BootsnAll Travel Community

Has anyone driven a rental car in Turkey? I'm trying to decide whether to rent one or use public transportation. I've heard the horror stories of Turkish drivers, and would like to know whether it's feasible (and safe) outside the major cities (I have no intention of driving in Istanbul). Since I only have 2 weeks in the country, I'd like to maximize my time. I hate the thought of spending large chunks of time waiting for and traveling in a bus and/or train - but hate even more the idea of being mowed down from behind by an irate local driver.

Yes, Turks do like to drive in the middle of the road, though from what I saw were otherwise decent drivers (when compared to other countries we visited). I don't have any experience with driving there, but I'd say it's probably not worth it, simply because the buses are frequent and efficient, so you probably wouldn't save a significant amount of time.

Simply put, the bus system in Turkey is amazing. Throughout our time there, we'd show up at the bus station, and there'd be a bus leaving to where we wanted to go anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour later. On top of that, one of the must sees in Turkey (Cappadocia) is a long way from the rest of the tourist trail, which is all you'll have time for in 2 weeks, and the way to get there is by overnight bus, so that should save enough time to make up for the small number of hours that you might waste on other rides.

Don't take the train though...it's ridiculously slow.

Thanks - that's good to know. I'd rather have someone else do the driving if possible. Do the seats recline on the overnight bus? I've heard the buses are pretty comfortable but wasn't sure if it extended to reclining seats, etc.

We didn't actually take any overnights, since we had more time and visited some spots that weren't so much on the tourist trail. I have heard that some of them have reclining seats, but not all, so that's something to ask about when booking the ticket.

I miss Turkish buses. talk about service.
I would say, figure out where you want to go over the 2 weeks, ask on the boards how frequent buses are in the area, and there's a very good chance, especially if you're sticking to the Agean/Med coast, that buses are so frequent you won't have to wait more than 20 minutes.
Also, if you are travelling solo, or as a couple, buses work.
we did encounter one family who'd rented a car, and it seemed to work for them, 2 adults, 2 kids, lots of gear... (you have to have a lot of patience, and have to be REALLY good with dimensions, cuz how they get vehicles into some of the spots that they do, is beyond me).
so that's my convoluted way of saying, take the bus. it just works in Turkey. Better than anywhere else we've been, by quite a long shot.

Why not consider taking one or two short flights? I had two weeks in Turkey and rather than spend a long, uncomfortable night on a bus, I spent just a little more and flew. Try Onur Air, Turkish Airlines, Atlas Jet.

I flew Istanbul - Kayseri to see Cappadocia. Then Kayseri - Izmir to visit the ruins of Ephesus and stay in Selcuk. Then Izmir - Istanbul. The flights were very reasonable.

(It did seem crazy to take so many flights, but I absolutely hate long bus rides. I'd take a 2 hour flight over an 8 hour bus right any day!!)

There is something great about renting a car and being able to come and go when you please, though!!

That's not a bad idea - I might combine the flights with the bus. If it's a really long bus ride, I'd rather fly - unless of course, the scenery along the way is so breathtaking I'd be crazy to skip it.

I'm still trying to fine tune my itinerary - right now I'm planning on spending the first 3 days in Istanbul, then leaving on Monday to travel somewhere - first Cappadocia or Ephesus, then the other, then back to Istanbul.

Thanks for everyone's advice so far - it's really good to talk to those who have been there and done that!

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(It did seem crazy to take so many flights, but I absolutely hate long bus rides. I'd take a 2 hour flight over an 8 hour bus right any day!!)

I always find that even a short flight eats up a whole day, since you have to be at the airport well in advance, plus ground travel time, plus waiting for checked luggage, and the whole process has become so draining that I'm exhausted at the end of it and can't do anything even if I have the time.

But that's me. So maybe flying will work out for you. But don't fly everywhere - Turkish buses are an attraction unto themselves, and are not to be missed entirely. With night buses, it probably doesn't make much difference one way or the other, but there's beautiful scenery throughout Turkey, so I'd stick to the bus if there's a day option.

Your itinerary looks pretty good. Realistic, not trying to cram too much in. It's easy to lose a week in Cappadocia, and not even notice it went by, and Istanbul easily justifies at least 4 days, more if you really want to do it justice. I didn't much care for Ephesus, though Selcuk's is a nice town.

I would recommend taking buses whenever possible, and perhaps snagging a THY flight back to Istanbul from Kayseri.

Turkey is a big-ass country, and even though most tourists only travel in about half of it, it is still humongous. Much of Turkey (particularly the northeast) has glorious scenary but much of the country is about as exciting as traveling through Nebraska. Night buses are the way to go.

Those buses do look interesting - and seem very efficient. As far as the Turkish drivers go, I found a site today that lists the per capita death rates for drivers, and Turkey actually ranks BELOW Oregon, Iowa and several other states. So I MAY rent a car for a small portion of the trip - we'll see. I'm just so excited about going - and even more excited to get such good advice here! I'm so happy I found this site!

Neil, when you said you didn't care much for Ephesus, is there any particular reason why? I was under the impression that it was mostly ruins.

I've pretty much decided not to go to Troy and Gallipoli, based on Joe's article. So just out of curiousity, if any of you had to do it again, is there any place you would skip and any place you would add?

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Neil, when you said you didn't care much for Ephesus, is there any particular reason why? I was under the impression that it was mostly ruins.

The worst thing about Ephesus was the crowds, which were terrible. Ephesus is close to the Aegean coast, so a lot of the Greek Island cruises pop in for a visit, sometime 4 or 5 thousand people at a time. Additionally the only thing that really struck me as impressive at Ephesus is the great theatre, which is massive, but still just a theatre. The other "star attraction," is the library, most of which is rebuilt...you wouldn't believe how many tourists take up close pictures of the list of donors that's inscribed in the inside of the wall. But in the end, the reason I didn't much care for Ephesus is because it's Just Another Roman City. They built them according to consistent plans, so whether your visiting Jerash in Jordan or Italica in Spain, the only difference is in how complete the remains are. (Ephesus is fairly complete, however, part of our lack of interest might stem to having visited Jerash about a month and a half earlier, which is both devoid of tourists and more complete.)

If I were doing it again I'd skip the mosaic museum in Antakya, which oddly the Lonely Planet describes as being worth the side trip, but I'd say it was barely worth visiting when we were in town anyway. And I'd skip Pamukale...the travertine pools are impressive, but they're packed with tourists...there must have been a hundred bus loads of Russians.

I wish we'd gone further east...a trip to Mt Nemrut at least, and maybe a trip to the Georgian Valleys. Also, we saw a discovery channel show on Hattusha, the capital of the Hittite Empire, a couple months after we left Turkey, and feel like we missed out on a really interesting spot, even though we'd never heard of it before.

Driving is only crazy in the cities. Turkey has a great highway system, so going town to town isn't bad at all, not much traffic, wide roads, etc. I wouldn't do your whole trip by car, but it might be nice to rent one for a day or two... maybe in Kapadokya, as it offers incredible mobility and freedom for a situation like that, and you can hit a few rural places, check out the countryside, poke about, etc. You could probably share it with a few people at the hostel or something to save cash.

Also, for night buses (great way to do those ~8 hour hops), I would recommend getting a window seat if at all possible (something to lean on), and consider bringing some ambien or some such sedative, depending on your sleeping skills. I did a few without, not pleasant, and one with ambien, which rocked. And try to get Turk to get your ticket, else you might be stuck with a yabanci (foreigner) price.

I took a couple night buses and did find the seats pretty comfortable - mine reclined the usual few inches or so but that's all.

What no one seems to have mentioned yet in this thread is: there is often a bus "steward" who serves you free coffee and tea!

I was so pleased I had to indulge, even at 10pm. Sometimes you even get a snack in the morning.

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Originally posted by 2wanderers:
The worst thing about Ephesus was the crowds, which were terrible.

Depends when you go. There were VERY few people there when we went at the end of October -- it was amazing. The weather was also gorgeous. I think we really lucked out.
I don't remember when you said you were going?

This is what it was like:

It looks sort of run down thesedays. The place was a thriving community when I was there, but of course that was hundreds of years ago. (great photo, by the way!)

That IS a great photo! I'm going the first 2 weeks of May, by the way. I'm hoping it won't be too bad then.

What I find interesting is that most people look at me very quizzically when I say I'm going to Turkey, and then usually ask "why would you want to go to Turkey"? I'm also finding it hard to find guidebooks - I mean, there's the usual assortment of LP, Eyewitness, etc., but my library only had about 5 books on Turkey compared to the 2-3 shelves of other countries.

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there is often a bus "steward" who serves you free coffee and tea!

Cool! I love stuff like that, too. When I rode on the train in Spain, the steward passed around little earbuds so we could listen to the movies (dubbed into Spanish, of course).

My bus rides always included Çay or Coca Cola and little cakes. But let's not forget one of the best reasons to travel on buses: lemon cologne dribbled into your outstretched palms by the bus steward!

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Originally posted by WhereForArt:
What I find interesting is that most people look at me very quizzically when I say I'm going to Turkey, and then usually ask "why would you want to go to Turkey"?

Yeah, people are like that. But you can't really blame them, as an American you generally don't learn a lot about countries like Turkey and what they are *really* like. You know what I mean....

I read a great book called the Crescent and the Star, about politics and life in Turkey since Ataturk. Actually, I don't know if it was really a GREAT book, but I was just so excited to learn about the topics it covered....It discusses all the big issues you may wonder about, like the Armenian massacre, relations with Greece, the role of Islam, Kurds, etc. I learned so much (and now I am an expert. j/k) It seems to be a place right on the cusp of greatness - but it depends how they run the place for the next few decades.