Jewels of Turkey - 4 Day Trip to Pamukkale Ephesus Cappadocia with Balloon Ride

I’ve traveled a lot, and I’ve been to Turkey before, but my last trip with Turkdmc felt like a first-time experience, from another angle, another dimension. Everything happened exactly as promised on my bespoke itinerary, no surprises, no hidden gaps. The hotels, guides, and transfers were all spot-on, and their little touches made me feel genuinely cared for. It wasn’t just a trip, it was peace of mind paired with exceptional service. I’d happily travel with them again.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the most exciting trip of a lifetime the 13 Day Turkish Treasures. Our guide Yucel is what made this the most memorable trip for me and my two siblings. I've been on four Gate1 trips and the previous guides were good, but Yucel's knowledge, stories and love of his country really shined through throughout our whole trip. He was very attentive and helpful when translating was necessary. His knowledge of all the sites we visited was very impressive. I would definitely consider returning back to Turkey!

We just returned from our Treasures of Anatolia Trip. The dates of the trip were December 4- 14th, 2023. While reading another review about the same trip, I was sad to hear that Exotica and Euroriente, the travel agency in Turkey were aware about the challenges with the hotel (La Quinta by Wyndham) in Istanbul where we spent the first two days and a half in Istanbul. The hotel in Istanbul, the location was terrible. Istanbul's traffic is insane, and this hotel was very far away from the historical cities in Istanbul, so it took at least an hour to get to any of the sightseeing places. We would urge Exoticca to consider a different hotel in Istanbul for this tour, as wasting several hours in traffic while on vacation is not okay. Our tour guide in Istanbul, Cem Ali, was difficult to understand, and always seemed to be disorganized and in a hurry. We learned at the last day that it was his first tour. Perhaps he was feeling insecure. Fortunate, I am able to understand Spanish and the tour guide assigned to look after the four Spanish-speaking guests was excellent and his historical explanation about each location was delivered with enthusiasm and professionalism. He made every effort to make our trip enjoyable. All his explanations were presented calmly and thoroughly. He welcomed questions, and encouraged us to engage in the discussions and conversations. We must say that Cem Ali provided us information about the next day activities using WhatsApp, which was helpful. He also provided information regarding availability of restrooms (whether we needed to pay or not), food and food choices. He did not provide any information about, distance to walk and difficulty of the walk, souvenir shops and quality of merchandise and how much to pay for things. He could have done more to help and to guide us. He was very patient with a couple that was 5–7 minutes late daily and at every stop we made. Which was annoying; after all, we all knew what time we had to be on the bus. There was no reason to be late on a daily basis. Cem Ali was not very patient or solution focused when I shared about my concerns with leaving our luggage unattended at the hotel lobby while we went on our Balloon ride. He dismissed my concerns with; "the hotel will assume the liability for any loss, but not to worry as it has never happened before." I informed him and other guests that I would not leave my luggage unattended and left my luggage inside my room. The hot air balloon ride was interesting! Ankara, Cappadocia, Ephesus, Asklepion, Troia and Bursa were all incredible and interesting. People were very friendly and I felt safe. The best part of the trip was the people we met and had fun while learning about the rich culture of Turkey. Travelling always comes with ups and downs. It is all part of the journey towards self-discovery and personal growth. Considering everything, this trip was memorable and aside from the few things mentioned, we strongly recommend it.

Where to start? Communication with the tour provider was amazing. WhatsApp phone app makes it easier. Guides and drivers were professional, knowledgeable and and passionate about Turkey and its history. Do a little historical research before you go. Hotels were terrific and the meals were delicious. Ballon ride - a must do. I’d go again. Highly recommend!

Tour guides and local support of the regions were terrific and accommodating. However finer details not given til a few days before and found late flights and a hotel although beautiful was in wrong location. Too late to do anything as already overseas . Too much free time in Cappadocia when you needed transport as areas are fairly remote. Stayed in Upgurp when Goreme was more central.

Our given flight from Izmir to Istanboul is cancelled. We cannot catch our corresponding flight from Istanboul to Kayseri. After waiting 2 hours in the plane they let us out. Flight is cancelled. I’m on line for two hours with 110 people to find an alternative flight for tomorrow. I asked to be called to talk about our alternatives. Nobody is calling us.

We had an excellent tour of Cappadocia.The Red and Green tours were arranged by Muskara Travel Agency .Our guide for the Red tour was Mahmoud and for Green tour Emre. Both of them did a fantastic job giving us in depth information of the place and keeping the mood upbeat during the travel by their wit! The communication was excellent so was the spot selection for the tour.Loved the experience.

From the moment we were collected at our hotel in Istanbul we were treated like royalty. This is by far one of the most professional tours we have ever experienced. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and exceptionally helpful and friendly. The two hotels we stayed in were superb. We were able to see some of very special places in Turkey. All in all excellent

Great tour. Very well planned and top of the line service. The company stayed in touched with us the whole time. Everything was planned to perfection. We were picked up on time every day. Two great tour guides. Sumet and Mehmet. Mehmet was amazing. He was so enthusiastic about history, that he was able to get us to enjoy every minute. The hotel (cave room) in Urgup was beautiful. A dream suite and very romantic. The Ballon ride was amazing. I will recommend this tour to anyone. Great customer service.

Beautiful trip! In Cappadocia I was surprised with the natural beauties of the place to learn more about the history of its cities dug deep. The balloon ride very pleasant experience. To recommend!