Turkish History Timeline – It’s been inhabited since 23,000 BC
Airlines
- Which Budget.com – Good good search engine for great prices
- Yapta – tracks the costs before you fly and they send you an email when the price is lower. If the cost drops after you buy the ticket, they issue you a refund
- BravoFly is good search engine for great prices; mostly on inter-European travel
- Turkish airlines offers really comfortable, affordable and reliable service
- Easy Jet is a low cost airline in Europe; comfortable and very inexpensive if you buy in advance
- Cheapo Air offers the same flight on the major carriers but for less money
- Star Alliance offers a really good and relatively inexpensive around the world fare. It’s a secret they don’ like to advertise.
- AVOID RYAN AIR – The price seems low at first but after you pay all the additional costs (including costs to check in) the price is more expensive than other airlines. Bad service, bad customer support. The worst airline we have ever experienced.
- AirOne – has taken over all Alitalia flights. This is a very good low cost airline
- Iberia Air – good flights to and from Spain
- Vueling – good low cost airline to and from Spain
- Aegean Air – good flights in Greece; also a Star Alliance partner
- Germanwings – Very affordable airline to all European countries
- Seat Guru – type in your airline and flight number and they will tell you the flight configuration. Great site for choosing your seats
Car Rental
- Tiger Car Rental offers very good car rental rates in Europe using major carriers like get a new car Budget and Avis. Pay in advance.
- AutoEurope – They are easy to work with and they offer a best price guarantee. If you book early you’ll get a better price.
- Argus Car hire – auto rentals will give ou good prices on car rental in most places around the world.
Trains
- Rail Europe – offers rates and reservations throughout Europe
- The Rail Dude – This is a small German company that does a great job in train travel throughout Europe
- The Man in seat 61 – Mark Smith has traveled around the world by train and boat and keeps a really good and informative blog. If you’re into train travel, you’ve got to look at this site.
Apartment Rentals
- VRBO is the motherlode of apartment rentals all over the world
- Home Away is another good site (the parent company to VRBO)
- AirBnb – rooms and apartments worldwide
Hotels
- HRS – Hotel Reservation Service is a great site for discounts on all classes of hotels and resorts
- Four Seasons Hotel -$$$-$$$$. This is the standard of a fine Hotel chain
- Tablet Hotels – $$$ A very good collection of interesting hotels in many destinations
- Luxique.com – $$-$$$$ has a good selection of small beautiful hotels all over the world
- Chic Retreats – really great selection of small upscale boutique hotels
- Relais & Chateaux – $$-$$$$ Usually good for hotels and restaurants but they occasionally miss the mark
- Design Hotels – $$$-$$$$ Progressive and state of the art design hotels throughout the world
- Great Small Hotels – $$-$$$ Boutique hotels around the world
- Eurobookings – $-$$$ This Dutch run hotel booking agency offers very good prices at good hotels
- Small Luxury Hotels – $$-$$$ Usually they have good choices but we’ve had some clunkers here as well
- WorldBy.com – $-$$$ Mostly European hotels in Italy, France, England, Ireland, Spain, Amsterdam and more
- Epoque Hotels – $$-$$$ Good small luxury hotel group
- JDB – $$$ Fine hotels and resorts
- JP Moser – $$$ Deluxe hotel group
Trip Insurance
- Squaremouth.com has over 100 companies to choose from
- Travel Insured. We like this one. They’ve been very easy to work with
- WorldNomads.com Travel Insurance – a great organization and very reasonable rates
Touring Information
- State Department International Travel – US State Department information
- ALL US CITIZENS ARE REQUIRED TO PURCHASE A SHORT VISIT VISA TO ENTER TURKEY – You can either do this prior to your visit or the visa is easily obtainable at the airport
- Electronic E-Visa -you can now purchase your Visa through the internet. This is much easier than waiting in line at the airport after arrival to Turkey
- All about Turkey – Burak Sansal is Turkey’s version of Greece’s Matt Barrett. Although we’ve never used Burak, we love his website. Lots of good information and tips. Highly recommended
- The Turkey Travel Planner – Tom Brosnahan is a well respected travel writer who maintains this wonderful site for all things Turkish. Highly recommended
- What’s on When. Festivals and celebrations are listed close to year out
- A View on Cities. An overview of city cultural events
- Time Out. The online version of Time Out magazine
Restaurants and Food
- Zagat.com Yes, Zagat has an international restaurant guide
- The Wine Enthusiast – Wine buying guide
- Gayot.com – international restaurants
- Michelin Starred Restaurants
- Chowhound – Advice from foodies all over the world
- Food of Every Country – explanations of traditional dishes, food customs and recipes
Mobile Hot Spot Internet Rentals
- Cellhire International – phones, phone cards, sim rentals and mobile hotspot rentals
- TEP Wireless rental – rates for one country or multiple countries for very good rates
- Cellular Abroad – good rates for MiFi rentals for good rates per country. It’s been a bit difficult to have them configure the mobile hotspot for multiple countries
- XCOM Global – mobile hotspots for around $15/day