Gallipoli, Troy vs. days in Istabul

The answer will depend on your interests. You could very easily spend those days in Istanbul, experiencing an incredible variety of activities. Even subtracting the sites covered on your R.S. tour, you would have no problem filling an itinerary for those extra days in Istanbul. Consider a full Bosphorus cruise, a performance by the Turkish military band, a hamam, the newly renovated Suleyman mosque, the Archeological Museum, Eminonu, more time on the Asian side, a tea garden, extra time at the huge Grand Bazaar, etc. The other two places certainly have a historical angle, but you might research them to find out what you would actually be seeing at these sites.

Hi Peter, I just visited Gallipoli and Troy in May on RS Villages Tour. I also took the (awesome) Best of Turkey tour last April. I assume you must be taking the Best of Turkey tour since both sites are included in the Villages tour. I thought Gallipoli was over-rated. Unless you have a personal connection to the ANZAC history or are very interested in WWI military battlefields, I think your time will be better spent in Istanbul. Troy was very interesting but it is really an overnite trip so you'll eat up two full days to go down there. If you go, you might as well visit Gallipoli too. The excavations at Troy are fairly well marked but I suggest a tour guide to get the most out of it. There is no on-site museum. By the way, the Museum of Archaeology (on grounds of Topkapi Palace in Istanbul) has an excellent, large section dedicated just to the Troy excavations. If this is your first time to Istanbul, you'll find plenty of very interesting things to do there and if you're like me, you'll need to go back a few more times just to get your arms around that incredible city. Have a great trip!

My vote is Istanbul. It takes about 4 days to see most of what I consider the main sites in that city. Turkey is covered with Greek and Roman sites. A quick skim of the RS tour shows that you'll be visiting three on your tour, so you will not be missing exposure to that aspect of Turkish history. The only reason I would suggest adding Gallipoli instead is if either WWI history or early modern Turkish history is important to you. Have fun.

We went to Istanbul 2 days before the 14 day RS tour started and then spent two days there on the tour last summer. After the tour was over we returned to Istanbul for another 5 days and finally saw everything we wanted to see. I would return to Istanbul anytime.