Turkey small group holiday, in comfort
Late availability on these dates: 30 Aug, 01 Sep, 03 Sep, 06 Sep, 08 Sep, 10 Sep, 12 Sep, 13 Sep, 15 Sep, 17 Sep, 20 Sep, 22 Sep, 24 Sep, 27 Sep, 29 Sep, 01 Oct, 11 Oct, 13 Oct, 15 Oct, 18 Oct, 20 Oct, 25 Oct, 29 Oct
Description of Turkey small group holiday, in comfort
This two-week small group tour around Turkey is an absolute joy, taking in many destinations of immense historic and cultural significance, with an itinerary designed to leave you with memories to treasure for years to come.
An enthralling two weeks gets underway in the metropolis of Istanbul, its diverse population a reflection of Turkey’s position straddling Europe and Asia, on the ancient Silk Road trading route. A guided tour of the old city, and a welcome dinner at a stylish restaurant, are the ideal way to get to know the rest of your group and your local tour leader.
From Istanbul the tour loops west, taking in the battlefields of Gallipoli, and an intriguing stop in Troy. Here you can pose for a photo with a replica wooden horse, but the real interest is in learning how this site has posed questions for historians and archaeologists for generations. Another stop likely to be of great interest is Selcuk, where you’ll walk pavements once crossed by Cleopatra and Mark Antony, and visit a local winery. Here you’ll meet a local chef, too, and learn to make some traditional mezze dishes with fresh, seasonal ingredients picked from her own garden.
Via the spectacular travertine terraces of Pamukkale, you’ll continue south to Kas, and the coast. Meeting up with a local couple, the group will board their boat for an island cruise, with plenty of swim stops in turquoise waters. Leaving the coast you head north, via Konya, the last resting place of Rumi, one of the world’s best-loved (and most misunderstood) poets.
Just east of Konya is the incredible Cappadocia region, and here you will enjoy a three-night stay in a cave hotel, the rooms literally carved into the rock. In Cappadocia a selection of included and optional activities awaits. Tour the open air museum of Goreme, a fascinating underground city, and a carpet-weaving cooperative that empowers local women through employment and training. And, if you would like, admire the beauty of Cappadocia from above, with an unforgettable hot air balloon flight. You could also watch a Whirling Dervishes’ performance, or savour a soak in a Turkish bath.
This small group holiday is a superb way to discover Turkey. A two-week itinerary means you can take your time and really get a sense of each destination along the route rather than just breezing through. And, through excellent connections built up over years, our tour operator can provide unique cultural insights from welcoming local people, that also help ancient ways of life and traditional industries to survive.
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Responsible Travel
Planet
We provide travellers with reusable fabric tote bags. The tote bags we provide to travellers on this trip through Turkey are made locally, providing employment and income to the local community. By providing travellers with tote bags we avoid creating more single-use plastic waste, supporting the Turkish government’s ban on free plastic bags, which was instigated in January 2019. During included walks through the valleys in Cappadocia, our trip leaders collect rubbish and encourage travellers to join them in keeping the beautiful natural environment as clean as possible.We reduce our energy and find local renewable energy sources for our energy.
We continue to seek out accommodation that is suitable for our travellers, while also finding properties that are making concerted efforts to reduce their environmental impact. On this trip through Turkey, we include properties that have water-saving measures in place, use renewable energy sources, and are built to complement their surroundings. This trip includes accommodation that uses solar power and provides water refill stations for guests.
People
We go direct to the source for many of the inclusions on our trips. Locally-owned accommodation, transport providers, activity suppliers. This ensures that income from tourism is directly benefitting local communities everywhere we go. While in Kas, travellers on this trip will spend a day out on a boat, learning about local fishing traditions from a couple who were born and bred on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. The day includes sailing round secluded bays and islets, visiting lesser-known island villages, and enjoying a freshly caught seafood lunch. It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet a local couple, learn about the traditional fishing culture of the islands, and support a community who are off the regular tourist trail.Our trips maximize the opportunity for travellers to engage meaningfully with local culture and communities. Many experiences on our trips also support traditional cultural practices – whether artisanal, culinary or otherwise. In turn, this helps to sustain and preserve these traditional practices so that future generations may continue to learn, enjoy and benefit from them. While in Cappadocia, this trip includes visits to a ceramic studio and a carpet weaving co-op. These are both traditional crafts in Turkey, with techniques specific to the Cappadocia region of Turkey. The ceramic studio is owned and operated by a local artist, who employs and trains other artists in the region, ensuring that traditional methods are preserved. The carpet-weaving co-op employs local women, who teach our travellers about dyeing and knot-tying techniques, both ensuring the techniques aren’t forgotten and providing a means for the women to support their families.
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