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.

Our guide Mr Mehmet Emin Konuk was very patient, well read and helpful. He explained all the places in detail mentioned in the itinerary. He is just amazing with his knowledge of Turkey. Coming to the hotel that were given, we were not provided with complimentary water in a few hotels, bathrooms did not have place to keep our toiletries so we had to keep our stuff on the floor. Optional tours were given preference over main itinerary. People spending on optional tours were given pick up n drop to the hotel with lunch and others who didn’t opt for it were left stranded in the middle to find their way back to the hotel early in the morning. In the end, all the optional tour ended up doubling the total amount spent on the trip. A suggestion would be to either include the optional tour in the main itinerary or arrange for drop in the evening for people who don’t want the optional tour however the pick and drop should be at the end of the optional tour so that we may go to the hotel in the tour bus and not spend extra money.

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!

ı'm glad I chose Eskapas. Since it was a tour company that I had heard of for the first time, I needed to do some research before buying this tour. I joined this tour when a fellow traveler like me said that I "must try it". Organization, planning, courtesy, professionalism were all together. I would like to especially thank our driver Mr. Ali, without whom the tour would not have been so punctual and fun. Highly recommended!

If anyone I know is interested in this type of travel, I would not hesitate to recommend them. This is the third tour I have been on with them and they have all been exceptional. They offer great value for money with great quality of service. Thank you very much.