The Greatest Adventure

Around the Turkey in 14 days: A Mega Road Trip

Travelling to Turkey was a blast.

overview of entire trip plan

1st stop: Ankara

final thoughts on turkey

2nd stop: Cappadocia

You’ve probably heard of the Red and Green Tours.

The Red Tour comprises of: The Goreme Open Air Museum, Uchisar Castle, Devrent Valley, Zelve Open Air Museum and Pasabag Open Air Museum

The Green Tour covers the Derinkuyu/Kaymakli Underground City, Ilhara Valley and the Selime Monastery

We also visited the Nevsehir Castle – we recommend this castle for those who want to see an underground city but without the added claustrophobia – derinkuyu and kaymakli according to many others were very claustrophobic and that’s why we didn’t go for those.

We stayed in Ugrub, which is around 10 minutes drive from Goreme. In Ugrub, we tried a Turkish special that was ovenbaked in a clay container.

The waiter would bring it out and use a metal tool to hit the clay jar

3rd Stop: Konya

Konya Butterfly Museum is one of the best attractions I have ever visited in my life bar none. You are immediately immersed in a wonderful world of tropical nature, and the butterflies fly around you as you walk past. A truly marvellous experience.

4th stop: Pamukkale

Driving to Konya from Pamukkale was an insanely long journey, so when we reached Pamukkale at 3pm, we were so tired. There was enough time however, to squeeze in a quick visit to Laodikea, one of the churches mentioned in the bible in Revelations! It was really well preserved and there were many beautiful structures – it even had its own tiyatrosu (amphitheatre)!

We did a hot air balloon ride here instead of at

5th Stop: Izmir

Driving from Pamukkale to Izmir, we visited Ephesus on the way, as Izmir was mostly just a shopping area and our carts were full.

Ephesus is truly spectacular, the library of celsus and the magnificent tiyatrosu (amphitheatre) were breathtaking.

We decided to try an extra special experience at the Ephesus Experience Museum. It was 40 bucks (USD) per person, which was separate from the entrance fee. It was so expensive, but overall we would say that it was interesting but not to die for.

The experience brings you back to the time of Ephesus, using immersive audio and visuals to captivate you.

The first room you enter is a long dark room, and the projectors flash videos on the screens all around you. There are smoke effects and light effects that leave you stunned and marvelling at the quality of the production. On top of that, the tour is narrated by audio guide which you wear on your ears, and the voice acting is of top quality (in english).

I’m sure many of you are wondering if it was worth the 40 bucks. Personally, I don’t quite think so, but I believe this is the future of technology in travel, and in tourist education as museums to most young people have perhaps lost their lustre.

6th stop: Canakkale

TROY! ACHILLES! HELEN OF TROY!

We were so excited to see Troy, but unfortunately the Trojan Horse was under reconstruction and repair. Of course the Trojan Horse isn’t the real one used in the war, but regardless it was interesting to see it and also the castle around it. On the display panels around the castle was depicted the artists’ impression of what the castle looked like in the past, as most of it had been reduced to rubble. For this one, you have to use the power of imagination to imagine how the battle was fought and where; they don’t have an immersive museum here like in Ephesus to stimulate your senses.

Adjacent to the Troy Architectural Site was a very impressive museum, that walked you through the ancient times and also how the story went in accordance with the movie by Brad Pitt. The museum also incorporated elements of the greek gods by showing how they were part of the story of Troy and were inextricably involved with the events.

Apart from that, we also saw the Naval Museum, which was very impressive, boasting a myriad of armaments and even sea mines. I had never seen a sea mine before so it was pretty cool!

7th Stop: Istanbul

In Istanbul, we used the Istanbul Tourist Pass