Budget Travel: Visiting Turkey in 7 days

Turkey is a country, which has intrigued me for the past three years.   Growing up, I didn’t really paid attention to Turkey mostly because they were not in the news that much (I don’t think that’s a bad thing).  Then I came to know friends who visited Turkey and I came to know a Turkish friend.  What really drew me to Turkey to me is its people and its culture.  With their relatively fair skin compared to its neighbors and the European like features, Turkish people stand out from the rest of the middle east.  Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country.   However, compared to other neighboring countries, Turkish people seem to be more tolerant and less barbaric.  I, of course, realize that maybe not all Turkish people are like that.  There are different regions in Turkey where there may still be some groups which might not be in this as liberal as the ones I have came to know.

I was looking forward to visiting Turkey, especially Istanbul since early 2013.  I have heard from friends that Istanbul is very pretty and its food is awesome.  Due to the vacation constraint that me and my partner has, I was able to allocate only a week of Turkey.   Given that NYC is about ~10 hrs flight from Turkey, I had to simplify my itinerary a bit.

Generally, if you are traveling oversea, the majority of the trip budget is on the cost of the flight.  Turkish Airlines run direct flight between NYC and Istanbul and its tickets were about $900 - $1000 round trip per person.  I found cheaper flight tickets with Ukraine International, which is $714 per person, with a 2 hour transit at Kiev.  That is total saving of $300 for the trip, which can definitely be put into other costs.  (Our flights ticket price actually went down to $600 per person after I bought the tickets. ).

For accommodation, lots of my friends who have been there recommended Air BnB for apartments rental.  Our agenda was a little bit tight and we were arriving Istanbul outside of normal business hours.  So, I decided to just stay at hostels in Istanbul.   The best hotel during this trip would be the airport hotel near Istanbul SAW airport.  It was less than $100 per night but the room was very modern and nice. 

Istanbul, being the culture center, is a must on the list whenever you visit Turkey.  My ideal trip to Istanbul would have been to stay at an apartment with a view of the old town.   But staying within budget was my focus on this trip.  I also want to travel as a local, not as a tourist this time around.  I have been on so many trips where we spent so much money on doing things that you never really get a chance to do.   While it is a nice opportunity to be able to do so,  I ask myself sometimes if there’s a better way to spend the money.   So, during this trip, we decided that we actually wanted to minimize our spending.

Here’s the trip Agenda:

Day 1 & Day 2  –  Arrive in Istanbul. More >>

Day 3 – Day trip to Cappadocia.  More >>

Day 4 && Day 5-  Half Day trip to Pamukkale and Selcuk, Ephesus.  More >>

Day 6 & 7 -  Istanbul and fly back to NYC More >>