Tourists visiting Turkey have a huge variety of holidays to choose from. A city break in Istanbul offers a buzzy urban vibe amid domes and minarets; the sunny Mediterranean coast offers beach holidays from all-singing, all-dancing family resorts to peaceful boutique retreats. Then there are Roman and Greek ruins, misty mountains, the caves of Cappadocia, the steppes of Central Anatolia … To help you find your perfect Turkish escape, we've brought together a panel of experts who between them know most corners of the country. Post your questions in the comments below and the panel will do their best to answer as many as possible. We'd also love you to share your own tips, so feel free to join in the chat. The experts will be online from 1-2pm GMT on Tuesday 19 March
The experts
Jeremy Seal is a travel writer with a passion for Turkey's culture, archaeology, history and great outdoors. He writes widely on the country and is the author of travelogues including A Fez of the Heart (Picador) and Meander (Chatto & Windus), published last year and telling of his canoe down Turkey's Büyük Menderes river. Read more about Jeremy at jeremyseal.com.
An archaeologist and filmmaker, Peter Sommer walked 2,000 miles across Turkey in 1994, retracing the route taken by Alexander the Great. He has taught at Istanbul's Bogaziçi University, written about Turkey for publications including National Geographic and spends about a quarter of each year in Turkey, leading archaeological tours and gulet cruises for his company, Peter Sommer Travels. He knows the south-west coast and its archaeological sites especially well. He writes regularly on petersommer.com/blog.
Sevil Delin is a half-Turkish, half-American freelance travel writer based in Istanbul and Bodrum since 2000. She contributes to the Guardian, Condé Nast Traveller, Monocle and Wallpaper*. She has an extensive knowledge of Istanbul hotels and restaurants, and ways to keep small children busy in the city. She is also writing an insider's guide to Bodrum, and can share tips on where to stay, swim, eat and drink.
Kevin Gould is a writer and photographer who contributes regularly to the Guardian and various food magazines. He first visited Turkey 30 years ago, making an icy journey to Konya. Ever since then, he has visited three or four times a year, researching the village roots of Turkey's foods and wines, and learning more of its cultural, historical and emotional history.
Tuba Satana is freelance writer and photographer focusing on food in Istanbul and Turkey generally. She encourages and endorses real food from local food heroes. She has travelled extensively across the country to explore its cuisine and shares her enthusiasm with fellow food lovers from around the world through her website istanbulfood.com, and her Istanbul food tours (tubasatana.com).
Ali Keskin was born in Sivas in central Turkey. He worked as a tour guide in Turkey for almost eight years before moving to the UK, where he worked for 10 years for the now-closed London-based newspaper Toplum Postasi. In 2009 he founded ecoturkey.com, an independent tour operator specialising in sustainable holidays from farmstays to city breaks.
Yigal Schleifer is the co-founder of IstanbulEats.com, a guide to Istanbul's authentic dining scene. He is also the co-founder and editor of CulinaryBackstreets.com, which offers guided culinary walks in Istanbul and other cities. A journalist who he been covering Turkey since 2002, Schleifer is former Istanbul correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor and has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Foreign Policy and various other publications.
Sebahat G Tezcan was born and grew up in Istanbul. She is a contributor to Spotted by Locals, a blog network that collects city tips from locals. She is particularly interested in good eating and shopping, as well as places with a history and/or story. See her tweets on twitter.com/34SEB.
Kathryn Tomasetti is a freelance writer and photographer who spends much of the year based in Istanbul and along Turkey's Aegean Coast. She regularly explores beyond the city and coast, often by sleeper train. She is the co-author of National Geographic Traveler: Istanbul & Western Turkey, as well as other guidebooks about Turkey including Rough Guides, Hedonist Guides and Time Out.
