Turkey adventure holiday
Highlights
Istanbul | Bursa | Dervish Lodge visit | Selcuk farming village | Ephesus guided archaeological site visit | train to Pamukkale | Hierapolis & Travertines National Park | Mediterranean coast, village of Kayakoy | half day trek along Lycian Way to Oludeniz | swim in Blue Lagoon | Kas | visit handicraft market | overnight boat trip from Kekova | Antalya | Konya | Cappadocia | Goreme | dinner at Cappadoccian family house | optional: hot air balloon ride | walks and hiking | subterranean citiesDescription of Turkey adventure holiday
This 15 day Turkey adventure holiday is an exciting and diverse tour, including ancient sites and Ottoman culture, wonderful food, a chance to swim in the Mediterranean, hike the Lycian Way and explore amazing rock formations and sunken cities.Visit Istanbul, where you can admire the Blue Mosque and shop in the Grand Bazaar, discover ancient Ephesus, learn more about the Whirling Dervishes in Konya and relax on the coast on a Mediterranean boat trip. Enjoy a paddle in the healing hot springs at Pamukkale and uncover the streets of Hierapolis, once walked by Cleopatra. Spend time in remarkable Cappadocia, too, walking through a landscape honeycombed with caves, churches, underground cities, prehistoric rock formations and fairy chimneys. This is a really varied tour, taking you to famous spots but also quiet villages and towns, where you can experience Turkish life unchanged by tourism. Shop in markets, learn how to make traditional gozleme flatbreads, swim, hike and enjoy a meal with a local family in Cappadocia. This tour is a comprehensive introduction to Turkey.
Hello. If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. Rosy & team.
01273 823 700 rosy@responsibletravel.com
Check dates, prices & availability
Small group adventure
What is a small group adventure?It's a great way to travel! Whether you are travelling on your own, with a partner or with friends, a small group trip is a fantastic way to see the world. You'll travel on a fixed itinerary that has been designed to help you discover the best of region. From the known highlights, the hidden gems that you won't find in the guidebooks.
Itineraries run on set departure dates, accompanied every step of the way by an English speaking local group leader. You chose the itinerary and the date that suits you best and you book on.
Why travel on a small group adventure?
Small groups allow us to explore where larger tour groups can't. Our maximum group size of 16 travellers allows us to use local transport to get from A to B, to visit rural villages, spend time with the locals and even stay at a local home overnight, and it allows us to give our travellers genuine, real life experiences of the countries we are visiting; what you'll be doing and how you'll travel depends entirely on your chosen itinerary.
Is an adventure right for me?
The word adventure means something different to everyone, and our range of trips reflects that. Whether you want to explore local markets, visit out of the way temples and meet local people or go on an early morning safari drive searching for the 'big five', we'll have a trip for you. If you are looking for a physical challenge such trekking the Kokoda Track or summiting Kilimanjaro, we can help with that too.
So what can I expect on this trip?
This is a classic style of small group adventure. You'll find your trip combines a good mix of included activities and free time, with some meals included as per your itinerary. We don't want you to feel chaperoned, it's your holiday not ours. Your group leader will be on hand to assist with organising anything you might wish to do in your free time, but how you spend it is up to you. Anything listed as included in your itinerary will be included in trip price; whereas anything listed as optional will be at an additional cost should you wish to take part.
These trips are great value, including things that you would struggle to organise independently, such as a night at a homestay in a remote village, or local guides around a remote place of interest. Transport will be a combination of private vehicle and public transport, whichever is the most appropriate for the route we are travelling; this might include train, plane, camel, tuk tuk, bicycle, boat…
On a majority of these trips you'll stay in 2-3 star accommodation, locally owned and reflective of the region you are travelling through. All solo travellers will be automatically roomed on a twin share basis with another group member of the same sex, unless you opt to pay for your own room at time of booking. There are no compulsory single supplements for solo travellers willing to share. Single rooms aren't available on camping trips, and you will be expected to help out with camp tasks such as setting up and breaking down your camp.
Can I book my flights with you?
Yes! We are a fully ATOL bonded tour operator meaning that we can book flights from the UK as part of your holiday package. Just ask us for a quote including flights when you make your enquiry.
Responsible tourism
Responsible tourism: Turkey adventure holiday
As you make your way around delightful Turkey we are proud to introduce you to our local operators all of whom we have come to think of as our extended families. All the accomodation is owned by local families and our continued business goes along way to support their economy. Just some of the characters you will meet along the way are Mehmet and Ulmi in Pamukkale where you can enjoy a fabulous home cooked meal.
Perhaps one of the most highly regarded aspects of this trip is a visit to an authentic Whirling Dervish lodge in Bursa where our guests are able to witness the spiritual ritual of Sema and afterwards have the opportunity to share tea and chat with the Dervish. Our guests also sit down for dinner in the home of a local family in Cappdoccia giving them the opportunity to learn intimately about their lifestyles.
We take responsible tourism concepts seriously therefore the guides on this trip are all local and will be able to share a wealth of historical and cultural insight in both Ephesus and the Cappadoccian region. Our leaders take the time to inform our guests about the local customs and behaviour to minimise any negative social impact of our trips, while also encouraging local interaction with our passengers enabling the two cultures learn from each other.
On trip we travel by public bus and have the opportunity to travel amongst the locals. The only exception to this is as we make our way to Capadoccia and to minimise travel times we hire a local bus and driver. We are working closley with a local charity in Cappadoccia to help low income families living in historic cave and tradditional homes restore them in an authentic manner. Its possible to do an interesting walk around the village and region to see the results. Our Tour leaders actively encourage passengers to leave left over tolietries and unwanted clothes which we donate through the local mosques to families in need,
1 Reviews of Turkey adventure holiday
Reviewed on 07 Oct 2008 by Robyn Chalmers
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Cappadocia - the hot air ballooning and the walk through to our new home stay Ortahisar.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Ensure the guide offers competitive prices. I think that the price of the hot air ballooning was potentially double/more than what another group offered but we were "on the spot" with the decision and there was no comparative pricing and the marketing push was that everyone including all the other groups were fully booked. It was a very expensive trip. The cheaper tour we literally "bumped into"/nudged in fun as we were up in the air and they seemed to be doing pretty much what we were doing. There again, except for a quick call in to the office to get the price the next day, too late, I didn't have the opportunity to compare availability. I was holding off doing it until I saw the landscape. I hadn't even seen a picture of the area before I went. If I had I would have signed up earlier and maybe I could have helped set a trend and others booked early. But... I am still not convinced that that organisation which was professional and fantastic was the only group with these qualities.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?
Yes. Our local bus, train and ferry rides were with the bulk of the population movement so that we didn't create any new energy loss.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Thoroughly enjoyable with a fabulous small group of really friendly people who shared all aspects of the tour in fun whilst caring for the people and their language.
Read the operator's response here:
The local company that our leaders recommend is one of the more established companies and while it is more expensive than some of the other options they do have a 100percent safety record over the last 10 years and only use pilots with a vast amount of experience. We believe that it is best for us to recommend a company that we trust to meet all our passengers' expectations in terms of quality and safety.
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