George,

attached in an MS-Word document is some information from Insight's Australia website on Turkey from a month or so ago (this month, these sites are focussed on Croatia):

• ""Destination of the month" and,
  
• "Meet an Insight Tour Director"

I believe that you have these same sections on Insight's Canadian website.

Incidentally, my wife booked her two tours to Turkey and Croatia for next May and the Insight website then highlighted Turkey and Croatia in turn. An amazing coincidence!

phil

Insight_-_Turkey_Destination_of_the_Month.doc (78 Kb, 41 downloads)

Hi Phil,
Thanks for this information. We do have the same sections on the Canadian site but hadn't looked at it in awhile and so missed the one on Turkey.
It was a coincidence that the two sites should follow one after another like that after you had booked!
For your information I am having our TA check today to see if the Sept. 27 - Oct. 12 tour is available. Ramadan this year is Sept. 1-30 and so we will be there for the feast day at the end. We were in Egypt during Ramadan last October and enjoyed all the celebrating going on including the feast day.
Thanks again for bringing this to our attention and providing all the additional information.

George.

Phil:

This is fantastic. I love the detailed account of your research into this trip. Saves us all a lot of time "re-inventing the wheel"!

I have printed the entire account and am taking it with me on our trip this week. Infact we are going 2 days ahead to spend a little more time in Istanbul than what has been allocated by the tour. The last time I was in Turkey was in June 1974!!! I bet I'll see a lot of changes since then.
Thanks again for sharing this info.
Zaytoon

We went the middle of Sept. last year. A fellow my son worked with said Sept is the best time of the year to go there. Our weather was perfect.

Hi Lev,

quote:

WOW!!
Thank you Phil,
Your website is VERY useful. It seems that the tour offers only one full day in Istanbul.
As of now we are planning to leave Turkey for Vienna when the tour ends. Stay 3.5 days in Vienna and fly back to the States. Now I am thinking that it might make sense to stay one-two extra days in Istanbul and cut our stay in Vienna... or since we are arriving to Istanbul around noon, we will have a few hours to explore Istanbul on our own before meeting with the tour director: to take a taxi to the Sultanahmet area and explore Spice Bazaar and streets nearby or just walk to Dolmabahçe Palace from the hotel... then we will have cruise along the Bosphorus and the sightseeings with the group and it will good enough for Istanbul...
What do you think?
Thanks. Lev.

it would be a pity to not see some more of Istanbul, although Vienna is also an interesting city.

I would suggest a visit to the Dolmabahçe Palace (about 1.6km or 1 mile walk from your hotel) after your arrival in Istanbul (but check out the opening days closer to your arrival).

Adding an extra day at the end of your tour would allow a day something like the day my wife recently had prior to her tour. She and her friend took a taxi from the hotel to the Sultanahmet area after breakfast and walked to the Basilica Cistern, the Archaeology Museum, the Spice Bazaar and the Rüstem Pasha Mosque, after which they took a cab to and from the Chora Church (or Museum). They then sampled the fish sandwiches sold from the boats at the Galata Bridge [see: Balik ekmek! Balik ekmek!] and strolled back to the hotel stopping for a quick meal at a little cafe across the road and down from the hotel. With all that, they still managed to arrive back at the hotel just in time for the 6:00pm meeting with the Tour Director.

There are many other interesting things to see and do in Istanbul.

phil

This message has been edited. Last edited by: phil,

Vienna is probably my favourite European city, but Istanbul is also very special. We spent a week there after our tour in 2005 and found plenty to do to fill our time.

All of Phil's suggestions are excellent.

Hello,
We are gettiing close to our Treasures of Turkey tour in October. Phil, thanks again for the excellent advice.
I'm wondering if anyone has read Tom Brosnahan's book - Bright Sun, Strong Tea. It's the memoir of his time in Turkey and is only available through his web site. Typically I like to look through a book before I buy it but there is no opportunity here. So, if you read it, please tell me if it's worth a read.
Thanks, Roni

RoniSK - read Orhan Pamulk books as well - Turkey was incredible! Think I already mentioned to "shop as you go along" and don't wait for the Bazaar --- cheaper, more fun and less chaos!!!! We had a fantastic guide - Orhan - wonderful driver and bus steward as well --- oneof our best!!!!!

Dukemom-
Thank you for the recommendation. I looked up books by Orhan Pamulk on-line and will be off to my local bookstore to have a look. And I definitely plan to take your advice on shopping. My current list consists of scarves and bathrobes in Bursa, Decorative ceramics in Iznik and jewelry wherever something strikes my fancy. Of course that list will change when I arrive and other things catch my eye. We booked a while ago but now that it's getting closer we are getting very excited!

Think I mentioned this but we bought some lace doilies and then some beautiful notecards - mounted the pictured over the lace (as borders) had them framed and they look amazing! I did this trip with my sister and we gave them as gifts to friends ---- keep that thought!!!!!!
Have a wonderful time!!!