Wonders of Turkey Reviews

It was my first Insight Vacation and it was even better than I thought it would be. Exceptional accommodation, an awesome tour director and for me, just long enough at 11 days. It was more full on than I thought, we were shattered by the end of each day but will know to really study for next time. Our tour group were fun, from across the globe and ...read more for many it was their 4th, 5th or more tour. I will definitely book again!

We recently experienced the ”Wonders of Turkey” tour and loved every minute of it! So many wonderful memories of the people, the food and the sights. Our tour Director, Gonul Gifu was very knowledgeable, most helpful, caring and fun to be with! We will definitely be recommending Insight to all our friends. Thank you for a fantastic holiday!

If you want to capture the spirit and history of Turkey in just under a fortnight, take this trip. From the magnificence of Aya Sophia and Ephesus, to an afternoon tea in a cave house in Cappadocia, this tour covered the history and cultures of Anatolia from the Hittites to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. There were many highlights. Some were expected (Ephesus ...read more being one example), others were not: the House of the Virgin Mary was one, the Calcium Terraces at Pamukkale was another, and the farm-to-table lunch where a local family, who farm organically, served up a delicious meal was yet another.

The accommodation was more than comfortable and even a touch exotic, like the cave hotel in Cappadocia. Most meals were provided, some were set meals, others were buffet meals, but in all cases the food was good and fresh. Although Insight does not include Cappadocia’s famous hot-air balloon rides as part of its itinerary, those interested can book a ride from the hotel. The organisation of the tour, from its beginning in Istanbul to its end in Istanbul, was meticulous, thanks to the tour director, Daghan Erdogdu. He brought his love of his country and its history to the tour.

Like any tour, there will be some who will wish that they had stayed longer at one place and less time at another. This tour struck the right balance. To use a now probably long forgotten Australian expression, ‘I wouldn’t have missed this tour for quids’. As for travelling with Insight again, that I will. And as for using Global Journeys and Jemma again for future tours, that’s a certainty.

I have done a dozen or so Trips with Insight and Trafalgar Tours. This tour ranks as one of the best for the inclusions and price. Our tour guide was excellent, with a laid back style, but didn't neglect to inform and guide us well throughout this 15 day tour. I would book with Global Journey's again, and would recommend them if your considering this ...read more type of tour. Thank you Hannah for managing my booking. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)

For our honeymoon we wanted something special and an Insight Vacations tour for 15 days around Turkey (Treasures of Turkey) was just the thing. We loved the diversity of the group, stayed in comfortable hotels, travelled in a good sized coach with wifi, adjustable seats, USB charging & toilets. Throw in the driver and host and it made for a memorable ...read more trip. Our booking experience with Global Journeys (all online) was effortless and we will definitely re-book again. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)

Our guide Barcin Taran was brilliant and really made the tour because he had such a vast knowledge of the history and life in Turkey. He did all of the local tours, so great was his knowledge which he openly shared with us. The pace was steady with the occasional early start but largely for our benefit to avoid the crowds and give time to not feel ...read more rushed. This was especially so on the visit to Gallipoli so that the NZ & Australians travellers were able to take their time and not feel rushed in this sensitive area. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)

A very good trip. You must do the hot air balloon ride in Cappodocia. Can be all organised once you get to the hotel. It cost 250 AUS but it was brilliant. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)

The tour was absolutely excellent. We'd certainly use Global Journeys and Insight again. Our guide was brilliant. The only minor change we would suggest is that the pace could have been a little faster. We didn't need toilet stops every two hours and sometimes more frequently (including the lunch stop) and arriving half an hour later at the hotel in ...read more the evenings would have been fine. Perhaps then we could have done a little more each day. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)

It's a cultural tour, more historically than contemporary. The tour director's incredible academic knowledge of the history of places we visited is very much part of it. Very organized and didn't leave much slack to stop for random impromptu interactions. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this seaso ...read moren)

It was a shame that we missed the first day of our tour of Turkey because Turkish Airlines bumped us off our flight to Instanbul due to an earlier flight cancellation. We were then unable to get a seat on a flight to Instanbul until the following day, which was Day 2 of the tour. Being a Sunday when this happened it was not easy to contact Insight ...read more to let them know about our unfortunate delay, which was outside our control completely, although I was able to leave messages with Insight's London Office and the hotel in Istanbul. This hiccup over, we joined the tour group late in the afternoon of Day 2. Our tour director was nothing short of brilliant. He not only had outstanding people and management skills, but his in-depth knowledge of the places we visited, their history, geography, and modern society was simply outstanding, and his ability to communicate this equally as good. We learnt so much about Turkey - both ancient and modern - that our memories of that part of the trip will stay with us forever.

We joined the Greek Island cruise section of our holiday in Istanbul. While this was a more relaxed paced, we found we had been spoilt with having such an outstanding tour director with us throughout Turkey. Because a number of different tour groups joined the cruise, the group we had was suddenly much bigger, coaches for the land excursions more crowded and overall the tour guiding was not nearly as informative and interesting as our Turkey experience had been. This may have been influenced by the nature of a cruise differing from the nature of a smaller, more intimate tour group travelling throughout a country together. But this does not explain the different attitudes between the tour directors. Whilst our Turkey tour director was very open in sharing and acknowledging the historical past and the present of the country in a way that acknowledged how the past has shaped the present, we found that the Greek tour guides always seemed defensive of Greece, relying primarily on its ancient past without teaching us also about modern day Greece. They did not distinguish well between historical fact and mythical history, and this was frustrating for anyone who actually had any knowledge of ancient history. We definitely missed being led on a tour of discovering how more recent history (e.g. the last 1000 years) has influenced the development of modern Greece, and just how Greece functions today. We always got the feeling that somehow the Greeks have a bit of a chip on their shoulder, and only had the glories of their ancient past to boast of... I actually don't think this should be the case, as Greece is undoubtedly a very unique country. it's just that the tour guide failed to bring this out.

Nevertheless, overall the trip was fantastic. Without at doubt, the Turkish Delights part of the trip, though very full on, was an amazing and unforgettable experience that has changed my understanding and knowledge of modern Turkey enormously. Marvel Tourism, that manages the Insight tours in Turkey, really has got their act together! Well done!

This is a well designed, well planned and extremely interesting tour which both my daughter and myself enjoyed tremendously. Our guide Basham was an absolute fountain of knowledge, always courteous, always helpful and thoughtful and really good company. Yes - it was a bit tiring with lots of walking but we are not complaining about that! The hotels ...read more were excellent and majority of meals were well above average. The weather was hot, but manageable and our bus driver kept the supply of cold water well tended. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)

This was our first organised tour and it exceeded our expectations. Our tour guide, Dahan was great, his general knowledge of his country and his particular knowledge of every site we visited was amazing. The tour was busy but it had to be to see everything, the people were lovely, the hotels excellent and the food very good. We will visit Turkey again ...read more on the strength of this tour, we were so impressed with the land and the people. Thank you Insight, Global Journeys and especially Georgie for organising everything for us. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)

Great tour guide, driver and tour group. We all got along famously. The driver and guide were excellent and thoroughly professional. The bus was great and we had heaps of leg room and cold drinks. We both enjoyed the tour. I thought several attractions and cities could have been cut. I thought the 2 hrs we spent at the Kamal Attaturk Memorial in Ankara ...read more was too long. I also thought we didn't need to see 2 Sufi centres (the one in Konya was better). I think the underground city in Cappadocia was a waste of time. The leather factory where we spent more than 2 hrs was a waste of time - unlike the ceramic factory and carpet factory which were craft centres. I think Troy was a waste of time. I would have liked to have spent another day sightseeing in Istanbul and had shorter days and more down time to relax and enjoy some of the facilities at the hotels. The accommodation provided on the tour varied from 2 star to 5 star. Loved the Charisma Hotel and the Swissotel in Izmer. The Dedeman in Kappodocia was terrible. The Crown Plaza in Antalya was too far out of town. The other hotels were ok. The food was better in some hotels than others. I would like to have had more fixed menu meals. I don't want to see another buffet meal for some time. The final celebration dinner was disappointing. The restaurant was noisy and the food was mediocre. We missed the first night's welcome drinks and nibbles get together as we were stuck out at Istanbul airport. It would have been nice if some of the food and a drink could have been left in our room at the hotel when we did arrive. My only other gripe is that we had to pay AU$120 at the airport for 2 Turkish visas. I would have liked to have known about this beforehand. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)

We really loved the tour and Turkey. Our guide was excellent - he knew his stuff he was very caring, informative and helpful and capable. He was a local and his English was excellent but his accent was at times hard to understand. I guess that is the trade off for having a local who knows all you want to ask. The coach was brand new and very comfortable, ...read more vision was excellent. The tour was extremely interesting. Turkey its history, food , economy, sights-all blew me away. Some of our tour party were a bit disappointed we did not spend more time at Lone Pine or Anzac Cove. We found it quite moving - our local high school just happened to do a commemoration as we turned up. The accommodation was great. Overall we would thoroughly recommend it.

The trip was really good and made especially so by he fact that our group was decidedly younger than usual. Some of the hotels were better than others which was to be expected. It was 45 degrees along the southern Mediterranean section of the trip and several hotels offered poor levels of air conditioning in these conditions which was difficult. Also, ...read more the Insight 'trip advice' information sheet suggests that we don't drink tap water in Turkey. All the hotels offered water only at meal times, and in such heat, at meal times only was not sufficient. Otherwise, I thought the trip was marvellous. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)

We were absolutely delighted with this tour. The quality of the accommodation was excellent as were the included tours and all the meals. The bus was spacious, clean and very comfortable. The tour guide, Rashid Ergner, was exceptional. He had an amazing knowledge of all aspects of Turkey and even though Georgia was the only child on the tour she enjoyed ...read more this tour as much as us. We would highly recommend this Insight tour and would consider Insight again if we choose to tour again.

We were very happy with our tour of Turkey. It was the best organised tour that we have done. The hotels were excellent except the Dederman in Cappadocia. Rashid our tour guide was the best with his extensive knowledge and sense of humour, he got us to the sights, museums etc. at the right times so we didn't have to cue. It was the first tour that I ...read more have done where the tour guide has given his phone no and room no to us. We were very happy with Yvonne's help in booking this tour for us. Thank you all very much. (Ed: Review based on slightly different itinerary. Trip name and itinerary updated this season)

The tour was great. Well organised and well run, nothing was ever a problem. Both tour guide and driver were great. The only negative was the 'Turkish version' of history that was presented about the ancient sites visited, which was challenged by a number of travellers who knew their history. eg. presented as Roman ruins rather than Hellenistic, etc. ...read more It made it interesting and amusing :)