Iconic sights and knowledgeable guides for a history and art filled 9-day trip

Turkey | Feb 26 - Mar 6, 2025

We had a wonderful 9-day trip to Turkey thanks to the efforts of Berat at Kimkim travel, and the knowledgeable guides she arranged, Volkan and Ozan, in Istanbul and Izmir.

My son and I wanted to do a history focused tour for this first trip to Turkey and with just that high level guidance, Berat produced an itinerary that covered successive periods all the way from Ancient Greek and Roman sites (Pirene, Ephesus) to Istanbul’s layers of empires (Roman to the Ottoman) and the after effects of the Turkish-Greek population exchange in Cyprus in 1923. We saw the main sights (Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque etc), but also some unexpected gems with interesting side stories (observed Sunday mass at the seat of the Orthodox Church near Balat).

(It turns out tour-guiding is a major in college in Turkey, combining history, geography, art history, communication, archaeology and more. It totally makes sense: the serious focus produces high quality guides who lead tours for visitors to Turkey as well as Turkish groups visiting other countries.)

Towards the end of our trip, we wanted to see more modern art and our guide helped us fit in the Istanbul Modern, various artsy places in Kadikoy (Asian side) and art galleries back on the European side.

Hotels, planes, taxis and even metro rides were included in the trip cost, but lunch/dinner and guide tips were not paid ahead.

The trip was on the expensive side, but this was a solid introduction to Turkey and we left wanting to come back soon.

Thank you Berat for this memorable trip.