Turkey experts - please take a look at this tour itineraries and let me know your opinion
 

This is the third year I am trying to plan a trip to Turkey. Last two years, we have changed our vacation destination at the last moment for one or another reason. I hope we actually go this year(planning to spend there 2 full weeks). I looked at different travel options. We like travel independently, but my husband does not want to do in in Turkey. I was considering a private tour, and some small group tour with Cappadoccia travel, but it is more expensive that I can afford. I also looked at multiple group tours, and they all have the same itineraries, that all look to rushed (and too much driving to me). I found one tour I liked a lot, because it combines the sightseeing with some relaxation and time on the coast. I would love if some of the Turkey experts could take a look, and let me know what they think about the itineraries and the hotels. I could not find anyone who took this tour, so it is hard to know. The tour is Authentic Adventure- Historical and small special class Hotels with www.keytours.com or www.neontours.com (please see below)
Thank you in advance for all your help!

Authentic Adventure
15 Days
Departs Saturdays - 15 days/13 nights escorted tour. Includes land transportation by deluxe minivan (small groups), special historic class hotels, breakfast daily, 9 dinners, tour director thoughout the tour, and sightseeing as per itinerary.


Daily Itinerary




Day 1: USA-Istanbul
Enjoy a relaxing overnight flight to Istanbul.


Day 2: Istanbul-Arrival
Upon arrival you will be transferred to your hotel in the old part of Istanbul. Enjoy a welcome briefing.
Special Histor.. : Yusuf Pasa Konagi



Day 3: Istanbul
Full-day tour of Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, and Camlica Hill on the Asian side. (B,L)
Special Histor.. : Yusuf Pasa Konagi



Day 4: Istanbul
Morning walk through the Egyptian (spice) Bazaar to embark on a ferry for a guided half-day Bosphorus cruise. Afternoon tour of St. Sophia Basilica with free time to explore the covered Bazaar.(B)
Special Histor.. : Yusuf Pasa Konagi



Day 5: Gallipoli & Troy-Assos
Morning departure for Gallipoli. Visit Anzac Cove and Lone Pine Cemetery, before crossing the Dardanelles to Canakkale. After visiting Troy, continue to Assos for overnight. (B,D)
Special Histor.. : Nazlihan Hotel



Day 6: Selchuk via Pergamum
Morning drive through the olive forests and stop at an olive museum. The last stop of the day will be the Pergamum acropolis. Overnight in Selcuk. (B,D)
Special Histor.. : Kalehan Hotel



Day 7: Ephesus
Morning tour of the ruins at Ephesus, explore 2,000-year-old marble streets, a theater, the library of Celsius, a gymnasium, and Hadrian's Temple. Take a short drive to see Virgin Mary's stone cottage. Visit the traditional village of Sirince. (B,D)
Special Histor.. : Kalehan Hotel



Day 8: Aphrodisias-Hierapolis
Morning drive to the ruins of Aphrodisias, city of Aphrodite, later tour the Roman health spa ruins of Hierapolis. Overnight in Pamukkale. (B,D)
Special Histor.. : Lycus River



Day 9: Caunos-Dalyan-Gocek
In the morning we drive to Dalyan and take a fishing boat through a maze of reeds to Caunos. Stay overnight in Gocek. (B,D)
Special Histor.. : Forest Gate



Day 10: Patara-Saklikent-Kalkan
Morning drive to Patara with the Roman ruins. Afternoon visit to the Saklikent Canyon. Drive along the unique Mediterranean coastline to Kalkan for an overnight. (B,D)
Special Histor.. : Happy Hotel Kalkan



Day 11: Kekova Islands-Kalkan
Day at leisure or join an optional day cruise to the picturesque Kekova Islands with its underwater ruins and also a hill top fortress at a quaint village. (B,D)
Special Histor.. : Happy Hotel Kalkan



Day 12: Myra-Finike-Antalya
Morning drive to Myra to visit the home church of St. Nicholas (the authentic and original Santa Claus). Short stop in Finike before arriving to Antalya.(B,D)
Special Histor.. : Aspen



Day 13: Konya-Cappadocia
Morning drive to Aspendos and then continue to Konya. Tour Mevlana's Mausoleum, founder of the Whirling Dervishes and finally the "moon-like" landscape of Cappadocia. (B,D)
Special Histor.. : Urgup Evi Cave Hotel



Day 14: Cappadocia
Early morning: optional Hot-Air Balloon Tour. After breakfast visit the Byzantine frescoed chapels at Goreme, continue to Ozkonak, the eight-story underground city, and a local pottery making village. (B,D)
Special Histor.. : Urgup Evi Cave Hotel



Day 15: Ankara- Return
In the morning, drive to Ankara for an afternoon tour of the Ataturk Mausoleum and Anatolian Civilizations Museum before transferring to the airport. (B)

Hi Helen63,
I do not like to comments on a companies itinerary in depth;
But proportions of the itinerary for a group tour looks fine.

For such tour hotels seems fine too. If it was a leisurely tour I would recommend some other hotels but especially Cappadocia, Selcuk hotels I know are good choices. Kalkan Hotel is a good 4 star tourist class hotel as well....

If you are happy with the price and fits your dates why not.

Happy travelling,
Murat

Murat, thanks a lot for your reply! Do you know anything about neontours.com? I could not find much information about them. Keytours.com is using them as a tour providers in Turkey.
Thank you, again!

Dear Helen,

Excuse my rudeness, but if 63 in your nickname stands for your age, this tour seems to be a bit tiring for your age group. (Please do not get offended, I am 55 and I am considering you in my age group)

However, it is a matter of compromise between the price and the number of places you see.(If this tour is under 1.800 - 2.000 USD per person-excluding flight- it is a bargain because the tour covers almost all highlights of Turkey and hotel choices seems fine as per itinerary.)

Some two years ago, I did the same itinerary with an American couple on a private basis (a rented car, private guiding+driving + 4-5 star accommodation for 3 of us + all entrance fees + gasoline for 5.000 km.)in 20 days and the whole thing cost them around 6.500 USD each. When you consider the tour from this perspective (your group seems to be not very crowded) it may be regarded semi-private.

I hope this piece of information helps.

Enjoy your stay in Turkey.

Anatoliancruiser, Thank you for your reply! No 63, does not stand for my age :) I have been on this board for some time, and this number has never changed, which is unfortunately is not the same with my age. The 63 stands for my birth year, so I think I can handle this tour (for now) :) The price for land portion is $1,695, so it is much cheaper than any quote I received for a private tour. Unlike other group tours (big buses), this one spends a lot of time on the cost, so I was wandering if this is area of Turkey really worth spending time. Also, if anything I need to add (like I am thinking I need another day in Capadoccia, and a couple of days in Istanbul). Thank you again!

Both companies have own reputation so no questioning about that.

Question is with or without a group. If you are OK with a group touring places to be visited are just excellent.

As your tour ends in Cappadocia it is easy to extend your stay and continue enjoying Cappadocia. Onlything you are missing is the transport to Ankara which is not a big deal anyway.

You can easily mount the extra days at leisure.

Happy travelling,


Murat66 :-)))

Hi helen63

Key tour is one of the big tour operator for Turkey and Neon tour is the tour operator in Turkey, there is NO difference between them ONLY difference is country they base.

I agree with Selahattin (ANATOLIANCRUISER) if you want to see and feel Turkey, you have to pay little bit more then $1600 or if you want there are some tour companies based in USA cheaper then Key tours, one of them is pacha tour.

If you are first visitor you will go back to Turkey again and again beacuse 14 days is NOT enough for Turkey.

Have a nice trip in Turkey

Sinan Akdeniz

I think the tour and hotels look very good. It seems a little more in depth than some tours.

We arranged private and small group tours with Credo Tours in Istanbul.
I don't think it would be much more expensive than the tour you selected. You would have more freedom as to each days itinerary and ability to select some of your hotels. Staying in Urgup is essential to me, great little town. We were there 4 nights. I think we spent around $1200 for 10 days two or three years ago.

This is for Tonyr - Did you like Credo? Its itinerary's look fantastic, but seemed way more expensive then $1,200.00. Can I ask what you got for that amount? I want to go back to Turkey. We went on our own 8 years ago, but want more of the coastal towns, and more time in Istanbul then we had when we went on our own. But it was great!

I just returned from a tour of Turkey. About 1/2 of it is similar to yours (we skipped the coast because it was February).

The day 5 itinerary is a bit ambitious. The drive out of old istanbul to the ANZAC area of Galapoli is about 4 hours. The tour of the area is another 2, plus the crossing of the dardenells to Troy is anther 2 so I am wondering how long you'll actually be at Troy before the site closes for the day.

For Pamukkale - I stayed at the Lycus River, Didn't like it. It was summer camp meets spa. Its only fame is part of the hot spring is diverted there so you can sit in it, but it wasn't great.

Cappadocia - Go on the hot air balloon excursion. I did and it was the absolute highlight of my trip -I went with Kappadocia Balloon.

Sinan, Murat, Tonyr, Diane,

Thank you so much for taking time to review and give me your opinion. It is invaluable!
Tony, I am too wandering what you got from Credo for your price. I tried to get some quotes from them last year, and it was pretty expensive. Everything even more expensive this year!

Diane, thank you for your input! I agree with you, but unfortunately it is almost impossible to find a perfect tour within certain budget. I see that you went with Gate1. I like their prices, but I wanted to visit the cost.

Thank you, guys, again!

To ZWHO and Helen,

I'm sorry I'm getting back to you late.

We went to Turkey in April 2005, using ff miles to and from Istanbul from Salt lake City. Because we have gotten new computers since the trip I do not have the exact amounts, but my memory is $1200, but I suppose it might be as much as $1500 per person.

This included a guide and drivers for 3 days in Istanbul, guide and driver in Kusadasi for two days, and guide and driver for 4 days in Ankara and Cappadocia.

Air within Turkey may not have been included in the $1200 it may have been extra. Flights were Istanbul-Izmir, Izmir-Ankara, and kayseri-Istanbul. Flights were about $100 per person per flight. We were picked up by driver and guide at each airport and also dropped off at the airports.

We stayed at the Blue House in Istanbul for three nights and the Germir Pallas for 1 night on our return. The kismet Hotel in Kusadasi for 2 nights, and Esbelli Evi in Urgup for 4 nights.

Ilgin Kilinc was our travel consultant with Credo. I don't believe she is still with the company. Ilgin was wonderful. She met with us at the Blue House after we arrived to explain our itinerary. Each time we moved to a new location she would call us to see how things were going and how our accomodations were.

Our guide in Istanbul was excellent. A charming young man named Etem Ozturk who had been an exchange student in Texas and spoke excellent English. He had been the guide of Harvey Keitel the week before he was our guide. We met Harvey and his entourage at the Topkapi Palace one afternoon.

The guide and driver in Kusadasi was also very good. Our guide and driver in Cappacocia was with Argeus travel. Excellent guide about our age in the 60s. Our lunches were always at local restaurants and delicious. By the way be sure to eat dinner at the Somine Restaurant in Urgup. Our favorite restaurant of the trip. We ate there 2 or 3 nights. it's right in the middle of the village.

Of course tips were on top of these amounts.

We really enjoyed our visit in Turkey and we are glad we did it the way we did. We had a private guide in Istanbul, private one day in Kusadasi when we went to Pergamum and with 2 other couples on our visit to Ephesus, and private when we were picked up in Ankara and driven to Cappadocia, and private 2 of the 3 other days in Cappadocia, one day there we were with a father and daughter from Australia, this was the day we visited kaymakli, the underground city and hiked through Ilhara valley, which we loved.

We would use Credo when we go to Turkey again and we will.

Tony, thank you for this information! I think you got a very good value for your money, but seems like everything is more expensive this year. I've been getting much higher quotes for private touring.

Just a quote: rates & prices of gasoline, drivers, guides, hotels are way different than 3 years ago. I even can not catch up with that !

So difference on same itinerary today might be even 1000 Usd.

Also depends on the vehicle being used, the quality of the guide, restaurants, type of hotels and sights to be visited as museum entrances adds up on the costs too.

While comparing different itinerarries with different prices above factors are the details to check not the regions.

Happy travelling,
Murat

Tony, Thank you for clarifying the prices, also to you Murat. I think I'll start hoarding my money, because I would love to take my adult kids and I definitely want to see Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus and do a short Gulet - again.

Hi Helen,

You can take a tour and then "extend" your trip down to the coast. There will be a difference in the air fair, but Gate1 will work with you on that. You can also buy land only which will allow you to arrive and depart however, whenever you wish.

I'm arriving late to this party, but I can't help but notice the discussion of costs compared to a few years ago.

I just looked at the cost of my hotels. Only one of them charged my card when I made reservations about six months ago. Thanks to the falling U.S. dollar, my hotel costs have gone up almost 20% since I made the reservations.

It doesn't make any sense to compare tour costs incurred a few years ago with those available today. The costs simply can't be the same for American tourists if the fundamental quality and amenities of the tour are also the same.

MikeBuckley, unfortunately you are absolutely correct. I have been thinking of going to Turkey for last several years, and had been watching the cost rising each year. This year the price increase is very significant.

"...if 63 in your nickname stands for your age, this tour seems to be a bit tiring for your age group."

I'm in my 40s and have been on a few tours. Don't be fooled by age! I don't know where the seniors got their energy but the reverse was true. I'm fit and in good health but I had trouble keeping up! Trust me, they won't hold the group up :)