🇹🇷Turkey Tours

It depends on your passport, and the rules have changed more than once in recent years — several nationalities that used to need an e-Visa no longer do. Check the official Republic of Türkiye e-Visa site (evisa.gov.tr) for your own nationality before you book flights, and note that whatever the visa position, your passport normally needs at least 150 days of validity left on the day you arrive. If you tell us which passport you travel on, we will confirm the current position with your booking.

For the routes we run, yes, and ordinary caution is the whole of the advice: watch your pockets in crowded bazaars and on the Istanbul tram, use licensed taxis or a ride app, and keep an eye on your drink in nightlife districts. Solo women travel through Türkiye routinely, though you will get more attention in conservative inland towns than on the coast.

We do not run itineraries near the Syrian or Iraqi borders. Please read your own government's travel advice for the country as a whole before you travel, and tell us if anything in it concerns you — we would rather talk it through than have you wondering.

Everyday dress in Istanbul, İzmir and the coastal resorts is much like southern Europe. Inland and in the southeast, covering shoulders and knees saves you unwanted attention.

For mosques: shoulders and knees covered for everyone, women cover their hair, and shoes come off at the door. Carry a light scarf and wear shoes you can slip off — you will do this several times a day in Istanbul. Most large mosques lend scarves at the entrance. Visits are not possible during the five daily prayer times, and Friday midday is busiest.

Bring shoes with grip: Ephesus, Pergamon and Hierapolis are marble and uneven, and the travertines at Pamukkale are walked barefoot.

Tap water is chlorinated and safe to brush your teeth with, but almost nobody drinks it — the taste is heavily mineral and varies by region. Bottled water is cheap and everywhere. Bring a filter bottle if you would rather not buy plastic; our vehicles carry a refillable supply.

Customary, not compulsory. Round up taxi fares, leave roughly 5–10% in restaurants where service is not already included, and a small note for hotel housekeeping. Guides and drivers on our trips are paid a proper wage by us, so a tip is a thank-you rather than the bulk of their income.

Good. 4G and 5G cover the cities and the coasts, and reach most of the places we take you inland; expect gaps on mountain roads and in some of the Cappadocian valleys. Hotels, cafés and long-distance coaches nearly all have wi-fi.

An eSIM bought before you fly is usually the simplest option. Be aware that Türkiye registers phone IMEIs: a foreign handset used with a Turkish SIM is blocked after about 120 days, which only matters if you are staying months.

More than a coach tour, less than a trek. A typical day has two to four hours on your feet, much of it on uneven ancient stone, in the sun, with optional longer walks in Cappadocia and along parts of the Lycian Way. There are no altitude problems anywhere on our routes.

Every itinerary page carries its own physical rating. If you are unsure whether a particular trip suits you, write to us with the specifics rather than guessing — we would rather move you onto the right trip than have you struggling on the wrong one.

Small enough to sit at one table, get into the family-run places that cannot seat forty, and change the plan on the day when the weather or somebody turns out to have a better idea. You travel with a local leader who lives in the country, not a tour manager flown in for the season.

Groups skew wide in age and are usually a mix of couples, friends and solo travellers. Solo travellers are the largest single group on most departures, and there is no penalty for travelling alone unless you want a room to yourself.