We haven't cruised in a couple of years, but now we've booked the Mariner from Venice to Istanbul (including Egypt and Israel) for 14 nights next May. We are considering doing Regent's four night program in Istanbul and Cappadocia after the cruise. Can anyone who has been to Cappadocia share their experiences and let me know whether or not you felt it was worth visiting? Thanks!

Sue

Hi Sue, I am no help with your question but just wanted to say it's nice to see you again!!

From my not-what-it used-to-be-memory, both Adrenn (Anne) and Sedona (Andi) have been to Cappadocia, altho' maybe with private guides?? I'm guessing Anne will answer you, and Andi is currently in China.

Yes, yes, yes...it is well worth visiting. We loved Cappadocia. It is Turkey's Provence. We loved the beautiful Museum hotel and had a wonderful guide. Ngaire recommended a tour guide in Istanbul and they got us the guide. We were very impressed with him.

Cappadocia is peaceful and full of history. It is about a two night, three day visit. Even though it seems hokey, do visit the rug factory and the pottery factory there. You actually get to see the entire processes and there is no high pressure to buy. The artifacts are very high quality. We missed taking the balloon ride as it was too windy, but it is supposedly an experience not to be missed. The landscape is extremely beautiful as well, much like Sedona. The food is delicious and the people very gracious.

Leslie did the Regent pre-cruise and we did it on our own. It came out to about the same cost. She said it was run very well and had a very small group. However, she had an issue with a hotel selected in Cappadocia and was transferred to our hotel for the second night. I don't know what hotel is used now. We had beeen to Istanbul before so opted to do the trip on our own and select our own hotels. We stayed at the Sirecki Konak in Istanbul and thought the service was as good as the Ritz Carlton we stayed at the first time and the room was as nice and it was better located and better priced. Have a wonderful time whatever you decide to do.

hi Sue:

We took the Regent tour and thought it was very good - there were only 6 of us plus our terrific guide was Muge Akat, who is the daughter of the former head of Turkish Art & Antiquities and was literally raised in Topkapi during part of her childhood. She was so knowledgeable, and took us to great restaurants in Istanbul and Cappadocia and had some great insider connections in addition to being charming and fun.

Our only issue was that the hotel that Regent booked in Cappadocia, the Lykia Lodge, was pretty bad - the rooms were very spartan and stuffy and the staff unhelpful at best. After we checked in we all asked if there were better rooms and what about air conditioning? We were literally the only people there, but the staff told us that all the air conditioned rooms were taken.

Since it had been a long day we all agreed to stick it out for one night but our guide immediately got on the phone to her headquarters and we were relocated to the Museum Hotel for the next night, where Andi and Doug had stayed, which was fabulous.

I asked Muge why Regent didn't just book the Museum Hotel from the start and she said that Crystal, who she also guides for, does book that hotel but that Regent worries about passengers with mobility issues staying there since there are lots of steps as it is built into caves.

So I'd check the itinerary and see where they plan to stay; if they are still using the Lykia Lodge I'd go the independent route - I think we were very lucky to have been able to switch hotels.

here's a link to our
Cappadocia pictures

works best in slideshow.

Thank you so much Karen! It is nice to be remembered and nice to be back on LCT.

It was good of you to respond Kathy and it looks like some of the experts have weighed in.

Andi I appreciate you taking the time to recommend this trip. It sounds like a must see and who knows when we will ever get to Turkey again.

Leslie your pictures are absolutely amazing!!! Regent's website indicates that they are using the Lykia Lodge again (and the Intercontinental in Istanbul) so we may need to look into that, but it sounds like their tour was well done otherwise.

All of this information is very helpful and really makes me even more excited for this trip!

Sue

Hi Sue

It's nice to hear from you again. The Intercontinental is a lovely hotel, located in the Taksim Square area. Have you visited in Istanbul before, or is this your first visit? If yes, this is a very good choice. If not, I'd suggest finding a hotel in the Sultanahmet area. It's easy walking from Blue Mosque to Hagia Sophia to Topkapi to the Grand Bazaar. There are a number of ottoman hotels (including the one Andi recommended) as well as the Eresin Crown hotel (a little further from center, more modern). The Four Seasons is also there. Hard to justify the price, but it's wonderful. We were just in Istanbul about 4 weeks ago.

We've toured twice using Credo Tours to put our itineraries together. We found them using the Tom's Turkey Planner website. Credo was able to get us discounted rooms at the Four Seasons in 2006. I was pretty surprised at the increase in costs from 2006 to 2009. I did not ask them to help with Istanbul hotels on this last visit, so can't tell you what kind of pricing was available. We learned, while we were there, tourism has increased dramatically in Turkey this year. Hence, there's an increase in demand for quality guides.

Cappadocia is a wonderful visit. If you are reasonably fit and mobile, it affords terrific natural sights, very friendly people and lovely walking areas. Full of history .. amazing frescos .. a full-bore whirling dervish ceremony (takes 2-3 hours). We bought our carpets there, as Andi suggests. A dealer who also had a store in NYC simply included them in his next crate shipping to the US. Four weeks later, we had our rugs delivered to our home. We also bought one piece of the Iznik pottery. Quite expensive and really lovely.

We stayed at the Sacred House hotel in Urgup, arranged by Credo. It's a cave hotel with a bright, open courtyard. There's a great restaurant within walking distance, Sominee, where we ate dinner. Alternatively, the hotel would prepare dinner if you arranged it at breakfast time.

The other stop we made was in Fethiye (? sp), around the Turquoise Coast of Turkey. I toyed with the idea of booking a short gulet cruise. We were pretty much past the season when we got there. Lots of football on TV in the pubs during the evening. The Lycian Way runs near this town, so we hiked a short stretch and saw some amazing artifacts as part of that tour. If you get outside the town, it's quite rural. It gave us a different flavor for this region of Turkey.

If you have more questions, just fire away. Cheers, Anne

Hi Anne. This will be our first time in Turkey so the Sultanahmet area would probably be more convenient, but then if we go with Regent's program it includes tours of Istanbul's major attractions. You and Andi and Leslie have given me some great information to consider. One thing for sure I think we do want some time in Cappadocia. Thank you for all your help.

We'll be leaving for the four day Cappadocia extension next Sunday, 10/25, before we go on our 10/30 Navigator cruise from Istanbul to Rome. If you refresh this thread around 11/10, after we get home, we'll be happy to update you.

Yes, sadly, they still use the Lykia Lodge.

Thanks, Joan and Joe I'll do that. I would love to hear your experiences. Have a great cruise!

Just remember to post here, and not on the "critical board". When I answered your post on that board, I didn't mention LCT.

Lykia Lodge is what Oceania has on their post cruise program too. We are taking Oceania on 10/1/10 that ends in Istanbul. We will stay at the hotel Andi stayed in Istanbul. May get a small group together and book a private tour to Cappadocia. No AC at the Lykia Lodge????

Leslie, Loved your photos, thanks! Judy

Joan and Joe if you see this I would love to hear how your cruise went especially the pre-trip to Cappadocia. Thanks!

We'll write more when we get over the terrible colds (actually, bronchitis for Joe) which we got from the miserable weather on the trip. It rained all or part of the day the first 9 of our 13 days (we never did see the sun in a week in Turkey), with an all day rain three of the days (a downpour with wind at Ephesus). Despite the awful weather, it was a great trip. Cappadocia is beautiful beyond belief!

An uncomfortable Transatlantic trip, with jet lag and cramped conditions, improves when we see a charming girl holding a sign with our names on it. Seamless connections to the hotel. We find a delightful restaurant on the Taksim Square, and enjoy our meal fully.

We were part of a group of 8, with the two of us (ages 64 and 62) the babies of the group. Three or four of the others were over 80, and maybe 5 of the 8 had mobility problems. So there was no hotel switch. We met our guide, Sayat Turabik, in the lobby of the hotel. Nobody gave us a name or meeting time, but we were ready early in spite of our jet lag, and eventually connected with Sayat in Istanbul. For what we paid, we should have had that information. Sayat handed us a printed schedule of our Cappadocia adventure. We spent the morning visiting Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. Sayat's advice about shopping the Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar was accurate and helpful. Lunch at Hamdi was superb. We had a view of two continents, appetizers and pizza, and a mixed entree. I bought 1/2 c. saffron for $2.00, and Rahat Locum (known simply as Lokum in Turkey). Back to the hotel by 3:30, we walk around and find a modest restaurant. We're drinking bottled water, on Sayat's advice. Superb buffet breakfast in the hotel, a delightful meal.

Turkish airlines gets us to Cappadocia in the rain. They serve a meal on the short flight: yogurt, water, cheese sandwich. A bit of sunshine for about two minutes, a waiting bus, and our tour begins. We hike up and down the justifiably famous Goreme Open Air Museum. We visit Avanos, walk into a cave and see a potter making a dish. I don't buy, although the place is obviously a shop. More sight-seeing of the remarkable Cavusin and Pigeon Valley, more caves. Wonderful lunch in a restaurant where they bake your stew in a clay pot and break the pot to serve you. The local wines are quite good, as my fellow-travelers sip a glass or two at their own expense. We are greeted with juice or wine on arrival. Unpacking, refreshing baths, and a buffet dinner fill our evening. Everyone's happy with an early bedtime.

Buffet breakfast the next day is excellent, bountiful and varied. Joe and I acquire a taste for their cherry juice. Joe is now insisting that PANORAMA is the Turkish word for Gift Shop, half-jokingly. The Turkish Lira is worth less than the dollar, so shopping is a pleasure.

The Lykia Lodge, is, I'll admit, a bit dreary; but we weren't there for much else other than eating and sleeping. They greeted us with complimentary beverages (hard or soft). We got two good nights of sleep, so the small rooms didn't bother us. The food at the Lodge was terrific: great buffets at breakfast and dinner. We almost became addicted to sour cherry juice! The other meals on the trip were excellent, with one exception: a perfectly awful lunch at the Topkapi Palace just before we boarded the ship.

The guide, Sayat, was a very flexible guy. Seeing the age of the group, he switched our whiling Dervish reservations from 8:30 p.m. to 5:30--and we had front row seats. When it became obvious that the group (other than me) had knees too tricky for the underground city (the vote was 7 to 1 against going, with Joe the one Yes), we went instead to the Keslik 4th century cave monastery. The frescoes are far more expressive than anything in Europe at this time, and the keeper is happy to see us. We are the sole tour group there. Sayat finds us a Roman excavation so recent, we can't photograpgh it because it has not been fully recorded yet. Fascinating. We even went to a winery.

The fairy chimneys are wonderful beyond description. We do not have a chance to ride a donkey, but we have a wonderful visit. Sayat jokes the donkey ride is $1- to get a ride and $10.00 to get off....Plane back to Istanbul the next day is a nightmare of people trying to get 10 bags each into the overhead compartment, a lobby without bathrooms or water, and the seats in the far back of the plane. It's a holiday weekend, and Topkapi Palace is so crowded we can't get close to the exhibits, and the lunch here is only so-so. (Joe's view--bloody awful!) The wind and rain make the Navigator especially welcome. Joan

Joan I really appreciate your posting this review of your Regent excursion to Istanbul and Cappadocia. I hope that you guys are feeling better soon! It would have been nice if you had had better weather, but you obviously made the best of things and still enjoyed the trip. It is a bit disconcerting that no one told you when to meet your guide in Istanbul, but at least you found him. The flight and the hotel don't sound ideal, but I will know what to expect and it sounds like Cappadocia is well worth it. It is nice that your guide was adaptable to the needs of the group although I can see the benefit of having private arrangements so you can choose your own activities. If we decide to stay with the Regent tour we will need to be flexible on what we see and do during our time there. When you feel up to it I would love to hear more about the cruise itself. Thanks again for all of this wonderful information!

Sue

Thanks for your response. It's nice to have someone read my review.

I am going to move this post to the ports section in a few days so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Joan and Joe's review is very good info!!

Wow! What a trip. We are going next October with Oceania. Would like to see Cappadocia. Hope the weather conditions are better. We would like a balloon ride over the fairy chimneys.