Most memorable and enjoyable trip to visit Turkey!

Turkey | Jun 1 - Jun 7, 2026

Wonderful location, ease of access via walking to the historical areas of Istanbul. Breakfast spread so much variety and delicious

It is a lovely cave hotel at the topmost part of Cappodacia. Our room was beautifully appointed and surprisingly very comfortable. Cool in the heat and warm at night. Plenty of lights as there are no windows. The only negative was the deep steps, as its an ancient site, the steps were difficult for us as older people to handle going up and down to get to our room.

Loved visiting the spice and the Grand Bazaar. I liked that our guide took us to the spice market the first day as its smaller and to acquaint us to “bazaars” then the Grand Bazaar which can be a bit overwhelming with its size but we only chose a few “streets” as we had specific things we wanted to buy. We also visited the oldest Turkish delight candy store, visited Rustum mosque with its beautiful blue tiles, and went on a boat tour on the Bosphorus to see both the European and Asian sides of Istanbul which fascinated us. It was a wonderful ending to a lovely tour to just sit on the boat, relax and drink tea seeing the sights. Highly recommend to end with that as we were a bit foot weary by then.

It was interesting at first but then seeing more sacred art in different caves became a bit tiring also, it's all uphill on a very hot day. We opted to stop sooner and did not see the rest. I realize we are not Christians and do not feel much affinity toward the paintings. But for Christians and those who love sacred art, seeing these in unusual places, the caves and the fact that these exist for your viewing is spectacular.

We loved trying our hand at creating pottery at the wheel. The guide at the pottery shop explained the process and also the famous ring wine of the Hittites. We loved learning about the history of this art and seeing all the beautiful ceramics. We immensely enjoyed the time spent there. We visited Love Valley and walked a bit, took some pictures then had delicious pistachio coffee for the first time. We sat and enjoyed the view from the cafe. I enjoy seeing the colored ceramic jars decorating the trees instead of "love locks" these are "jars of love and wishes" makes great and fascinating travel pictures.

We have never seen anything like this so it was so fascinating to watch the dancing. I am truly impressed that they were able to twirl continuously and in sync with each other with closed eyes!! I did try and oh boy, was I dizzy and off balance, especially when trying to close my eyes too. It takes years of training and skill!! We enjoy learning about different traditions, culture, clothing, food and customs etc. this one fits the bill. We enjoyed learning about the history of this place too and visiting the room with the beautiful lamps, so magical.

Love everything about this wonderful magical experience! Nothing can compare to this. Seeing how its done to being inside the hot air balloon to seeing the wondrous sights of the landscape and all the other balloons! So very special. Our pilot likes to navigate among the pillars, that was a bit scary but fun too.

Love visiting and seeing the landscape and the formations for the first time- I was in awe!! I could not believe my eyes and had to keep looking to see new formations, shapes, and the impossible concept of a heavy rock balanced on a precarious top. It is otherworldly! I was also fascinated to see a police station inside one of the formations! So cool!!

The set up is so romantic. Enjoyed the red Turkish wine, so smooth and delicious and the snacks really complements it. This trip was for our 45th wedding anniversary so it made it all the more special. Love the views too. Then we noticed the sky darken, true enough it started to rain suddenly, we all ran into our van. It was so funny. We never got to see the sun set but it emulates our wedding. it rained heavily the morning of our outdoor wedding. We went ahead and then it stopped raining and the sun came out when it was time for our wedding. Wow, we see it as a sign of good luck. So, when it rained on our wedding anniversary romantic sunset event, we see it as a good omen that good days are ahead. Smile.

Wow, just wow! Imagine people having to live underground for days!! I do have a phobia of small spaces so I am proud of myself for forging ahead and visit. It was worth it! Learned so much and how ingenious people back then were in creating a living space for their animals, themselves, making wine, kitchen and even a church. How they close those spaces with those heavy circular rocks!! I am very impressed. I am also impressed with myself for being able to navigate through those narrow tunnels!!

It was a very hot day, we asked if we can forego this activity instead our guide took us to the village of Ayvali and Mustafapha which are very, very special and well worth our time. We visited a traditional Turkish restaurant, had a lovely lunch and met the owner who knew sign language. It was fun to converse with him and with his Deaf aunt via videophone. We also got to watch a small village election for a mayor. The changing of the flags for each party, etc It was fascinating to watch for a while. We also asked for a few hours on our own. We went browsing among the shops near our hotel. We got to watch a master Tuff carver create beautiful formations like we see in the landscape. We enjoyed chatting with some shop owners, learned about Zultanite stones, wow. And just sit in a cafe, and enjoy the views.

The Blue Mosque is a beautiful building. I kept staring at it. I have so many pictures of this mosque during the daytime and nighttime. Hagia Sophia has an interesting history we learned from our guide, Zekiye, also the Hippodrome, the scupltures in the area and some buildings have an interesting history. We also visited a carpet store and learned how they made rugs. Fascinating too.

It was an interesting and beautiful palace. We learned so much about palace and harem living and dispelled some myths originally thought. We did not visit all the museums but saw most of it as we were tired and a bit hungry by then. We appreciated our guide being flexible. We did watch the palace guards band which was a nice way to see a sort of reenactment as it was in the olden days.