Turkey 9-Day Tours and Trips

What a fantastic trip. This is our second walking-type trip with Explore and is was just as well run and thoughtfully designed as the previous one. The trip pace was as I expected based on the description - lots of daily walking, with a little down time for exploring or relaxing in the evening (or morning, if you are a morning person). Most days we started hiking or driving to hiking location at 9 am and finished between 3-5 pm. I really appreciated that the tour leader (Aykut) had a lot of experience and was able to shift around activities to avoid crowds. He was really good at explaining what to expect for the next day (and several days in advance, where relevant) so that we could plan for bringing/not bring our hiking poles, packing extra snacks or water if we weren't going to be near a town, dress for the next day's weather, etc. I do think having the hiking poles was helpful for many of the days, so I am glad I brought them. A few days we stopped for a mid-day break at a location with restaurant options, one day was limited to one option (in a national park: but really, really good food for the sole option), and a few days we packed picnic lunches. If you are thinking about doing this tour, and like walking (moderate level most days, with some hills and some downhill and flat stretches), and love really unique scenery and history, I would highly recommend this trip.

This trip was fab, Cappadocia has an incredibly rare landscape that feels as if you are somewhere out of this world. The walks were varied and a lot greener than I thought they would have been, although you will have definitely seen Cappadocia in depth by the time you leave. You stay just outside of the main tourist town of Goreme which is nice because it's away from the hustle and bustle. I travelled in the last week of May so had some warmer days and some wetter, cooler ones but on a whole we were very lucky with the weather.

We had an amazing experience. From Istanbul to Cappadocia, each day's itinerary took us to new and interesting places. We've loved visiting Istanbul and seeing all the important sites. We had a great time at Gallipoli, learning about the battle and better understanding its importance to the Turkish and Australian people. We loved our visits to Ephesus and Hierapolis and getting to walk around ancient Roman ruins. We finished our trip in Cappadocia - what a fascinating and beautiful place. We had an excellent tour guide and made friends with so many of the others on our trip so that by the last day, we were sad to say "goodbye."

Wonderful trip. Our tour leader Tarkan & Assalti were enthusiastic, informative and knowledgeable about every aspect of the cities & culture of Turkey. Both were patient with me as I was not as quick on the bike up those hills as were my fellow tour members. -Diane C

First tour with Explore - experience exceeded my expectations! Minor negative (also shared by others in the group) was the ‘shared’ accommodation in Gey Village. Ok if I was in my 30’s but I’m in late 60’s. Worth investigating alternative accommodation options even if some additional busing might be required. Otherwise everything (guide, group, food, accommodation, transportation, and hikes/views) great! Won’t be my last tour with Explore!

Aycuk was a superb leader. He was very organised and gave clear and detailed instructions about the walk, the terrain, meeting times etc so everything ran smoothly. He was very knowledgeable and gave us the right amount of information about Cappadocia and what we were seeing etc. He was happy to answer any questions and give more details when asked. He was attentive and checked we were all ok and even suggested alternative ways to shorten or adapt walks and arranged transport. He had a sense of humour and went above and beyond what was expected of a tour leader. I would certainly recommend the trip and his leadership.