A Taste of Turkey - Istanbul to Cappadocia

A great trip overall and I fulfilled my dream of going to Cappadocia and doing a balloon ride over the fantastic landscape. It certainly didn't disappoint but I would highly recommend that you book beforehand and for your first day there in case of a cancellation. The tour itself was more varied than I expected and definitely the best and easiest way of experiencing Istanbul. I saw way more than a friend of mine who had gone independently. Our guide Busra was delightful, knowledgeable, helpful and was keen to make sure that we tried all sorts of cuisine - some more palatable than others! Although this was a food tour some of it was more greasy or bland than I had hoped - but it was good to try. Alcohol is not always available and wine very expensive (about £40 bottle rosé). Catalhoyuk was fascinating and unexpected. Pierre Loti a lovely place to enjoy the view over a delicious Turkish coffee, but good to get there early. The pickle juice was not one to repeat though 🤣. Goreme and surrounding villages in Cappadocia were beautiful - loved the fairy caves and the views amazing. Do be prepared for a lot of walking on this trip and if you get as good a group as we had you'll love it.

I realise I am getting too old (78) to enjoy travelling in a group of strangers but prefer travelling with friends. However, the trip was well planned, well executed, the itinerary was good and our tour leader was excellent.

Although this is listed as a 10-day trip, it is more like a 6-day trip - the first and last days can be discounted flying to and from Turkey, and a further two days are effectively lost due to two very long drives (10+ hours Istanbul to Selcuk and around 9 hours from Selcuk to Konya– as we effectively lost two days travelling. The long drive from Istanbul to Selcuk was just exhausting, despite the excellent stops at Ayvalik and Pergamon on the way. Glad to see that this drive has been replaced by a quicker train journey to Konya for 2026 tours. The pace of the trip is Moderate, Not sure why we crossed the Bosphorus by ferry to see the Asian part of Istanbul – It made absolutely no sense as there was nothing to see there. It would have been better if we had been given more time to sight-see on the European side. Again, glad to see that this has been dropped in the 2026 tours. Although this trip was called “A Taste of Turkey”, the food was uninspiring. The cuisine is better in Antalya, but on our trip it was, for the most part, neither interesting, gourmet, or tasty – because we were mostly eating simple food from the interior of Turkey. Highlights of the trip included the Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern and the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul. Outside of Istanbul, the Roman cities of Pergamon, Hierapolis and Ephesus were amazing and the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia always draw a wow!

There are positives and negatives to this trip. If it had been a normal exploration trip it would have been good, however, this was a food tour and there was a serious lack of food or food focus included on the tour. Our guide çadas was very informative about Turkish history and gave a great insight into how Turkey came to be. We did have to speak to him early on about things which should be included according to the trip itinerary which were missed and he initially seemed disinterested in the group and more interested in smoking but throughout the trip he seemed to find his feet and became much more involved. He has a good sense of humour and answered all of our many questions. I didn't get the impression he was much of a foodie though which may have impeded him understanding the groups' interest in food. While I feel we got a great flavour of the history of Turkey it would have been interesting to see and learn more about Turkey now and perhaps experience home cooking or a homestay as part of the trip to see the current culture a bit more. We did get to see a lot of Turkey but it would have been interesting to visit olive oil producers etc rather than just hearing that the area is known for the production/growth of various items. Given this was a food tour, and I have been on food tours previously with other companies, I had expected a bit more involved. There seemed to be limited included and suggestions from our guide were at times a little lackluster -although a recommendation for slow cooked lamb in Istanbul was perhaps my favourite meal of the trip. Additionally some things which were on the itinerary were vague enough that they seemed to be included but weren't and seemed like they would be more than they were. For example in Istanbul the tour of the food market Asia side was just one shop for olives and pickles whereas it would have been nice to be able to walk through the market tasting other things and asking questions and trying the coffee in a nice cafe rather than not at all/ waiting until later in the trip. Or the wine tasting in Cappadocia was our guide choosing 4 wines and us getting to taste them, I had expected to go to a vineyard or at least a bar where it would be more formal and we could learn more about the process or the wines themselves. Additionally some restaurants seemed very touristy or were in hotels rather than places where locals would eat and food would be more authentic. Positives food wise were the pide, the gozleme, and the cooking class in selcuik was excllent and, while not included, the recommendation to go to a women's cooperative in capapdocia was great. Improvements could be made on breakfasts on travel days, recommendations from the guide, and more opportunities to try the varied local specialities of the areas visited. Travel, we had 2 drivers on our trip. The first ( Mr ayup) was absolutely lovely and a great driver. We were very sad he had to leave 2 days early. Our second, serca, seemed less experienced, the bus was poorly maintained with leaky window in the rain, the air vents weren't adjustable or were broken, the seats were very narrow and had limited room between them and the bus stunk of smoke as he had a tendency to smoke inside the bus despite no smoking signs

The trip was a good mix of history and food. Sometimes the pace was a bit more full on than moderate but the frequent stops on long days meant the group’s needs were met. Would have liked another day of walking in Cappadocia.