Highlights of Turkey

I got back from this trip 5 days ago. Everything was great! I don't know where to start with my rave reviews. Our group leader was Ilham and he was amazing! His English was great and he helped us with translation at the restaurants and vendors. I loved stopping to eat at very local and family places. One place for Turkish pizzas had the whole family pitching in and we were outside near the brick oven with chickens and ducks running past us! I really appreciated that our money went to LOCAL and FAMILY run businesses! Ilham would download the tickets to the sites on his phone in advance, he made our entry so quick. He was always one step ahead of the game! Logistics were flawless, because he knew when to get to the various sites to avoid the crowds as much as possible. I enjoyed the modest hotels, once again family run and usually very convenient to the town center. This trip fulfilled all my expectations and then some! Ed

Outstanding Tour -- visiting important military, historical, cultural, and religious sites. Wonderful group of travelers who watched out for each other, were on time, courteous and kind.

Good driver. Excellent guide. Hotels well chosen. Itinerary great. Initial Airport pickup bit chaotic.

Great sites, lovely fellow travellers...guides great fun and helpful throughout...fascinating country with big old cities and lovely coastline and mountains. Will return one day.

I have recently gotten back from a 15 day tour of Turkey. It was an amazing trip but was busy to include everything on the itinerary. I’m glad it included as much as it did which is why I booked with exodus but it would have been good for the trip to be longer so that could see what was on the itinerary in more of a leisurely pace and other attractions Turkey has to offer.

This trip is pretty full on, with long days on the road and often crowded visitor sites. (Ephesus and cruise ships = M1 only a holiday weekend) If the options are taken there is very little down time. Leisurely/moderate does not really describe it. Hotels used range from excellent to a compromise too far. On many occasions we arrived at the destination too late in the day to get local bearings, but in most cases it was worth it given what had been seen along the routes. Food was acceptable at all times although some breakfasts left something to be desired, such as drinkable coffee. Most hotels had water and kettles in the rooms, but water enroute did not follow the normal Exodus expectations. Turkey has an inflation problem, many of the costs noted in the trip notes were somewhat out of date, it also has a penchant fore closing roads at short notice forcing route changes. Overall this trip gives a very good overview of what Turkey has to offer away from the 'sun and sand/all inclusive' packages, be aware that there is very limited time in Istanbul. It is worth planning a few extra days.

An extensive tour, taking in the most historic ancient and modern cities in Turkey. Countless UNESCO world heritage sites, wonderful cuisine, friendly people, fabulous weather, and every day was a school day. Educational and entertaining, I’d recommend this tour to any traveler.

Turkey is a beautiful country with so many different regions all with their own unique culture and landscapes. This trip is an excellent way to get a taste of each region while visiting all of the highlights you picture when you think of Turkey (and some you've probably never heard of!). We absolutely loved every minute and learned so much more than we ever have on any other trip.

An excellent holiday exploring a country with a great depth of historical and cultural sites. The day visiting the 1915 Gallipoli battlefields was fascinating and our day there was the only one where we did not visit an UNESCO World Heritage site.

The trip is varied with historical sites, geological wonders, cultural sites and scenic beauty. I particularly liked Pammukale, Cappadoccia, and the ancient cities.

This was our ninth Exodus tour and it didn’t disappoint. We saw so much in 2weeks..Gallipoli,Cannukale, Pammukale,Ephesus,Troy,Antalya and Kas, Capadoccia........the list goes on..... so much interesting history ,architecture, beaches etc etc. There is a lot of travel so you need to expect that.....most was broken up with interesting visits. Our guide was so knowledgeable and we felt we really got the most out of our visits to the various sites. The driver was a lovely man... very safe. The hotels were on the whole good...some very nice eg Safronbolu ,Kas and Antalya. The food was excellent and varied...our guide took us each evening to great local restaurants and helped us choose local dishes. The final two days were full on travel so that was hard. A delay caused by an accident on the motorway meant we hit Istanbul rush hour traffic. We went two days early......worth it to see Istanbul but you need even more time! It is a fantastic city...very walkable although the Bosporus cruise is worth doing.

This is a very interesting and comprehensive tour of all the major sites in Turkey though with 11 different hotels in 14 days it's not particularly "leisurely" and some hotels I would describe as "basic" rather than "comfortable". Apart from the obvious (Ephesus, Cappodocia, Whirling Dervishes etc) my highlights were the lovely seaside resort of Kas where I had a free day to explore, the clean and bright Islamic town of Konya and the beautiful World Heritage town of Safranbolu where our hotel was a former Ottoman house. Many towns are cobbled, particularly in Safranbolu, where this could be a problem for anyone with less than perfect mobility. Be prepared for very hot temperatures in August and appropriate clothes for visits to the mosques which should not be missed. On this trip there is no time for sightseeing in Istanbul and despite arriving a day early 24 hours wasn't enough. As the oldest in my group at 69 I thoroughly enjoyed this trip and am already planning to re-visit Istanbul. Highly recommended if you want to learn about Turkey's amazing history.

This trip is a great mix of man-made and nature-made. If you like ruins and nature it's an amazing trip! The scenery was great, you can't get bored and the ruins in Troy don't look like the ones in Ephesus which don't look like the ones in Bergama, which don't look like the ones in Aspendos and so on...they are different and each one is unique and fabulous. It's really hard to compare Cappadocia to anything else and the balloon ride over those interesting rock formations was absolutely wonderful! I loved every moment of this trip!

We visited all the places that we booked the trip to see and our excellent guide Ali also took us to a number of smaller less well known places. Although some of the coach journeys were long, they were split up as best as possible. A few times lunch and dinner were much later than expected.

Very good value for money, some amazing sights and scenery, hotels quite basic with the exception of one or two. Be prepared to lug cases around now and then. Hours of travel but the scenery helped the time go by and lots of stops included.

A very comprehensive tour of this country travelling over 3000 km. Our guide was excellent, one of the best I have had. He was knowledgable and not only gave us the history of each place we visited, but also knew some fabulous restaurants where we could sample Turkish food and wine, not to mention some of the more unusual local drinks. I don't think there was any meal that I didn't enjoy (and the wine wasn't bad either). Of course your fellow travellers can make or break a holiday. I was lucky that I was with a super group, all very considerate of each other. No one was late at meeting points and everyone was very friendly so thanks to them too. I can thoroughly recommend this trip to anyone who would like to experience the true Turkey, visiting ancient sights, staying in old and new cities and towns and experimenting with different foods and drinks. I would have liked more time in Instanbul but perhaps I will save that for another visit. Something I would realy like to do.

Overall, the trip was wonderful! It was my first time doing a trip where we covered so many kilometres which made it tiring, but I expected that at the outset. Some of the hotel rooms could have been of a slightly higher standard.

Wonderful introduction to this huge and beautiful country. Ancient history, beautiful coastlines, Turkish Baths, friendly people, gorgeous food

Turkey is an amazing country. There is so much to see and the two week tour is only going to give you a taste of what this country has to offer.

We set our expectations quite high for this trip but these were exceeded in every way from start to finish after meeting our superb tour guide - Fatih Develi - in Istanbul. His organization and communication skills were outstanding as he guided us smoothly throughout the fantastic highlights of this great country, imparting his considerable knowledge of all aspects of Turkey from religions to history ancient and modern, wildlife, industries, politics etc. etc. Fatih was the highlight of our trip.