tour companies in turkey and egypt

First, better than what? Or, to be be less snarky, what are the qualities you are looking for in a tour? Second, this board is geared for do-it-yourselfers. There are people here who have taken tours, but many of them take Rick Steves tours and so there will be much less experience with other ones. Unfortunately, the same is true of other travel boards (do-it-yourselfers predominate), so you have to do some extensive searching to find trip reports involving tours. Rick offers tours to Turkey, but not to Egypt; you can find reports of his Turkey tours both on this Helpline and in the Tour section. Third, a big part of what makes tours different is not absolute "quality," but what you're paying, and then what you get for it. If you are taking a high end tour like Tauck or Maupintour, it costs much more than Globus or Gate 1. But you also get more. The group is smaller. The hotels are not only fancier, but are central instead of on the outskirts. There are more included excursions as opposed to optional ones. You may get better/and or more local food. You should have fewer shopping stops. Tips should be included instead of "optional." Etc, etc.

Gayle,
A company I used for Egypt, which also covers Turkey, is Archaeological Tours (office in New York). A great experience. However, these are academically oriented specialty tours, so whether you'll like them depends on your interests. The leader is a well qualified academic with expertise relevant to the areas visited (who is also an interesting presenter), and the groups are smaller than standard tours (so the cost is higher than some). I'd check their website if it interests you. I've been to Egypt a number of times and usually travel alone, but I'm glad I went there with a group the first time. While there's virtually no language barrier, logistics in Egypt can be far more challenging than I've ever encountered in Europe. It's also nice to have someone as a cultural coach. I've not been to Turkey and am planning to visit next year, but will do so via a cruise to make it easier (and my interest in Turkey more superficial than some other countries--I just want to visit Ephasus and Istanbul).

Rick offers 2 nice Turkey tours. I took the Best of Turkey tour and really enjoyed it. Have heard good things about the Village Turkey tour, too. You could also design your own Turkey tour through SRM Travel (www.srmtravel.com), although that would probably be more expensive. Adventures Abroad in Vancouver area offers several Egypt itineraries. Their tour style is similar to Rick's. I took one of their Egypt tours in 2005 and wouldn't hesitate to use them again. I've also talked to people who designed a custom tour through an Egytpian travel agent, although I don't know a specific agent to recommend. They had a private driver/guide for the tour and said it cost about the same as organized tours they considered.

thank you for the replies - well - while we have been travelling mostly on our own - we thought a tour might be the better way to see some of the less travelled areas of turkey and egypt - have been to both of these countries before - are aware Rick Steves does not conduct tours in Egypt - so were looking for some insight as to travel/tour companies some of the people in here might be familiar with, and their reasons for any recommendations. Thank you - this has been helpful.