eSIM for Turkey

Türkiye's networks moved to full 5G in April 2026, and our eSIM connects to Vodafone with 5G support. Two local rules matter more than speed: phones used in Türkiye for more than 120 days must be registered, with a fee of over TL 45,000, and the authorities have blocked or throttled major apps at short notice.

The classic first-time triangle, linked by two domestic flights: two days in Istanbul's old city and on the Bosphorus, three in Cappadocia for fairy chimneys, rock churches and underground cities, then Ephesus and Selçuk on the Aegean side.

Length

7 days

Bases

3

When to go April to June and September to October are the most comfortable for walking around Istanbul, Cappadocia and Ephesus; July and August are hot and crowded at Ephesus, and Cappadocia's balloon flights are often cancelled for wind or cold in winter.

1. 01

   Day 1 Istanbul

   Istanbul: Sultanahmet

   → From Istanbul Airport (IST) take the M11 metro and connect to the tram, or a taxi, roughly 1 hour to Sultanahmet; from Sabiha Gökçen allow longer.

   Spend the day in Sultanahmet. Visit Hagia Sophia, the 6th-century Byzantine church that is now a mosque, using the visitor entrance to the upper galleries, then cross the square to the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) outside prayer times, dressing modestly. In the afternoon go down into the Basilica Cistern, the vast columned Byzantine reservoir, and walk the line of the old Hippodrome past the Egyptian obelisk.

   Signal Vodafone 4G is reliable across Sultanahmet, with 5G in parts of the city as the new network expands; signal drops in the Basilica Cistern.

2. 02

   Day 2 Istanbul

   Topkapı Palace, Grand Bazaar and a Bosphorus ferry

   → Public ferries from Eminönü to Kadıköy take about 20 to 25 minutes; pay with an İstanbulkart.

   Tour Topkapı Palace, seat of the Ottoman sultans, including the Harem and the treasury, and the terraces overlooking the Bosphorus. Walk to the Grand Bazaar and on through the streets to the Süleymaniye Mosque for views over the Golden Horn. Finish with a public ferry from Eminönü across to Kadıköy on the Asian side and back at sunset.

   Signal Good 4G across the old city; the covered Grand Bazaar can slow data. Coverage holds on the Bosphorus ferry.

3. 03

   Day 3 Göreme

   Fly to Cappadocia: Göreme

   → Domestic flight from Istanbul to Kayseri or Nevşehir Kapadokya airport, about 1 hour 20 minutes, then 45 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes by shuttle to Göreme.

   Take a morning flight to Cappadocia. In the afternoon visit the Göreme Open-Air Museum, a monastic complex of rock-cut churches with Byzantine frescoes, including the Dark Church if open. Walk up to the viewpoints above Göreme village for sunset over the fairy chimneys, the tall rock pinnacles carved by erosion from volcanic tuff.

   Signal Vodafone 4G is good in Göreme village and at the Open-Air Museum; weaker in the narrow valleys around the village.

4. 04

   Day 4 Göreme

   Balloon dawn, Rose Valley and Uçhisar

   If you have booked one, take a hot-air balloon flight at dawn over the valleys, weather permitting; even if you stay on the ground, the sky full of balloons is worth getting up for. Later hike through the Red and Rose valleys between Çavuşin and Göreme, passing cave churches cut into the cliffs. Finish at Uçhisar Castle, a rock outcrop riddled with old dwellings and the highest point in the area.

   Signal Coverage is patchy in the Red and Rose valleys, where you may lose signal for stretches; download an offline map of the trails before you set off.

5. 05

   Day 5 Göreme

   Derinkuyu and the Ihlara Valley

   → Göreme to Derinkuyu is about 40 minutes; Ihlara is about 1 hour further. Most people go with a tour or hire car.

   Drive south to Derinkuyu, one of the region's underground cities, where tunnels, ventilation shafts and rolling stone doors descend many levels below the surface. Continue to the Ihlara Valley, a deep river gorge, to walk part of the riverside path between Ihlara and Belisırma, past rock-cut churches with painted interiors. Return to Göreme in the evening.

   Signal No signal deep inside the underground city; patchy in the Ihlara gorge, with coverage better at the villages at each end.

6. 06

   Day 6 Selçuk

   Fly to Izmir and on to Selçuk

   → Flights from Kayseri or Nevşehir to Izmir, direct on some days or via Istanbul; then about 1 hour from Izmir airport to Selçuk by train or car.

   Fly to Izmir and travel south to Selçuk, the town beside Ephesus. In the late afternoon visit the ruins of the Basilica of St John on Ayasuluk Hill, with the fortress above, and look down at the single standing column that marks the site of the Temple of Artemis, once one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

   Signal Good 4G at Izmir airport and in Selçuk; the train route south has short weak patches.

7. 07

   Day 7 Selçuk

   Ephesus

   → Ephesus is about 3 km from Selçuk; the House of the Virgin Mary is about 7 km from the site. Izmir airport is about 1 hour away.

   Go early to Ephesus, entering at the upper gate and walking downhill along Curetes Street past the Temple of Hadrian to the Library of Celsus and the Great Theatre. Allow extra time for the Terrace Houses, whose mosaics and frescoes show how wealthy Roman families lived. In the afternoon visit the House of the Virgin Mary on the hillside above, then return to Izmir for your flight.

   Signal 4G is reliable across the Ephesus site, though data can slow when tour groups arrive. Coverage is fair at the House of the Virgin Mary.