Gallipoli question ?

[slayer]

Hi all I'm planning on travelling over to Gallipoli in sept. can anyone give me some advice if it's better to stay in Ecebat or Cannakale which has better access to the battlefields ?

When you travel down via bus from Istanbul do you travel to Ecebat first or Cannakale ?

Thanks all, any recommendations on where to stay also either a hostel or a cheap hotel ?

Any other helpful hints are the battlefields easily walkable as I wont have a car, and are they easy to follow from one site to another well signposted for the first timer there ?


Thanks.

[peleliuexplorer]

Hi all I'm planning on travelling over to Gallipoli in sept. can anyone give me some advice if it's better to stay in Ecebat or Cannakale which has better access to the battlefields ?

When you travel down via bus from Istanbul do you travel to Ecebat first or Cannakale ?

Thanks all, any recommendations on where to stay also either a hostel or a cheap hotel ?

Any other helpful hints are the battlefields easily walkable as I wont have a car, and are they easy to follow from one site to another well signposted for the first timer there ?


Thanks.

How exciting! Please post your trip report/pics when you get back. Sorry I can't help but I have seen travel books on Gallipoli so you may want to google it.

Have a good trip, Eric

[Gary Jucha]

By

By all accounts, the Turkish have realised what a "tourist" attraction the battlefield sites have become, and in recent years there has been a mass of memorials/dedications spring up.

Best bet would be to read up on the battle and follow your "nose" .... take a good book with plenty of period images and try tracing them to the modern day.

Gary J.

[NZMark]

Hi 'Slayer',
Stay on the west side of the straight - you just travel down from Istanbul and find a pension to crash in (HAGGLE for a price and avoid the backpackers - SERIOUSLY!)
Cannakale (pronounced Chanakalay) is a good sized place - with full amenaties, but you'd have to take the ferry back to tour the fields. And the next question is - are you going on an organized tour, or winging it?
You'll love Istanbul - CULTURE SHOCK! And get used to the Turkish money before you get ripped off by the taxi driver's...
Mark.

[slayer]

Thanks guys for the input.

Mark, so the west side is this the Ecebat side, do you travel down from Istanbul directly to there ?

And yes I can imagine all the backpackers, I've found a hotel that looks ok called the hotel crowded house it seems reasonable enough.

I might take in a tour for the first day there to get my bearings then do some hiking by myself to get a better look at the place.

If anyone has any more info or hints on Gallipoli or Istanbul I'd love to hear them.

Cheers.

[NZMark]

Hi Slayer,
Visit the Museum in Istanbul - a MUST.
Mark.

[TerryG]

Hi Slayer,
Visit the Museum in Istanbul - a MUST.
Mark.

I agree. It is easy to find. Start on Taksim Square (where you will also see a nice monument to Attaturk and various battles) and with your back to the Marmara hotel keep going "straight" down the main road that you see in front of you until you get to the Museum. You cannot miss it. (there is a strip club somewehere on the right....Crazy Horse I think.....halfway down that road)

There is also a Naval museum by the side of the Bosphorous, again, not too far from Taksim.

Also go to the Grand Bazaar (a short taxi ride from Taksim).

Plenty of touristic things to see which have nothing to do with the war which you will find in all guide books. Walk around, sample the atmosphere, enjoy the food. From Taksim, if facing the Marmara hotel, turn right and head down a pedestrian-only street (follow the tram lines). After a while (and if you reach the back of the British consulate you have gone too far), there is a "passaj" to the right, a small covered passage leading to a small indoor market. This is full of restaurants. Once you have been attacked by all the waiters, head for the one full of locals and sample the food.

There are a few islands in the Sea of Marmara which can be reached by ferry. A number of them do not allow cars and only use carts pulled by donkeys...plenty of nice fish restaurants on the seafront there.

Have fun and watch out for the girls!