Simone from our Wellingborough office visited Turkey last November as part of an ‘educational’ tour with Titan Tours. Turkey has long been a favourite
beach destination but could it potentially be your next tour adventure? Here are Simone’s recommendations…

I was lucky enough to be selected to go on Titan’s Magnificent Turkey Tour in November.  So, I wanted to give you a bit of an insight as to what I got up too.

The holiday started with an early morning VIP pickup from my home straight through to Heathrow; worth its weight in gold, as no driving, car parking and no stress!

Our first 3 nights were spent in Istanbul. A city that I loved. It is such a vast, clean & modern city, with so much to do and see!

We visited the blue mosque, which was a first for me. We also visited the Suleymaniye Mosque & Hagia Sophia. The architecture and detailing in the mosques were something else. A visit to Topkapi Palace & museum was fascinating, home to the sultans! Again, such breathtaking buildings and amazing detail.

Whilst in Istanbul we also visited the grand bazaar shopping mall. It was an amazing mall with over 61 streets & 4000 shops! Probably the highlight of Istanbul for me was the Basilica Cisterns… an underground water plant. It blew me away, the underground water system served water across the city, and was beautiful, featuring in the James Bond film From Russia with Love.

We finished Istanbul with a Istanbul Bosphorus cruise, taking in the amazing homes of the rich & famous.

We journeyed to Canakkale area where we went to the sites of Gallipoli. The battlefields, memorials, trenches and landing sites of the Anzacs during WW1. The area was solemn & peaceful and really brought a tear to the eye.

Next up, was the ancient city of Troy which has been rebuilt at least 9 times.  Here you’ll find the war horse that was gifted to the Turkish people.

Lunch was then served in a local family’s home, a lovely selection of true traditional Turkish dishes, it was great to meet local people & be welcomed into their homes.

Our next stop was Ephesus, this ancient city did not disappoint. Lunch was provided again on the tour, and was an excellent selection of amazing Meze & Turkish dishes. We even had a cookery lesson and made our own Pides (Turkish pizza). We then got to take a look at how Turkish carpets & rugs were made.

We then drove down to Pamakkule.  These natural thermal pools, with deposits of calcium have given the rocks a distinctive white look, are the only site of their kind in the world.

We finished the tour by heading to Antalya, where we had an evening free to explore the old town. Such a pretty town and lots of bargains to be had.

Our trip was amazing, it was quite heavy going on the walking, accumulating over 41 miles walked in the week! But, was worth every single step.

Pop into the Wellingborough Office or call 01933 441919 to speak to Simone about your Turkey tour requirements.