale!

05:00 Arrival in Pamukkale town
07:00 Check in at Bellamaritimo Hotel
08:00 Breakfast
09:00 Rest
13:00 Lunch
17:00 Pamukkale Natural Park (free)
20:00 Dinner

Day 4: Pamukkale + Heirapolis DIY Tour

07:00 Complimentary breakfast at Bellamaritimo Hotel
09:30 The Cotton Castle / Pamukkale
11:00 Exploring Heriapolis
19:00 Dinner

Day 5: Pamukkale - Selcuk

09:30 Breakfast
12:00 Hotel check-out
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Karahayit
16:45 Dolmus (minivan) to Izmir Bus station
20:00 Arrival at Selcuk and check in at Nicea Hotel
20:45 Dinner

- I was getting homesick by this time ^^ HAHA this was the longest tour I've been on.

Day 6: Selcuk DIY Walking Tour

08:00 Breakfast
10:00 Basilica of St John
11:00 Isabey Mosque
12:00 Temple of Artemis
14:00 Walk to Ephesus
16:30 shuttle to Selcuk center and early dinner
17:30 Rest
20:30 Selcuk market and train station

Day 7: Selcuk to Istanbul

05:30 Hotel check out
06:00 Train from Selcuk to Izmir Airport
11:15 flight to Istanbul
12:20 Arrival at Sabiha Gokcen Airport
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Airport shuttle to Taksim and Uber to Senatus Hotel
19:00 Whirling Dervish Show at Hodjapasha Cultural Center (70TL/person)
20:00 Dinner

Day 8: Old Sultanahmet Walking Tour

08:00 Complimentary breakfast at Senatus Hotel
10:00 Topkapi Palace
13:00 Sultanahmet Square
13:30 Istanbul Archaeological Museum
14:30 Hagia Irene
15:30 Hagia Sophia
16:00 Early dinner
17:00 Bosphorus Cruise (12TL/person)
20:30 back to Hotel

Day 9: Last Full day in Istanbul

10:30 Sultanahmet Square (again!)
11:00 Souvenir shopping
14:00 Uber to Taksim
14:30 Shuttle to Sabiha Gokcen Airport
21:30 Flight from Istanbul to Dubai via Pegasus Airlines

After 6 flight hours to Dubai, another 2 hours to Abu Dhabi and 1.45 more to Al Ain, I was back to work! Haggard bes! Running on caffeine! 

Oh well, hope you'll have fun in your trip as much as we did ~ No fighting with your travel buddy when homesickness strikes! HEHEHE