My wife and I are taking the RS city tour of Istanbul in oct and would like to do a pretour to Ephesus and or Cappadocia. After reading their website not sure if they have scheduled tours of these locations or do you make a private tour with SRM travel. Has anyone used SRM travel which is associated with RS.
Posted by
Honolulu/Seattle, HI/WA, USA
2788 posts
We took the RS 14 day Turkey tour last summer. Our guide for the whole trip was supplied by SRM Travel. They are the co-authors of RS Istanbul Guide Book. Our female guide lived in Istanbul and was excellent. That was our 8th RS tour.
I would certainly contact them for advice if I was starting out looking for what you are trying to find. We spent several days in Istanbul before the tour started, a couple of days there on the tour, and then we returned there for 5 days after the tour was over. We really enjoyed Istanbul and I would return there in a minute. After the tour was over, we stayed at the Hotel Satton Hill (sp?) that we found in RS guide book. Great place. I would stay there again if/when we ever return to Istanbul. Have a good time and happy travels. aloha charlie
Posted by
Arlington, TX, USA
281 posts
I used SRM travel last year after the RS Istanbul 7 Day tour. The ash prevented my departure and myself and five others went to Cappadocia for a 2 day/1 night tour. It was essentially 2 days of the RS Village tour and the trip was seamless. Our guide traveled with us and we had a driver waiting at the airport. I believe you could do Ephesus on your own (I did not go there but others did) but you need to rent a car or have a driver for Cappadocia. We stayed at a 200 year old Greek Hotel and ate 3 meals there which were great. We also had a home visit and lunch with a lovely lady and her mother..a simple but delicious lunch. SRM
is expensive but very well organized and dependable.
Posted by
Bellevue
9 posts
Second the opinion that SRM is good but expensive. Last year we used Backpackers Travel (www.backpackerstravel.net) for a day tour of Istanbul and were very pleased with the tour guide and the price. They also do tours beyond just Istanbul.