kalkan to istanbul.

[morgan]

Hi,has anyone driven from kalkan to istanbul??I am going out at easter and quite fancy hiring a car and doing the trip.Just wondered approximately how long the drive would take.??

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=1035.0

[felicity]

Well - the coach takes 12 hours or so - so you could do it in less time than that - but it will still be a long and tiring drive....  We thought about it but with the cost of the petrol and the time - we decided to go on a 1 hour flight for 68ytl with Turkish airlines...I know that we will have seen a lot of lovely scenery but we have decided to drive to Cappadocia this summer as Istanbul was just too much...also -you don''t really want to be driving a car in istanbul - crazy drivers and loads of traffic and great public transport so you would want to ditch the car maybe at Bursa and then cross the marmara sea by ferry....

[morgan]

Many thanks felicity.I might take your advice and fly there,as it''s so reasonable!By the way,you will love cappadocia,amazing scenery!

[felicity]

Ooohh - sounds good - I can''t wait...but do book your internal flights early...we booked with turkish airlines - very easy online booking but they are quick to strike out the cheaper fares....when I last looked from Istanbul to Dalaman for summer it was 190 ytl....not so good...but maybe that is coz it is summer..!!!  Other internal flight providers seem to be difficult to book direct online from the uk - Pegasus, onur air Atlasjet and sunexpress so I will have to look at booking them when I am in turkey with a travel agent or via one of my turkish friends if the flight prices are still that high!

good luck!!

[Lantana]

Hi Morgan

We have done this journey a few times, both from Kalkan to Istanbul and from Istanbul to Kalkan. Yes, it is a long drive, approx 900 kms but the roads are good.  The best route to take is the mountain road from the main Fethiye roundabout towards Cavdir, then to Burdur, then Afyon. this is all through spectacular scenery. From Afyon, you head towards Kutahya ( famous for its porcelain) and then you can go via Bursa, but you can''t get  a ferry from there, it''s inland. From Bursa, head towards Yalova  and then from just the other side of Yalova, take the car ferry across the Gulf of Izmit to Gebze, (which takes about 30 minutes), where you will pick up the motorway to Istanbul. If you avoid rush hour, this last stage will probably take about an hour. The Yalova car ferry runs approx every 30 minutes and you don''t need to book.

An alternative is to add in  a trip to Pamukkale en route, to do this, at Cavdir you would head towards Denizli not Burdur. After this stop off you would head back towards Kutahya. This adds a fair chunk of time but Pamukkale is well worth seeing.

Driving in Istanbul is fine for anybody used to big city driving conditions. Some people are overwhelmed by the traffic but if you are used to city rush hour driving, it''s not a problem. We lived in Istanbul for four years and drove every day, accident free.

If you want to get to know Turkey better, then this journey by car is  a wonderful opportunity  to see some spectacular countryside and very interesting places. If you just want to get to Istanbul then flying makes much more sense as even when you add in transfer to the airport, check in time, then flight time, it will take you just over 4 hours. From Istanbul airport, you should allow 40 minutes to an hour to get to the city centre, depending on traffic. The taxi fare from the airport to the centre is approx 35 - 40 ytl. Ask the driver to take the coast road, Sahil yolu, for the best views of Istanbul.

Hope this is helpful.
Lantana

[morgan]

Hi Lantana,
Many thanks for your very informative reply.I agree that a trip to pamukkale would be worthwhile.We still have a few months in which to decide wether we want to do the road trip.I really would like to,just have to convince my wife!!Driving in Istanbul doesn''t faze me.I''m sure it can''t be worse than Cairo!!!!Thanks again.