Private Tour of Turkey In 7-Days: Cappadocia- Ephesus- Pamukkale- Istanbul

Ertunga and his team was amazing. Everything was so smooth and efficient.

Starting from trip planning, we planned trip with Ertunga's advise and local recommendations customizing from the existing program to ensure it meet our needs and schedule, through exchanges via emails and whatsapp until we got what we are confident this would be OUR trip. Also, this is our first time in Turkey so we are very excited.

Then, all the logistics are so efficient. Our tour includes a few flights between cities, so the flight booking and transfer are all very well coordinated. Also, local accommodation in the program is very good and comfortable ( we found out better than if we would book ourselves ). All drivers are very polite and nice. Kudos to Maria who makes sure smooth coordination, any questions, glitches got addressed and resolved within minutes.

Of course, highlights is the quality of our guides.

Our Istanbul guide Cafer was superb and he explains us the city and its history very well, not too lengthy but enough for me and my 13-year old to have sufficient background and context to appreciate sightseeing places. He is also very efficient as he flexes our schedule on the fly so we can avoid crowd and can see most of places we are supposed to see and slot in some last minute requests. He also introduces us to all the delicious local dishes. What a first impression for our first Turkey trip.

Then, Ali in Cappadocia really amazed us with all his wealth of knowledge about the formation in the area and the long history. We learned later that he teaches archeology and history at a college, what an honor !! He introduced us to a very lovely family restaurant where we talked to the owner and family that runs the restaurant and serves us again delicious local dish. We especially enjoyed the serenity and calmness at the off-the-grid cave chapel operated by a small local family. He is full of heart, and I can see he is well-respected in the community.

Ertunga himself guided us for our last leg of the trip in Ephesus. it is a nice way to close and part our tour program.

Throughout our program, our interactions with guides also open us to know a little bit more about local people, wisdom, their points of views in general. These local insights along with the rich histories of the places are things we will never forget.

We feel very lucky and fortunate that we have his team at our side to experience the new country.

We plan to come back again to visit other parts we have not been to and we would definitely use them again.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip! As soon as we booked, Ertunga From Felicity Travel contacted us to get details. He was very responsive and also helped us also add-on extras like a hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia (really a MUST-DO) and a visit to a hamam in Istanbul (also should be on your list!). Once we arrived, we had a WhatsApp contact, Maria, who was there to assist every step of the way, so any time we had questions we could reach out and she got back to us quickly. Even when we were not with a guide, it was great to know there was someone to answer questions.

The trip is really comprehensive. You get to see so much in such a short time. It is at least a moderate-level activity for many of the sites. Lots of steps and hills and uneven roads. If you have mobility issues, definitely let them know ahead of time because some sites may be difficult to access.

I would also recommend if you have the time and money to add on at least one rest day in the middle. You are almost constantly on the move. There are 3 flights within the country on this itinerary so you are not staying in one place very long! Each day is relatively packed with activities. You have some evenings free, but a couple of them are spent at the airport en route to the next destination. I'd suggest somewhere in the middle of the trip to take a break. Kusadasi (where you stay to see Aphrodisias and Pamukkale) is a nice beach town, and Cappadocia is just amazing. Just somewhere you can relax and sleep in for a day.

As I said above, in Cappadocia we added a hot air balloon (it was $250 US in cash per person) but well worth it! A unique experience and an amazing way to see the landscape. In addition, a hamam (Turkish bath) is another experience not to be missed. We added on the Cağaloğlu Hamam in Istanbul, but there are many hamams in all locations and they can assist you with choosing one. I also did a paragliding experience in Pamukkale. I didn't even know this was an option. Our guide mentioned it off-hand and when we arrived I saw the parachutes and we arranged it on the spot. It was cash $35 US for the ride, and an additional $60 if you want pictures and video (which, of course you do).

We chose the 5-star hotel option and were pleased with the accommodations.

All the hotels offered a buffet breakfast. The guides take you to a place for lunch. Let them know if you have dietary requirements. We're vegan and they made sure there were options wherever we went. Dinners are on your own, though as I said, a few of the nights you might find yourself at an airport instead.

Many places take US dollars and Euros. But there are also cash machines all around as well, and most of the places you will visit are touristy enough and you can usually use a credit card too.

I highly recommend this package!

We had such a wonderful trip of Turkey thanks to Ertunga and his team! Transfers were arranged in a comfortable Mercedes van (we had 6 people in our group). We had a private tour guide at each of the places that we visited. Each of our guides was great! The guides were knowledgeable, friendly and took good care of us.

Our whole itinerary was designed by Ertunga's tour company and they made all the bookings (domestic flights, hotels, tickets for attractions etc.). We had certain dietary requirements (vegetarian food) and they made sure those were taken care of everyday at every place.

The vehicles used were very comfortable, had water at all times, charging port was also available & plenty of storage.

The tour company and guides were flexible to accomodate adjustments to our itinerary as per our needs such as ending early when we were jet-lagged or switching lunch places if we asked for a certain kind of meal.

There is a lot of walking required to see places in Turkey.. Istanbul esp. has mainly all walking tours.

We had connected with this tour company on Whatsapp and they were very responsive to all our questions and needs throughout our trip.

Some highlights of the trip : hot air balloon ride in Capadoccia was wonderful, exploring Istanbul by foot and taking the boat tour were very enjoyable, Pamukale was quite unique, the Hamam bath experience was nice too, underground city in Cappadoccia was very interesting. This tour company arranged all of these for us and more.

All in all, we really enjoyed visiting Turkey through this tour company and highly recommend them!

What an amazing experience. Hit many highlights of Turkey in 7 day trip. We have a special needs son and the tour guides were amazing with him. Would love to spend more time in Turkey in the future and would use this tour company again. Everything was arranged for us excluding dinners.

I custom tailored a 5 day tour for my daughter and I. Planning was very professional and quick on communication and advice. Ozgur Dalkilic was our tour guide for the first 3 days. Absolutely loved getting to know him. Very good english, punctual, passionate about history, very accommodating to our wants, picked great meals for us and had great conversations with us during lunch. Great way to learn more about the country, politics, customs etc. if you are interested. Vans and drivers were good but do not speak much english. I booked our own hotels. -

We were picked up in Antalya, visited some sites and made our way to Pamukkale for a late afternoon tour. Next day transferred to Kusadasi with a stop in Aphrodisias. 3rd day Ephesus etc with a flight to Cappadocia. - Transfers from/to the airport to Goreme were great. Touring the Goreme area can be done in a full day (in our agenda we had 2 days and wasted some time / but account for the hote air balloon ride which is VERY early in the AM).

Did not plan our hot air balloon ride through Ertunga but it is a MUST to do. Also, sad advice - don't expect the pools in Pamukkale to look like the pictures. Most pools were dry when we were there. We did enter the park privately a 2nd time at 6:30 AM to get pictures without hundreads of people there. We were very disappointed.

Mr Ertunga is well versed with the history & culture of the attractions that we’ve visited. It was interesting as he made us think before explaining about the historical landmarks. We felt safe traveling with him, would definitely recommend his tour :)