Honeymoon Places in Turkey: 10 Spots Compared by Season and Style

The best honeymoon places in Turkey are Istanbul and Cappadocia for a first trip, Ölüdeniz, Fethiye and Kaş for a beach honeymoon between June and September, and Büyükada or Sapanca for a quiet night or two close to Istanbul. Most couples combine two or three of them in seven to ten days. With us, an Istanbul and Cappadocia honeymoon route with flights and a cave hotel starts from $2,023 per person for six days, and a 3-day Istanbul, Bodrum and Fethiye coast trip from $1,110 per person.

This page compares the places themselves: what each one feels like, which months suit it, how you get there from Istanbul and how many nights to give it. If you already know where you want to go and need a ready package, our Turkey honeymoon packages page lists them with prices.

Ten places compared at a glance

Road distances are measured from the nearest airport and do not include traffic. In the rest of this page we go through the places in the order couples usually combine them.

Istanbul: the city half of the trip

Almost every Turkey honeymoon starts or ends in Istanbul, because that is where the long-haul flights land. Three nights are enough for the old city and the Bosphorus; four let you add a slow day in Karaköy, Kadıköy or Balat.

What makes Istanbul work for a honeymoon is the water. A private 2-hour Bosphorus yacht cruise costs from $600 per group, so the price is for the two of you, not each. Sunset is the time to book it. If you plan to propose or renew vows on board, our page on a Bosphorus yacht proposal covers the details.

Where you sleep changes the trip. Sultanahmet puts you next to the monuments, while a hotel on the water gives you the view from your room; our guide to Bosphorus view hotels compares the areas. For an Istanbul-only plan, see the Istanbul honeymoon package page.

Cappadocia: cave rooms and early mornings

Cappadocia is the place most couples have already seen in photos before they book: balloons over the valleys at sunrise and rooms cut into soft rock. It is about 1 hour 20 minutes by air from Istanbul, and two or three nights is the right length.

Three things to know before you go:

1. The balloon is never certain. Flights need permission from the civil aviation authority each morning. With two or three nights you get two or three chances. Our standard sunrise balloon flight starts from $199 per person.
2. Choose the hotel first. A cave suite with a terrace is half the point of a Cappadocia honeymoon, and the best ones sell out in spring and autumn. See our guide to Cappadocia cave hotels.
3. Plan for the photo. Couples who want the flowing-dress balloon pictures can book a sunrise balloon photo shoot, from $399 per person. It runs from the ground, so it still works on mornings when you are not flying.

Winter is cold, often with snow, which some couples like for the contrast with the cave rooms. Summer days are hot and dry, but evenings cool down quickly.

Ölüdeniz and Fethiye: the beach honeymoon

For a honeymoon with sea and sand, the stretch of coast around Fethiye is our first suggestion. You fly to Dalaman, and Ölüdeniz is about 70 km away by road, a little over an hour.

• Ölüdeniz has the sheltered lagoon and the long beach that appear on so many postcards of Türkiye. It is busy in July and August, so stay a little above the beach or go early.
• Fethiye is a working town with a harbour full of wooden gulets. A day on a boat around the bays is the classic plan here, and a longer blue cruise is possible if you have the time; see our blue cruise tours.
• Paragliding from Babadağ mountain lands on the Ölüdeniz beach. Our tandem paragliding day trip starts from $399 per person, with transfers from Antalya.

The swimming season runs from about June to September, with May and October possible on warm years. Our Fethiye destination guide has more on the area.

Kaş and Kekova: the quiet end of the coast

Kaş is a small harbour town of white houses and narrow streets, with no long sandy beach but clear water from rocky platforms and small coves. It suits couples who would rather eat by the harbour every evening than go to a beach club. The drive is the price you pay: about 2.5 hours from Dalaman airport or 3 to 3.5 hours from Antalya.

The day trip from Kaş is the Kekova bay, where the walls of a Lycian town lie under the water near the shore and the village of Kaleköy sits below a hilltop castle. Most visitors see it by boat. From Antalya, our private Demre, Myra and Kekova tour starts from $140 per person and adds the rock tombs of Myra and the Church of St Nicholas.

Bodrum and the Aegean side

Bodrum is the most social of the coastal options: marinas, beach clubs and late dinners, with the castle of St Peter in the middle of town. The airport is about 40 km from the centre. Couples who want a livelier few days often pair Bodrum with the quieter Fethiye coast, which is what our Turkey coast tour from Istanbul does over six days, from $1,935 per person.

Further north, the Aegean has two places that fit into one or two nights:

• Şirince is a hillside village of old stone houses and fruit wines, about 8 km above Selçuk. Stay a night in a village inn and visit Ephesus in the morning before the tour groups arrive.
• Pamukkale is a white limestone cascade with warm water pools and the ruins of Hierapolis on top. One night is enough. Sunset on the terraces is quieter than midday.

Our Ephesus and Pamukkale 2-day tour from Istanbul with flights starts from $675 per person and covers both.

Close to Istanbul: Büyükada, Sapanca and the Black Sea

Not every honeymoon needs another flight. Three options sit within reach of Istanbul:

• Büyükada is the largest of the Princes' Islands, where cars are banned and people get around by bicycle, electric vehicle or on foot past wooden summer mansions. An overnight stay is much calmer than a day trip, once the day visitors leave. Our Büyükada romantic getaway is a private overnight trip for couples from $440 per person.
• Sapanca is a lake about 136 km by road from the old city, roughly 1.5 to 2 hours by car. Couples rent wooden bungalows with a fireplace or hot tub in the forest at Maşukiye. A day trip is easy; see our page on the Sapanca day trip from Istanbul.
• Uzungöl and the Black Sea highlands are a different Türkiye: tea gardens, green slopes and wooden houses. You fly to Trabzon, and the lake is about 90 km away. It is a summer place: June to September is the season, and in winter the high plateaus are under snow. Our private 2-day Trabzon tour from Istanbul starts from $785 per person.

Pairing places in 7, 10 or 14 days

The common mistake is to try to see everything. Each move costs half a day, so we suggest no more than one change of base every two or three nights.

• 7 days: Istanbul 3 nights and Cappadocia 3 nights, with a final night back in Istanbul. Add Büyükada instead of the last Istanbul night if you want a quiet end.
• 10 days: Istanbul 3, Cappadocia 2, then the coast for 4, flying from Kayseri to Istanbul and on to Dalaman. In winter, swap the coast for Pamukkale and Ephesus.
• 14 days: Istanbul 3, Cappadocia 3, a gulet or Fethiye for 4, and Kaş or Bodrum for 3. This is the length where a honeymoon starts to feel unhurried.

The best time to visit Turkey guide gives the month-by-month weather if your dates are fixed. Couples from specific countries can also read our honeymoon guide for Gulf couples and the honeymoon package from India page, which cover visas and food.

Tours that cover this

• Istanbul and Cappadocia tour package, 6 days with flights and cave hotel: from $2,023 per person.
• 9-day Turkey tour with Cappadocia and a Fethiye gulet cruise: from $3,145 per person.
• Istanbul, Bodrum and Fethiye tour, 3 days: from $1,110 per person.
• Büyükada romantic getaway, private overnight trip for couples: from $440 per person.

Every route can be changed: a private tour with us comes with a licensed guide, a private car with driver and hotel pickups, and we plan the order of places around your dates. Start with a tailor-made Turkey tour request.

Frequently Asked Questions