Turkey

Turkey straddles continents and trip styles. Istanbul deserves a week on its own — bazaars, mosques, Bosphorus, food. Add Cappadocia for hot air balloons and rock-cut churches, the Aegean coast for ancient cities and beach time, or Eastern Turkey for genuinely off-track travel.

Give Istanbul the time it demands: Sultanahmet for the imperial mosques, then across the water to Karaköy and Kadıköy, where the city actually eats. Fly to Cappadocia — dawn balloons, valley hikes between rock-cut churches — then drop to the coast for Ephesus, gulet boats, and stretches of the Lycian Way. Lokanta lunches and intercity buses cost little; the balloon rides, cave hotels, and boat charters are where the budget goes.

The friction is real: queues at Hagia Sophia and Topkapi run long in summer, the Grand Bazaar hustle wears thin, and Pamukkale's terraces are more crowded and drier than the photos admit. Distances are continental — drive between regions and you lose whole days, so fly. If constant low-grade negotiation exhausts you, brace yourself or stick to the coast. Few countries return this much history and food per dollar, which settles the argument.