There is so much to see in Istanbul, it can be overwhelming. We were meeting my parents (Charles and Bev) there and knew we wanted to see the major sites as efficiently as possible to have time to just relax with them.

Upon recommendation, we booked a day-tour of Old Town through Neon Tours and requested the highly recommended guide, Gulay. This was a great decision. Gulay took us through the Old Town hitting all of the major sites including Hagia Sofia, Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Grand Bazaar & Spice Market. She was a wealth of historical knowledge and even laid out our next day of site seeing across the river.

Having knocked out the major sites, we spent the next few days actually trying to see less. While Istanbul is known for the food, we left a bit disappointed. Even in the nicer restaurants it seemed the menu was just a "fancier" version of traditional Turkish cuisine. It wasn't bad, but it was a bit bland.

Our top recommendations for Istanbul are below:

Suleymanye Mosque: Located up a hill just outside the Grand Bazaar, this was our favorite mosque. It's giant, but much less traveled by tourists, and the inside is beautiful. It also offers the best views of the city. It's worth the hike up to the top.

Basilica Cistern: The main water storage for the city during Roman times offers an incredible glimpse into just how modern the Roman Empire was. This small portion that you see is only 10% of the actual cistern. It blew our mind a bit. It's also a nice break from the heat.

Dolmabache Palace: With a prime real estate location on the Bosphorous River, the palace is overwhelming in its opulence. You are required to go with the tour to see the palace and it moves quickly, but don't bother trying to pay attention to the guide, yelling over the other tour groups both in front and behind you. Just wander along and look around. Tip: Don't waste your time on the harem here. Do the one at Topkapi Palace instead.

Bosphorous Cruise: Just under the street from the New Mosque is a company called Tuyol offering an hour and half cruise for 15 lira/person. This is the best and quickest way to see the shores. A longer cruise would probably be a waste of time; our cruise was sufficient to see everything on the river. If facing the New Mosque, sit on the left side for the best views along the cruise.

Unfortunately, we don't have any overwhelming MUSTS for food in Istanbul. Most of our experiences, even those recommended by several people, turned out to be just average.

My one recommendation for food though would be to try manti - a mini ravioli stuffed with meat and garlic yogurt sauce. So delicious. Kebaps are ubiquitous, so try many styles and vendors, and decide on your own favorite.

We got to experience the breaking of the fasts during Ramadan and witness families coming together in the parks to share a meal at sundown. This was so special to see. There was also a beautiful craft market beside the Blue Mosque area which was reminiscent of the Altenmarkets of Germanic Christmas. Fast-breakers would stroll among the shops after finishing their family meal.

We really did love Istanbul. Sharing the experience of the city with my parents was the perfect cap to our 3 weeks exploring western Turkey.

We flew from Bucharest, Romania to Izmir, Turkey, arriving just a bit before Scott and Travis. We were so excited to meet up with them and share experiences in this new (to us) corner of the world. Scott and Travis also visited Cappadocia and loved it, like many others before them. We chose to skip it due to time and budget constraints, but it's on our list for our return trip to Turkey. We were moving pretty quickly with them and only stayed two nights in each city: Izmir, Kusadasi and Bodrum.

Izmir

Izmir is a large city and its nickname is reportedly "Infidel Izmir". It's a supposed party town on the water, but to be honest, Bodrum is truly the party town.

Izmir is home to the ruins of the ancient city of Smyrna. Don't be fooled by the gates surrounding the ruins that appear to be closed; it's open and the entrance is on a side street. While the site is still an active archeological dig, we were able to explore the underground cisterns and see the excavated pieces laid out, ready to be assembled together.

This city is also home to a Mustafa Kemal Ataturk museum, the famous leader of the Turks, which gave an excellent timeline for his rise to power and his life.

Easy to explore on foot, we were glad to visit Izmir for the ruins, but it wasn't our favorite city in Turkey.

Kusadasi

We used Kusadasi as our home base for exploring the ruins of Ephesus. It's a tourist town with a below average market full of trinkets and junk. The town caters to cruise ships, which have become the bane of our travel experience.

However, Ephesus is a MUST see and truly is an incredible place to visit. The terrace houses are worth the extra entrance fee and the city itself is so well put together that you get an amazing sense of what it was like to live there. Certainly some of the best ruins we've ever seen. It was incredible to walk the streets and stand in the amphitheater where Paul preached and see the secret sign of the Christians living in the city - a pie symbol which spells out Cristos. We booked our private tour through OnlineEphesusTravel.com and got a great rate of $52 per person. However, the quality of the tour was pretty mediocre and our tour guide spent lots of time on his cell phone instead of paying attention to us. This tour also included an undesired stop at a typical rug shop. It is really interesting to learn about how silk is harvested and woven into rugs, but you're then obliged to listen to their sales pitch and elbow your way out of their clutches. The tour ended with a quick stop at all that remains of the Temple of Artemis - a solitary column in a swamp. It is entirely unimpressive, but was another one of the Seven Wonders to check off our list. We were disappointed with the tour but assume most of them are like ours. At least book a private tour for the late afternoon like we did. It is the best way to see Ephesus at your own pace and most of the swarms of mega tour groups have left by then.

Kusadasi itself is situated on a stunning coastline overlooking the Aegean Sea. Take the time to hike up to the top of the Ataturk statue to watch the sun set.

Bodrum

Bodrum was our favorite city in Turkey. A little port town, it's cozy and fun. This is Turkey's true party town and they seem to love the reputation. It is well developed for tourism, but maintains its unique charm better than Turkey's other Aegean cities.

We visited the Bodrum Castle, built by the crusading Knights of St. John in the 1400's, which also houses the Underwater Archeology Museum. We spent hours here learning about many excavations and dives. The concept is genius. Why doesn't every fort just make the entire place into an exhibition?

Buy a combo ticket for the fortress and for the ruins of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. This shrine was built as a grand resting place for the wealthy King of Caria, Mausolus (hence the name). The ruins aren't spectacular, but seeing the remains of one of the original Seven Wonders was pretty neat.

From Bodrum we also took a five-hour-long boat cruise around the coast so that Scott and Travis could see the coastal scenery. If you don't have a full week like we did to take the gulet cruise, this is the best way to see the beautiful Aegean in a day. At the marina, you can find a number of boats that do day trips with around 20-30 passengers for 40 lira per person ($15). Lunch is included, the boat sells cold Efes beer, and you stop at three coves to swim. We stopped at Orak Island, which has the clearest water we've ever seen. It's hard to beat this deal.

Bonus Review: Marmaris

We included Marmaris because we started our gulet blue cruise (a traditional Turkish boat) from there. It's much bigger than we expected and is packed with sail boats from around the world. The promenade runs the entire length of the city along the water and it's a lovely walk. Marmaris also has a huge market selling anything you could desire.

We enjoyed one night here at the end of our gulet cruise and stayed at the Reis Beach Hotel. It was a great spot and their restaurant served us one of the best meals we had in Turkey.

We hardly scratched the surface of Turkey, only exploring the west coast, but central and eastern Turkey also hold many significant historical sites. We look forward to seeing much more of this country one day.

We departed from Marmaris on June 21 along the Carian coast of Turkey, bound over seven days for tranquil Turkish coves and Greek Dodecanese isles. The gulet pulled away from the harbor at a moderate clip and traced the jagged coastline bearing west. These types of boats don't use their sails anymore, they are just for show. Steady diesel engines chug them along the whole way.

The mountains which isolate the inner mainland from the sea form a nearly impenetrable barricade. We ambled past them with a slow roll. The contrast of colors between the sky and Aegean Sea is unmistakably definitive. It is like holding up two paint chips on a wall, one of blindingly light blue, the other of deep undulating navy, and seeing for certain the contrast between your choices. When I gazed at the coast to the north, strips of grey and green separate the two blues like a demilitarized zone between competing factions. Every few kilometers, a small peninsula or island juts out from the mountainous wall, bare of vegetation. The fissured geometric rocks resemble dirty, grey ice cubes stacked upon each other, reflecting the sunshine but defying the melting forces. And to the south, the colors clash at the unending horizon at a line so straight, you could calibrate your carpenter's level to it.

We first stopped for a swim and lunch near Arap Island. Each day went similarly. An early start is made, then a stop for swimming and lunch at a tranquil cove, then an afternoon cruise to the next port or harbor for the night. The first night was spent in silent Bozukkale. The second just north up the coast in Bozburun, where we witnessed a breathtaking sunrise over the mountains. The third was spent in a quiet natural harbor east of Datça. Each of these legs of the trip were full of gorgeous scenery. Our activities for the day consisted of sunbathing, swimming, reading, and chatting with our fellow passengers.

The fourth day brought a morning stop at the small resort town of Datça. We had previously considered coming to Datça over land and staying a few nights. We are glad we didn't because this small town doesn't have enough to keep you occupied for more than a few hours. It is somewhat charming, but the beaches and sights are not enough to make it worth the several hour bus ride from Bodrum. In the late afternoon, we cut across he bay into open water toward Greece. A short time later, we arrived at the island of Symi.

After a swim break in a quiet harbor, we rounded the corner for Symi's main port, following in the wake of a giant German cruise ship. Symi harbor seems way too small to accommodate a cruise ship, but they somehow cycle through multiple ships in a day one at a time. We disembarked from the gulet right before the cruisers did. The small town was chaotic for the two hours during their "excursion" period. When they finally left, the town settled down and we took a quiet post-dinner stroll. The unique architectural style and array of pastel colors have made Symi famous. There are still winding alleys with traditional shops and cafes, but the waterfront is totally geared toward short term visitors. I can only imagine what this town was like 20 or more years ago, or at least before the mega ships came calling.

On our fifth day, we departed Symi bright and early for Rhodes. For such a large island (the largest in the Dodecanese), Rhodes has a rather small port. It can handle a cruise ship or two, along with a handful of gulets and private yachts. Again, we disembarked around the same time as a flood of cruising Germans. The super touristy old town center was swarming with cruisers. As the afternoon went on, it thinned out and allowed us to experience more of the town's charm. We visited some typical sites like the town castle and walked the old moats. Our favorite activity, however, was a stop at the Cellar of Knights. We spent over an hour chatting with the owner, Nektarios, and sampling traditional Greek wines. Rough weather that night forced us to move from the main port to another natural harbor on the other side of the island. Fierce wind made for a difficult night's sleep.

The final day, we cut back to Marmaris and slept terribly on the boat one last time before disembarking on the seventh morning. If the weather is calm, your best chance of getting good sleep is on top of the deck, where cushions cover the sunbathing area and allow stunning starry scenery at night.

Prior to visiting Turkey, we were totally unaware of the Blue Cruise phenomenon. This type of trip is incredibly popular with Germans, Dutch, and other Northern Europeans. In our group of 12, there were four Dutch and six Germans, all over the age of 50! It made for an interesting week. They made us feel old because we drank the least, went to bed the earliest, and spent the most time reading. The party moniker clearly belonged to them!

For the price (€450 per person for a week including all meals), this is the best way to see the coast of Turkey and visit some Greek islands. We booked our tour through Bodtur.com, and the staff were very responsive and helpful. There is an abundance of time to relax, and enough beautiful sights to make your eyes bulge and jaw drop permanently. It is fun to do alone or as a couple, but would be perfect for a large group to have a really memorable week.