Istanbul
Three days minimum. Stay on the Historic Peninsula the first night and in Karaköy the rest.
West Asia
Türkiye
Two continents, one dinner table
Best time
April – May and September – October
From Delhi
≈6 h 30 Delhi–Istanbul, direct
Visa
E-visa or visa-on-arrival for many passports; we confirm and file
Currency
Turkish lira (TRY)
Language
Turkish; English in Istanbul and the resorts
Istanbul rewards slowness and punishes a two-day visit. Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern and the Süleymaniye are all within a walk of each other, which tempts people into doing them in a morning; done properly it is three days and you still leave something.
Cappadocia is the counterweight — a landscape you look at rather than walk through, best from a balloon basket at the moment the sun clears the ridge.
Where you will go
Where you will go
The places this country is actually about, and what each one is for.
Cappadocia
Balloons at dawn, cave hotels, and the underground cities at Derinkuyu.
Antalya
The old harbour, the Lycian coast, and somewhere to stop moving for four days.
Know before you go
- Balloons are cancelled for wind more often than operators admit. We build a spare morning into every Cappadocia stay — never a single-shot booking.
- Istanbul traffic is the constraint on every itinerary. We plan by district, not by list.
- Grand Bazaar prices assume you will negotiate. If you would rather not, say so and we will send you elsewhere.
Gallery — Türkiye
Journeys
Journeys in Türkiye
Three full days in Istanbul — enough to stop treating it as a checklist — and three in Cappadocia with a spare morning built in for the balloon, because one attempt is a gamble.