After very successful private tours in Peru, Italy and Ireland, my wife and I decided that to fully enjoy Turkey we needed a private guide for our 2015 trip. I began email exchanges with Ozkan Bicer last winter and he developed an itinerary that covered 3 regions with all the domestic flights and hotels. He was very accommodating and answered all of my questions. We wanted top accommodations and an apartment for our Istanbul leg. Confirming and down payment were smooth.

Our first guide was Ozkan’ s brother Abdil in Istanbul. I can't say enough positive things about him. We saw all the sights at the right times to avoid cruise ship lines, ate at great places he recommended, shopped at quality places in the markets with some negotiating help, all at a pace tailored to our wishes. Always on time, always pleasant and informative. Perfect English.

Next up was Bayram in the Cappadocia region. Unfortunately our hot air balloon ride was canceled due to winds (not the tour's fault...and they credited our account for the cost) but Bayram took us to so many fascinating places on the ground that it didn't really matter. Underground city, churches carved into the rocks, amazing scenery...and more shopping of course. As with Abdil, terrific food recommendations. Really a wonderful part of the country.

Then to the coast and the ruins at Ephesus and other sites. Our central base was in a coastal town and our guide was Mehmet. Another great one...we got in late to the hotel on our first night and he switched days so we could sleep in. The driver was amazing, negotiating mountain turns and finding city shortcuts with his Mercedes van. More great food, and a reasonable schedule that gave us afternoon down time to relax after trooping through the amazing ruins. We've been to Rome....the Turkish Roman ruins are much better preserved (and were not cannibalized to build the Vatican).

Then it was back to Istanbul for an overnight to Gallipoli and Troy, again with Abdil. We stayed in Edirne and enjoyed two beautiful mosques and a medical museum the next day before driving back to Istanbul for a free day before returning home.

All of the hotel arrangements, drivers, and details of the trip went perfectly. We wanted to leave some of our luggage in Istanbul after the first leg and they took care of it...one of the little great moments that makes travel so wonderful were the big smiles on the faces of the guys who were storing the luggage for us when they brought it to our van after arriving in Istanbul. We stayed in touch with Ozkan and Abdil during all of the tour and made some adjustments as we went along.

Besides seeing all the sites in our tour I feel that we learned so much about Turkey, its history and people. We came at the end of Ramadan and all of our guides were happy to tell us about Islam and explain the details of the mosques we visited. And they were very knowledgeable about the Christian and Jewish sites we visited as well. Friends who have been to Turkey raved about the people and loved the country....they were right. Visit Turkey for sure....and hire Turkey Tours by Local Guides to make your trip as memorable as ours.

Visited: July 2015