I have traveled for business internationally as a solo woman. Although I was almost always with business groups and local hosts. I am tall, blonde, and visibly northern European.

I don’t think that you can generalize an entire city. There were some parts of Istanbul when I decided to tourist out on my own where I did not feel comfortable. But almost all the major thoroughfares and major areas that tourists would go were absolutely fine. I think you still have to keep your wits about you and be careful who you’re striking up a conversation with. Two guys pulled up in their car and invited me to go for a ride. Luckily, there was about 10 other people there, and in fact, an older woman started yelling at them. I didn’t know what the conversation was about but I think I am very grateful to her.😕

Izmir is even more liberal than Istanbul but it is not a lot closer to Capadoccia.

Antalya was great. Bonus points if you want to learn Russian.

I am working at the moment from Fethiye. It is a beautiful city with many cafes and coworking spaces to work from. Feel free to message me if you want some more information.

I haven’t been everywhere in Turkey, but have been around quite a bit, and I haven’t felt unsafe anywhere. I honestly doubt there is anywhere in the country that is truly unsafe (think bad neighborhoods in Latin America).

Conservative and unsafe aren’t the same thing. If anything there is a direct coorelation between a place being more conservative and it being safer. Saudi Arabia for example is extremely safe. Maybe you wouldn’t prefer living somewhere that is conservative (like to drink/party, really want to wear shorts, etc), but that is a different topic.

All of the towns/cities along the southern coast that I have been to have been great. I also really like the southeastern Kurdish region, but it is definitely more conservative.

Marmaris, it’s a beautiful beach town