Advise - A trip to Istanbul

[Jacqui Harvey]

Thinking of going to Istanbul for a few days on our next holiday to Calis this year.   Can anyone advise if we should book flights in Fethiye? if so where? or would it be better to book in the U.K. before we go?  Any idea of the price of flights?
Thanks
Jacqui.

[wickwilly]

Unfortunately, there are not many flights a day from Dalaman to Istanbul so I would not leave it until you arrive here as they might be full.Depending on time of year of course. The flight prices vary from 60 Lira to 175 Lira for a single depending on the time of day you want to fly.The train to Istanbul from Denizli is worth considering.
WW

[philrose]

Not sure what constitutes as not many, but Turkish Airlines currently run 2 flights a day from Dalaman to Istanbul, one around 9am and the other around 9pm. Since Turkish Airlines tend to be cheaper the nearer you book to your travel day, around £70 if you book a couple of days before for example, I would leave it until you got here.
Hows that for a total contradiction of advise?

[wickwilly]

I would consider 2 as not many compared to the 12 or so a day from Antalya to Istanbul.I can only give my experience in that a couple of days last summer I tried to get a flight to Istanbul at a few days notice and found that they were all full.They were not public holidays either. But maybe that was just my luck.
WW

[Chinook]

Last June we came back through Istanbul from Manchester and stayed a there for a few days before coming on to Dalaman . The last leg was "thrown in" by Turkish Airlines. I only managed this by using the bespoke holiday section of Anatolian Sky with whom I booked the hotel in Istanbul as I couldn't find anyone in the UK who could give cheap flights between Istanbul and  Dalaman; indeed the Turkish Airlines office in Manchester told me to wait until I was in Turkey as they could not discount internal fares in the UK

[Jacqui Harvey]

Thanks for the advise, will start to look now.
Jacqui.

[julesbob0303]

WW - where is Denizli?  We'd love to travel by train to Istanbul and spend a few days there, but how do we get from Calis to Denizli, and how far away is it?  Thanks for any advice.  

[tribalelder]

Have a look at the website for the Fethiye Times and search for Traveling in Turkey-Train to Istanbul it will give you all the info you need.  You may need to create an account with Fethiye Times to access the page from the archives but it is very simple.

[KKOB]

Denizli is about 80 miles / 130 kms north of Fethiye. It'll take you about 2 and a half hours to get there by bus.

[joan]

There are two flights a day from Dalaman to Istanbul (Turkish Airlines)one in the morning at around 9.30am and the other in the evening around 6.30pm but not sure of the exact time.Its best to book in advance to get the cheap seats as they get booked up,they then have more exspensive seats.You can book at any of the travel agents in Fethiye or on the Turkish Airline web page yourself. Can anyone reccommend a hotel to stay at in Istanbul thats not to exspensive.Also which would be the best side to stay the Asian side or European side.