Once upon a time, a friend asked if I want to tag his trip to Istanbul but as things happened, neither of us ended up stepping into Türkiye. That was a good 10 years ago. Not that I didn't try to plan a trip to Türkiye prior to this but at one point it wasn't too safe among other things, so I've never been to this transcontinental country.
Majority of my 3 weeks leave was in Türkiye, but I decided to extend my layover in Dubai by a couple of days, making the most of flying with Emirates. It cost the same taking a return flight from Melbourne to Istanbul or adding Dubai as a destination at the time of my booking.
By the time of my travel, there is no additional requirements due to covid-19 needed to both Türkiye or Dubai. I initially wanted to also make a day trip to Abu Dhabi but a negative PCR test within 14 days was still required to enter any attractions, including the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque which was the main reason I wanted to go. As I was looking up information to blog, looks like this requirement has been lifted as of 7 Nov 2022. Next time, I guess.
I took a domestic flight out of Istanbul the day I landed to navigate the hassle of commuting in out of Istanbul Airport. It was a very long commuting day with a total 20+ hours flight and 7 hours transit from Melbourne to Kayseri but there was an empty seat next to me in the longest leg of the flight.
Here is my itinerary for 3 weeks (or to be exact 22 days) in Türkiye and Dubai (instead of UAE as I was pretty much only in Dubai, except the desert that I went was located in Sharjah).
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| M: morning, A: afternoon, E: evening, N: night |
30/09, Day 00 - On flight, arrived Istanbul in the evening, flight to Cappadocia* (Kayra Caves Suites)
01/10, Day 01 - Cappadocia*
02/10, Day 02 - Cappadocia*
03/10, Day 03 - Cappadocia, overnight bus to Pamukkale* (Paradise Hotel)
04/10, Day 04 - Bus to Bodrum* (Pasha Motel)
05/10, Day 05 - Bodrum*, day trip to Kos
06/10, Day 06 - Bus to Selcuk* (Hotel Ave Maria)
07/10, Day 07 - Selcuk*
08/10, Day 08 - Bus to Ayvalik* (Lunaria Guest House)
09/10, Day 09 - Bus to Canakkale* (Sera Palas Pansiyon)
10/10, Day 10 - Canakkale*, day trip to Troy and Gallipoli Peninsula
11/10, Day 11 - Bus to Bandirma, then ferry to Istanbul* (Happy Suite Boutique Hotel)
12/10, Day 12 - Istanbul*
13/10, Day 13 - Istanbul*
14/10, Day 14 - Istanbul*
15/10, Day 15 - Istanbul*
16/10, Day 16 - Istanbul*
17/10, Day 17 - Flight to Dubai* (Excelsior Downtown Hotel)
18/10, Day 18 - Dubai*
19/10, Day 19 - Dubai*
20/10, Day 20 - Dubai* (Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek)
21/10, Day 21 - Dubai*
22/10, Day 22 - Flight to Melbourne
23/10, Day 23 - Arrive Melbourne in the morning
*referring to overnight stay
Side note: I'll go with Türkiye, since this is the country's Turkish name.
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