Gate 1 Turkey Package
 

Hi,

My husband and I are considering taking the Gate 1 Turkey package for 14 days in May. Has anyone taken this tour with them? Any advice, comments, recommendations?

Thanks!

Can't comment re Gate 1, as used Isram Travel (or Tours) out of NYC (on 3rd Ave) for our Turkey visit, which was outstanding considering this had been the only group tour (we had 22/people) I've done... prefer private. They do offer options for hotels from moderate to deluxe.

Gate 1 is very reputable, but suggest you compare the two.

We took a Gate 1 italy package in 2006 and had a wonderful time. We are now scheduled to take the Gate 1 14 day Turkey trip on March 20. From all my research this seems to be one of the best offered. Can't give you more info till we get back. So looking forward to it.

Thanks for your replies. Overall the Gate 1 tour seems to have the same itinerary as other companies. But I was wondering about the actual service, the tour guides, are the organized, on time? I assume so since they are reputable? But any specific stories or advice will be appreciated...thanks!

We went to Turkey with Gate1 in November, 2007. We usually travel on our own, but the deal was unbeatable so we decided to try it. It was really great. We had about 35 people on our bus and the guide was very good. He kept things on schedule, but was just flexible enough I thought so that we didn't feel like we were being herded around. Accommodations were much better than we usually feel we can afford -- 4 and 5 star hotels. Meals that were included were very good -- if anything, too much food to try! I think you will be very pleased.

thank you for the reply.

Did Gate1 to Italy for 10 days and it was great. Good value--would do them again!!

I know you didn't ask for another tour company suggestion, but I took (for the second time) a tour with Pacha Tours. My first tour was 11 yrs ago and my second one was last year.

Hands down, the tour guide was the best I've ever experienced. The first guide was also excellent and now runs her own tour company.

I generally like independent travel but within countries where I don't speak the language a tour is preferable.

Check out Pacha Tour; very good prices. E-mail me if you'd like my trip report (first trip) or personal comments. [email protected]

I am going to Turkey with Gate 1 departing in 2 days. I'll let you know how it goes when I get back.

Nancy - thanks for the reply - I will definitely look into Pacha Yours - perhaps for a future trip. We booked with Gate 1 so we are set for now. Thanks again!

Diane - Looking forward to hearing about your experiences when you return.

I would advise going with Insight Vacations to Turkey. They are a very reliable and established company and they use excellent hotels and have very knowledgable guides. I took their " Treasures of Turkey" in October, 2006 and had one of my best trips ever. If you have any questions about the trip, I will be happy to answer them.

Took a Gate 1 Eastern European trip this past October and can recommend them.

It was a large group (Danube cruise from Budapest to Prague) but they had 4 tour directors on board. We were broken into groups of about 40 for the sightseeing expiditions and the leader was very firm about people being on time for departures.

Had a wonderful time and would use them again. (p.s. they include beer and wine in their dinners and it flowed freely if anyone is interested in this tidbit)

Lynnie

I just got back from my Gate 1 tour through Turkey. I loved it! Both the tour and the country. It is taking me a while to get my trip report together, but it was great.

Our tour was large, but VERY well run. They have several experienced guides who handle the tours all of which were more than just tour directors, they were the guides as well. They took a great deal of pride in sharing their country with all of us.

There was only one hotel I flat out didn't like, but it was more because it didn't have a desk so I had no place to write in my journal than anything else.

The food was good, especially for buffets it was really good (I've had worse buffets in Las Vegas). If you have specific questions let me know. I'll start posting my trip report next week.

Diane, thanks for checking back. I will be watching for your trip report.

Diane, I think we saw your tour group in Selcuk when we were in Turkey last week travelling independently. Were you using 3-4 large coach buses each identified with A,B,C and D?

Hi Jersey.

We had buses A, B, and C. The only time we were all together in Selcuk was at lunch on 2/18.

When I found out the tour was full I was worried about being croweded, but being there in February, most of the time I felt like I had the sites to myself.

Diane,

Do you recommend any of the Gate 1 Optional Tours on the Turkey trip?

Nik

I'm not Diane, but I would recommend taking most of the optionals. We didn't take the ones in Istanbul because we could get around on our own there. There might have been one other one we didn't take -- I think it was the one in Konya. But for the most part they are all valuable and very hard to get to on your own (it seemed). Especially in the time allotted for them by the tour.

opti1, Kristinelaine, Diane60030,

Since you all have taken the Gate 1 tour to Turkey I am directed this question to you – but ofcourse if anyone else can help, then please do. I also have a question about the optional tours – we are leaving in May and so they want us to finalize the optional tours by this Friday.

I agree with you Kristinelaine in that it seemed that the Istanbul tours which included the palace, mosques and the Bosphorus cruise were all do-able on your own so I was leaning against them. Here are all the tours – would you be able to help pick which we should most definitely sign up for. Thanks in advance!

We are actually doing the 14 Day Turkish Treasures package and so Konya isn't included in this one. These are the ones we are considering:

$57 – Full Day Ephesus and House of Virgin Mary
$45 – Half Day Perge, Aspendos and Antalya and Archaeological Museum
$42 – Dinner and Whirling Dervishes (IS this really worth seeing)
$42 – Full day Cappadocia

Me, again. I took a tour with Pacha but thought I'd chime in on the optional tours with Gate 1.

I looked up your tour and what was included and not included. Since you will have some time your first day in Istanbul, and if you can stay awake, you could get to the Grand Bazaar via taxi and not pay for a tour - it would only hurry you thru. Also, you can get to the Bosphorus and boat on your own.

All the other optional tours are must see places. The tour is so rushed that if you don't take these optionals (as you listed them) you would miss so many highlights of Turkey. No matter where you go there's history and all is amazing.

Re the dinner and Whirling Dervishes: Excellent! I saw the Whirling Dervishes in Cappadocia and wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Nancy - thanks for replying. Yes I totally agree with you about the tours for Istanbul. They included places and activities that seemed do-able on our own since Istanbul seems to be a city that is easy to navigate through.

The 4 that I mentioned in my post were the ones that really interested me and I know those are the main "MUST DOs" for Turkey. But our concern was the cost - it seemed high. I guess I am comparing it to other places we have visited in Europe and never paid tour prices like that. Its usually museums, free site-seeing since it is mostly architechture. These tours I mentioned are coming out to $400 total (for 2 of us) which seemed high to me.

So I was hoping to be able to book them with local tour operators and see if it really was a savings at the end of the day - or if it was more of a headache to research out reputable operators. In that case, we will just go with Gate1.

luvtravelin -- Our tour didn't include your second listed tour (Half-day Perge, Aspendos, etc.) but the other three we did do and I wouldn't have missed them. If you do the dinner, be careful to not eat too much at the beginning -- it is a ton of food before you're finished! Hope you have a good trip.

luvtravelin: I know I have read of driver/guides here on Fodor's who people have used in Cappadocia so check that out. But, I think it would be a pain to arrange your own for such an overall hurried trip. I know my sister finally just paid for the optionals on a recent trip to Europe after checking costs of doing it herself. All very expensive like yours. But, at least taking them leaves you free to enjoy and not worry about pickups and whether you'll get a good tour.

I meant to mention in my earlier post that you need to be careful when using a taxi in Istanbul. Be sure to ask the driver how much the cost is to go from here to there. When leaving from the hotel, the hotel desk will give you the cost. I say this because I got very ripped off by not asking for a price which should have been approx. $10 (last year's price) and wound up costing triple or more. Plus he didn't take us to the exact location (too much traffic to get there, he said). What is one to do? Argue with someone who hardly speaks English?? I know we were stupid but.....Having said this I'm sure most taxi drivers are honest but......

Hi all,

I was so pleased with my Gate 1 tour of Israel I would definitely travel with them again. I am considering Turkey for later this year and after reading this thread I am looking at Gate 1 Turkey tours. The tours are indeed quite reasonable, except the transfers to/from the airport are terribly expensive!! Great advice about asking the fare before getting into a taxi, but what about safety? I hate taxis, but I hate the cost of Gate 1's transfers even more.

Kristinelaine - yes the 1/2 day perge tour was actually our least favorite. 1 - because it is only 1/2 day and costs just as much as the full day tours. 2 - haven't heard too much on this board about seeing perge. So we decided to leave that one out and see if we are in the mood to see it - we can always get their by public transportation and it would be cheaper than the $50 it would cost for the 2 of us.

Nancy - yes that is 1 good thing about sticking with the optionals with the tour company since we would stay around our group of people that we are familiar with - and as you mentioned no issues with pick up, etc. And in this case it seems that local turkish operators are charging just as much - so I dont think Gate1 is marking up the costs.

P_M - fortunately our tour says that all transfers are included so maybe your tour was different. There are also a lot of tours included as part of the package - while some are extra. We had taken Smartours to Thailand and found that they provided a lot more included tours as part of the package than Gate1. But then their base prices are more - so I think it all balances out at the end.

luvtravlin, transfers are only included if you purchase the airfare as part of the package. I never do that because I can always find cheaper air on my own, or I'll use frequent flyer miles.

Sorry for the delay in replying, work has been keeping me busy.

As someone else said the Perge trip wasn't on our trip, but if it had ben I would have gone. I am a museum person so that would have been worth it for me.

Ephesus and House of Virgin Mary and Cappadocia are totally worth it.

Dinner and Whirling Dervishes is some what subjective. You'll spend at least $20 on dinner if you eat out any way. If you have any interest in Sufism, Melvina, or enjoy spiritual experiences it was very, very interesting. If those types of experience bore you then skip it and just enjoy dinner on your own.

I'll put my 2cents in on Istanbul. I did do a pair of the tours in Istanbul and was pleased that I did. Our guide is fantastic so hearing his description, background and insight was TOTALLY worth the excurtion price. It also covered the entrance tickets and transportation. If I remember correctly Topkapi, Agia Sophia and the Underground Cistern are 10 YTL each. Depending on where you hotel is you can walk from that area back to the hotel, and in fact you will walk by the Grand Bazar.

The difference with the Bosphourus Cruise is that you have the whole boat to the group and you don't make stops which the other boats do. It is a matter of where you want to spend your time.

I think the price of the excursions are actually fair. Especially when you consider the ticket costs to the places and the transportation.