RS Turkey in 13 days

Mary, I haven't done the tour but I've traveled alone in Turkey and it was great. If you and your husband have traveled without a tour before, you can do Turkey that way as well. As for "tummy troubles", start eating yogurt every day for a couple of weeks before you go, and enjoy it in Turkey as well. I used long distance buses to travel from city to city (sometimes very long distances) and there were always adequate bathroom and food breaks. On the bus, you'll probably be given lemon-scented cologne to refresh your hands and face, and tea, and maybe a cookie. When I last traveled there a few years ago, smoking was permitted on the bus, but the ticket agents always put the tourists in the front seats, near the driver's open window (there's also air conditioning on most buses) and away from the smokers. You will encounter smoking all over Turkey.

We took the tour 2 years ago.We have also travelled mostly independently but felt Turkey would be best on a tour. We thouroughly enjoyed this tour and felt we it was a great value. There were 24 people on the tour which leaves about half of the bus empty so plenty of space to stretch out . The bus makes plentiful bathroom breaks. It was never an issue. On our particular tour no one complained of tummy issues but I have heard of other tours where this was a problem. There is extra toilet paper, paper towels, hand sanitizer, and water on the bus.
The people on the tour were all very pleasant companions. If you take the tour I would definitely plan a few days in Istanbul on your own to get acclimated. We enjoyed having that time before meeting up with the group and Istanbul is a very vibrant city with plenty to do. You are welcome to message me if you have any other specific questions.

We took RS Turkey 13 day tour in March 2012, it was fabulous. As you we had sim thoughts about traveling to Turkey independently, it was our first organized tour ever in over 30 yrs of foreign travel. Structure was not a prob as there was independent time avail also.In a land of foreign language with few English speaking locals , structure is welcomed. No intestinal prob that I know of and avail of Purell on bus was there to use. Bathroom breaks were sufficient but no bathroom on bus. I highly recom this tour and am planning another RS tour next yr right now. If you get M
ert Tanner as your guide you will get an additional perk of tour guide/entertainer. Hope this helps you alittle, email me if you need additional info.

Not a personal report, but a reliable one, I suspect -- My wife and I were on the Eastern Europe tour this year, a 3rd time in Europe but the 1st not going independent. Our experience was much as told by the others above, with sufficient stops, compact onboard facilities, and 24 touring folk on the bus for plenty of space. The tour included 4 Canadians and 20 Americans. The BC and AB couple had met 2 years earlier on the Turkey tour, and timed this year's outing to be together again. They recommended the Turkey tour highly, as you might suspect.
My reason for going independent after the RS tour this year (5 weeks total) was to see more of the old Yugoslavia, with a taste of Ottoman influence. My wife dropped her refusal ever to visit Turkey, but still not excited about it. Now, talking with others here at home with their own stories to tell, she is considering that as our next serious destination -- and I would think the RS tour might get our business. There are other companies out there, but ETBD does a pretty dang good job for the price.

While we prefer to travel independently, this tour offers a great itinerary that would be too challenging for most independent travelers given the distances/time. So, yes, we took the tour and loved it. Structure is not a problem, as there is adequate free time to explore on your own or just relax and enjoy a marvelous Turkish bath. Turkey has fascinating ruins and very friendly people, especially young adults and children as they practiced their English with us. In my opinion, we enjoyed the healthiest food in a foreign country with fresh fruits/vegetables, tasty breads and perfectly grilled meats. Our group started to rate the public restrooms giving five stars for superior, four stars for very good, etc. We only fell below four stars at a public restroom in a rural (non-tourist) community. I like taking probiotics and not overeating, drinking to excess, etc. One person became ill during our tour, with the guide providing expert assistance. That person was an idiot and failed to adhere to basic sanitation guidelines and we predicted the outcome. Such is a good reminder though to purchase medical insurance including evacuation coverage.

We took this tour in September, 2011, and it was fantastic. We have travel experience similar to yours; a mix of mostly independent travel and guided tours. And similar to you, we felt a bit reticent to visit Turkey on our own. In hindsight I think we could have done it on our own, but with all the arrangements made for you it is really easy. So yes, we enjoyed being on a structured tour because one learns so much more than otherwise. We were offered many options and also time to get away on our own. I don't recall folks having intestinal troubles. On our tour we took the overnight train from Istanbul to Ankara and I notice they have changed that to a bus. There wasn't a bathroom on the bus, but stops were frequent, every couple hours I would guess. A couple of our all time top travel experiences were the (optional) hot-air balloon ride in Cappadocia, and visiting Ephesus. Our guide was Aysegul and she was fantastic! An advantage to ending in Kusadasi is that it is easy to get to Samos and then to other Greek islands or to the Greek mainland. Have a great trip!

Thanks everybody for your replies. We have decided to do the tour. We probably could do it on our own but this will be decidedly easier considering the distances involved.

Mary, It's great to hear that you've decided to take the tour. Although I haven't tried any of the Turkey tours yet, I have taken six other RS tours. I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time! I've met many of the Guides for Turkey, and they're a great bunch! Happy travels!

Hi, we are booked with RS on this tour in early September 2013. This will be our 5th RS tour. Typically when we do a RS tour we add a few weeks so that gives us more independent time and we only have to worry about the logistics for a shorter period. Other times we travel completely on our own. Why do we keep using RS? Buses are not crowded and stop for breaks about every 2 hours; good free time to do our thing, well informed guides; no push to take us shopping; great local food and hotels so we actually experience the country; and the wonderful people we meet on the tour, some of whom we are still in touch with.