Treasures of the Balkans & Transylvania Reviews

From the introduction of the tour guide (Aykut), the new Mercedes tour bus, great driver - it was a great start to a wonderful tour of Turkey. The complete tour was well planned, and I would definitely do another tour of Turkey - great value for money.

I am very happy to have worked again with Michelle White from Global Journeys. This is my second tour with Cosmos and I would rate the tour operator Erol B. not in the same category as the European Shrines Tour. His knowledge of the country was strong, but he didn't have any interest in bringing everyone together at the end of the trip, it was a non-event. read more He would rush people onto the coach, but if someone was say, deliberating on a purchase at the carpet factory, the time to get on the coach was extended. It came across to a number of people that he had a vested interest in getting a commission. He pushed me in the back to go through a turnstyle when I was turning around to get my ticket and he did this to another female passenger when she was getting on the coach, totally inappropriate. The optional tours except for Ephesus were not value for money. The Cappadocia half day tour was far too long and could have been condensed to about 2.5-3 hours.

The optional dinner did not meet expectations about seeing Istanbul's lights at night. I do not think getting in a coach and driving along two streets to the restaurant was at all satisfactory to meet that expectation. The tour guide didn't turn up and sent someone along who did not introduce himself or even talk in the coach. The dinner itself was good but as the dancing got started the tour guide came in and told us we had to go. We did not have any local guides. The accommodation was mixed and while I know this is a low cost tour, it was interesting to hear the tour guide describe it as a budget tour. One of the hotels had this dreadful sewer smell in the rooms (Konya) and I heard this complaint from a other guests on tour. This area was not very nice either. I tipped the tour operator 50 Euros but I did so only on the basis of his knowledge and that he did organise the balloon flight over Cappadocia and a Turkish bath as side tours for a few of us.

This comprehensive tour of Turkey was excellent in every respect. My only complaint is that it could have been longer! The ancient sites were numerous and interesting showing many layers of history. Our caring and humorous tour guide Erol, was extremely informative about ancient history and modern Turkey. It is a beautiful country with varying landscapes read more and many natural places to marvel at. The food was good and every hotel had something different to offer, be it home style on a dirt road in a village, to a hotel by the sea. Cosmos tours are always well-balanced and thoughtfully put together and Turkey was no exception. I had a fabulous time!

It has been a fantastic trip, so much to see, wondering if I will go back for more. Good value for money. Our tour director Aykut was extremely capable, knowledgeable and entertaining at the same time - sometimes outright hilarious, had a good laugh every single day. Accommodation was always well organized - this trip is highly recommendable.

We felt the guide could have been more helpful and more informative about some of the aspects of the tour eg when we were in Ephesus we stood back to listen to a guide from a cruise to have one of our ignored questions answered There were many other examples of this. We were annoyed that when we paid for optional tours there was so much shopping and read more factory tours, they should have been added to the end of the tour that if not interested you could return to the hotel like we did after Ephesus, and the leather factory option, which was handled well. Everything else was really good, we enjoyed the company of the other travellers, the accommodation was great, meals were good but typical of tours, liked the optional meals as they really presented the true cuisine of the regions. Our guide basically lacked the charisma that we have experienced on other tours /excursions.

We had a terrific tour in Turkey. People, food and tour sights were well worth it and I'd recommend Turkey as a great place to travel.

This was my first organised tour; I did not have any preconceived ideas about the tour and I when I completed my feedback for the Tour Director I didn't have anything to compare the tour with, however after my second tour (Egypt) I can say that the tour of Turkey was great. The tour guide Errol was fantastic, he provided us with so information about read more Turkey and the places we visited. The bus was clean and comfortable (it was only a few weeks old). The hotel room hotel room in Canakkle at the Tusan was dated, but clean the included evening meal made up for it - it was great. Every other hotel was great. Everywhere we visited was different and interesting and I was pleasantly surprised by everything I saw. We had extra time in Istanbul before and after the tour and I'm glad we did as there was so much to see in Istanbul. Maybe you should add a bit more time to this city? The only complaint - I was expecting more options for lunches, we didn't want to eat buffet lunches each day of simular type foods. We packed picnic type food and found places to eat away from the group. By the end of the tour about half of the bus was doing the same so perhaps that is something to consider?

Turkey met all my expectations and more. Accommodation and meals were faultless. The tour provided an exceptional insight into the country and the sightseeing built into the tour was so amazing. I would most certainly travel with Cosmos again and have no hesitation in recommending Global Journeys to everyone. My daughter and 14 year old grandson traveled read more with me and their sentiments are the same as mine. It was my grandsons first trip overseas, he can't wait to go again. A very special commendation goes to our tour director, Berna! A wonderful person who gave her all, 24/7. We hope to meet up with her again sometime. Also deserving of our thank you, is our coach driver a very comfortable and safe driver he was. Thank you to all involved with the putting together of this tour.

The tour was very well organized and intereresting - the itinerary was well planned and the optional side tours were well worth the money. The coach was comfortable and roomy and the accommodation exceeded expections - even included a 5 star hotel on one night. Our tour guide was exceptional - well informed and efficient and able to answer all questions read more and sort out all problems - would recommend this tour to anyone.

Reluctantly my husband and I booked a Cosmos tour of Turkey last September, we are adverse to organised tours, hence the negativity. We thought our worst nightmare was about to unfold when the tour consisted of 40 plus. Well we are now converted and have nothing but praise for the tour! The content was extremely comprehensive, tour guide charismatic, read more who knew his stuff and the 40 plus pax not a problem - a delightful mix. We have been singing Cosmos' praises to all our Grey Nomad Friends and would book with Global Journeys again. Thank you.

Turkey tour was just great and absolute value for money....have recommended it to many friends.

Turkey is a very different country. Cities are teeming with people, beautiful parks and mosques. The only thing I found difficult to cope with was being pestered to go to carpet shops etc to buy. Beautiful country to drive through. The houses in the rocks and the underground city were amazing. Would have liked more time to explore Basra. The option read more to do a balloon flight would have been great.

Thoroughly enjoyed the trip. The tour director (Erol) & bus driver were excellent. My brother in law becamme ill in Canakkale. Erol acted swiftly, efficiently & with the utmost discretion to get him to hospital & back to join the trip. No one on the bus was aware of the situation - absolute professionalism from Erol. I believe there were too many days read more allocated to Istanbul, however we were there early & saw most sights. May I suggest that Cappadocia be included in the trip & not as an extra. It is such a beautiful place that everyone should see it, especially those who have limited funds & choose not to go. I would not hesitate in using your tour group again & would recommend you to other people who ask. There were people on the trip who were not happy with accomodation. I had no concerns with accomodation all were of a standard I expected & most were above that. Difficult to please all the people all the time. Would have liked to have more evening meals free as food is cheap & so much choice - maybe lunches should be included & not dinners when staying in larger towns. Hope feedback is useful.

My inaugural tour with Cosmos far surpassed any expectations that I had and each day continued to impress. Thanks to all concerned.

I loved my tour of Turkey. Turkey was great as it hasn't reached the tourist heights of Europe. The history, especially the ruins, were much better than my tour of Europe and I found Turkey has many wonders that I wasn't aware of. Both of my trips had excellent guides and the coaches were great. I will be travelling again with your group.

The trip was great. It gave a very good overview of Turkey & I would recommend it to friends. The tour leader had an excellent knowledge of the history of the country. In fact Bijou was a walking encylopedia! I don't remember asking a question which she couldn't answer! There was a good variety of accommodation, all of which was clean.