Turkey
 

Has anyone used Cosmos tours or Overseas Adventure Travel to tour Turkey?
Thanks. Or, is it easy to "do" Turkey on your own. We just did Barcelona, France, and Prague (one trip) on our own and figured we saved lots of money.
Maureen W

I took the Cosmos tour of Turkey several years ago, and really enjoyed it. However, as with most coach tours, a lot of time is spent on the bus. I spent a few days prior to the start of the tour on my own and enjoyed that as well.

The merits of going with a tour or doing it yourself have been debated on this forum ad nauseum, so I won't even go there. However, if you were able to do Barcelona, France, and Prague on your own, you are savvy and experienced enough to do Turkey on your own as well.

I particularly enjoyed Istanbul, Ephesus, Cappadocia, and Izmir--frankly , I enjoyed all of the cities I visited! If I am ever fortunate enough to make it back, I would do the whole trip on my own--skip the tour group.

You might want to read my trip report. We went to Istanbul, and from we flew to Izmir, picked up a car and drove to Ephesus and then on to Cappadocia, from which we flew back to Istanbul. Click on my name to find the report.

If you are interested in tours please check out Gate 1. They give you a lot more for your money than Cosmos. I've been on both Cosmos and Gate 1 tours and I think Gate 1 is far better. I took the Gate 1 tour of Turkey and I highly recommend it.

Turkey isn't difficult to do on your own. Most everyone you'll come in contact with (hotels, restaurants, main sites) speaks English and the Turkish people are very friendly. We prefer to travel independently and we had a wonderful experience in Turkey. We did do organized tours in Cappadocia which we enjoyed, but that can be seen independently, too. Here's a link to my trip report of a little over a year ago which may help you.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-in-turkey.cfm

We also prefer to travel independently, but I think the tours are much cheaper, unless you choose a high-end company. They seem to offer many destinations in a very short time. But, as walkabout mentioned, one spends a lot of time on the bus.

Although, I have not used them, I know people who travel frequently with AOT and love their tours.

I did a trip report on Istanbul/Izmir and Ephesus--you can click on my name as well.
I liked having the transportation around Izmir and Ephesus arranged for me because I didn't want to drive on my own. Istanbul was very tourist-friendly, and most of the time I was on my own (traveling solo) but did go on two tours booked through local guide agencies.

Thingorjus also did a terrific Istanbul report or two-you can search on that name.

I found Turkey very easy to do on my own. It is a wonderful country - beautiful, with diverse scenery, and the people are incredibly friendly and will help you whenever possible.

I spent two weeks in Turkey in 2007 on a solo trip and had one of my best trips ever. You're welcome to read my blog if you want - it's at http://mardeeinturkey.wordpress.com