Why Turkey?

When it comes to Turkey, where do you start? Few countries pack so much into one trip: ancient cities, battlefields, holy sites, a coastline of turquoise bays, surreal landscapes, and food you will talk about for years. Just when you think you have seen the best of it, the bus turns a corner, the gulet drops anchor in the next bay, and there is something as magical as the last.

That is why our eight routes run the way they do. One line across the country: Istanbul and the west coast by bus, a full week on a wooden gulet along the Lycian coast, then Pamukkale and Cappadocia on the way back. You can join one leg or do the whole loop, and every day on land you are with a licensed guide who grew up with these places.

Along the way you will meet locals from every background, and Turkish hospitality will leave you feeling right at home. The group is small (max 16 on the bus, 8 to 10 cabins on the gulet), so it feels like travelling with friends rather than a coach party.

Where our tours take you

Istanbul - the only city on two continents: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar and a cruise on the Bosphorus.
Gallipoli - the battlefields and cemeteries of 1915, including Anzac Cove and Lone Pine.
Troy and Pergamon - the wooden horse, the walls of Troy and the steepest theatre of the ancient world.
Ephesus - the Library of Celsus, the Terrace Houses and the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The Lycian coast by gulet - the Blue Lagoon at Oludeniz, Butterfly Valley, St. Nicholas Island, Kas, the sunken city of Kekova, Simena Castle and Demre.
Saklikent Gorge and Pamukkale - a walk through an 18 km canyon, then the white travertine terraces and the ruins of Hierapolis.
Cappadocia - fairy chimneys, cave churches, an underground city and, if you like, a sunrise balloon flight.
The Salt Lake - a stop on the drive back to Istanbul.

Each tour page shows the route day by day, with the hotel for each night, what is included and the next departure dates. See the eight tours.

Interesting facts about Turkey

Two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World stood in Turkey: the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, which you visit on our west-coast leg, and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in Bodrum.
Catalhoyuk in central Anatolia (about 7500 BC) is one of the oldest towns ever found, and Gobekli Tepe in the south-east is older still.
Tulips reached Holland from Ottoman Istanbul; the word comes from the Turkish for turban.
Noah's Ark is said to have come to rest on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey.
St. Nicholas, the original Santa Claus, was born in Patara and became Bishop of Myra, today's Demre - the gulet stops there, and St. Nicholas Island is named after him.
Coffee came to Europe by way of Istanbul in the 16th century.
The Virgin Mary is believed to have spent her last years near Selcuk, next to Ephesus.
St. John's Gospel is said to have been written at Ephesus, and the Seven Churches of Revelation are all in western Turkey.
Julius Caesar's "Veni, vidi, vici" - "I came, I saw, I conquered" - was said after a battle in Turkey, at Zela.
One of the earliest Christian churches, the cave church of St. Peter, is in Antioch in Turkey's south.
Cherries were first brought to Europe from Giresun on the Black Sea coast; the Romans named them after the town.
Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, more than 560 years old, covers over 60 streets with about 4,000 shops and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors a day. You will walk through it on day 2 of every Istanbul start.
Mythology's first beauty contest, between Hera, Aphrodite and Athena, was judged by Paris of Troy on Mount Ida - and started the Trojan War.
Turkey grows around 70% of the world's hazelnuts.