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The six programmes we operate, compared by length, nights per city, domestic flights and hotel changes, with what each format leaves out and who it is not for.
It is the question we get most as an inbound operator in Turkey: how many days do I need. The useful answer is not a number but knowing what fits and what gets left out at each length, and how many times you have to unpack to get it. This comparison is built on the six programmes we operate, using the figures from their own product pages.
| Programme | Days / nights | Where you sleep | Domestic flights | Hotel changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential Istanbul | 5 / 4 | Istanbul (4) | No | 0 |
| Istanbul and Cappadocia | 7 / 6 | Istanbul (4), Cappadocia (2) | Yes, out and back | 2 |
| Istanbul and Southeast Anatolia | 7 / 6 | Istanbul, Şanlıurfa, Adıyaman and Gaziantep | Yes, two legs | 3 |
| Istanbul and Kars | 7 / 6 | Istanbul (3), Kars (3) | Yes, out and back | 2 |
| Charms of Turkey | 10 / 9 | Istanbul, Ankara, Cappadocia, Pamukkale, İzmir or Kuşadası | No: all by road | 5 |
| Grand Journey across Turkey | 15 / 14 | Eleven stops, Istanbul to the Black Sea | Yes, several legs | 10 |
On price: we do not publish a "from" figure that will not hold up later. A tour rate depends on traveller numbers, season, hotel category and whether domestic flights sit inside or outside the package, so it is calculated against the actual request. That is what the quotation form is for.
Essential Istanbul is the only format with no intercity transfers: four nights in one hotel, in a city that fills all four. It covers the historic peninsula, the Bosphorus, the bazaars and the Asian side, with licensed guiding and daily hotel breakfast.
Who it is not for: anyone coming for Cappadocia. Five days cannot absorb it without turning two of them into airports. The day-by-day breakdown is in the five-day Istanbul itinerary.
With a week there are three routes, and they are not interchangeable.
The first is the most requested: Istanbul and Cappadocia with domestic flights. Four nights in Istanbul and two in Cappadocia, with return domestic flights included, which removes the overnight road hours. It is the best balance between what you see and what you travel when the trip is exactly seven days.
The second is Istanbul and Southeast Anatolia: Göbeklitepe, Harran, Mount Nemrut and Gaziantep, with two flight legs. It is an archaeological and culinary trip, not a first look at the country.
The third is Istanbul and Kars, in Eastern Anatolia: the ruins of Ani, Lake Çıldır and the Sarıkamış forests. It is the only one of the six where, on request, part of the route can be done on the Doğu Ekspresi train. It works particularly well in winter.
Who they are not for: neither Anatolian tour suits a first trip to Turkey. Both assume Istanbul and Cappadocia are already known, or not wanted.
Charms of Turkey is the great western route: Istanbul, Ankara, Cappadocia, Pamukkale, Ephesus, İzmir, Kuşadası and Bursa. It has the fullest meal plan — daily breakfast and five dinners at the hotels outside Istanbul — and includes entrances to the sites named in the itinerary.
It also covers the most ground: the whole route runs by road, with five hotel changes across nine nights. That is exactly what makes the Aegean possible, and exactly what to know before booking it. How Ephesus and Pamukkale fit inside that route is set out separately.
Who it is not for: travellers with small children or reduced mobility. Nine nights with five moves and long drives are more tiring than they look on paper.
The Grand Journey across Turkey adds the Turquoise Coast (Antalya, Fethiye, Ölüdeniz, Bodrum), Konya, the south-east with Göbeklitepe and Mount Nemrut, and finishes in Trabzon on the Black Sea. Several legs are flown, because by road they would not fit.
The trade-off is pace: fourteen nights spread across eleven stops. Cappadocia, for instance, gets a single night, against two on the seven-day tour. It is a long-haul trip and should be chosen knowingly; if the goal is Cappadocia without rushing, the guide to how many nights Cappadocia asks for covers it.
Who it is not for: a short first visit, or anyone who prefers few bases and day trips out from them.
Spring and autumn, for temperature and daylight. In the east of the country winter is an argument in itself, and in the Aegean summer forces open-air visits much earlier in the day.
Yes. Five of the six run with licensed Spanish-speaking guides during the visits. On the Kars tour the guiding language depends on the make-up of the group and may be Spanish or Turkish, and the product page says so.
Yes. They chain together, and Egypt, Jordan and the Greek islands are added only as extensions to a Turkey itinerary.
The six programmes are the starting point, not the limit. Length, nights per city and hotel category are adjusted against the actual request: that is how a private tailor-made tour of Turkey is built.
All six programmes are in the Turkey tour catalogue. Send the dates, traveller numbers and the hotel category you are after and we will prepare the quotation. For trade enquiries, the working conditions are in the trade area.
