Combining the 7 day and 13 day Istanbul/Turkey Tours

Some people have done this and really enjoyed the combination. Others wanted a bit more variety. It is really all about you and your interests.

Personally, I would schedule 3 extra days of independent sightseeing in Istanbul and combine it with Turkey tour. I’d spend 1 day on Yummy Istanbul’s “taste of two continents “ food tour. It gives a great intro to food and getting around Istanbul. Then I’d check what is included on Turkey tour and visit alternative locations in Istanbul. Public transport works well. Another spot I really enjoyed was the Mehter Band concert at the military museum.

I'd recommend checking out CWSocial's posts about her back to back tours in 2022.

Trip report: http://tinyurl.com/4suefw27

Helpful hints: http://tinyurl.com/2akn5zkh

I did the Best of Turkey tour in 2023 and there was one person who had done the Best of Istanbul tour just prior. As Istanbul is such a big and busy city, she appreciated having more time there even if the tours repeated a few things, plus having different guides offered other perspectives. Also, you can always opt out of an activity if you decide you don't want to go back. The Best of Turkey tour does not do Istanbul justice so as the prior poster noted, if you only do that tour be sure to add at least two or three days ahead in that city. I agree with taking a food tour as well - if you do Best of Turkey they usually offer an optional food tour the day before your official tour start date, but there are other private companies that also offer tours.

I took the Istanbul tour in 2015 and the Turkey tour in 2023. Both tours were fabulous with terrific guides. I also visited Istanbul on my own for a few days in 2016. Istanbul is a city you can visit many times and not run out of things to do.

The overlap between the tours would not bother me, but you could always skip something if you wanted to. The alternative (suggested above) of simply adding a few days on your own in Istanbul before the Turkey tour would be a good idea as well. Istanbul is quite doable on your own with the help of Rick Steve’s’ guidebook.

You could also consider hiring a private guide for one or more days.. Rick Steve’s’ partner in Turkey is SRM Travel and they might be able to help you with this. Their website is https://www.srmtravel.com/ They also often offer a food tour on the day preceding the Best of Turkey tour. I did this and it was great (even though it was the one day where it rained heavily!)

Thank you so much. In the past we have gone a few days early and followed RS’s book. I am just beginning ideas for this trip and was a little overwhelmed by the different parts of town and not knowing the metro access. The guide is a good option. Bill

surprised to find only 1 that had a close match to the other.

I found numerous instances where the Istanbul tour ends and 2 days later the Turkey tour starts.

Istanbul: Mar 29–Apr 4 (Su–Sa)
Turkey: Apr 6–Apr 18 (Mo–Sa)

Istanbul: Apr 12–Apr 18 (Su–Sa)
Turkey: Apr 20–May 2 (Mo–Sa)

Istanbul: May 17–May 23 (Su–Sa)
Turkey: May 25–Jun 6 (Mo–Sa)

And others ....

That schedule is quite interesting in that it would allow you to do the Foodie Tour offered by SRM (the company that guides all of the Rick Steves tours in Turkey) on the day between the two tours! Very, clever timing!!

Is this a bad idea because of tour overlap?

The Best of Turkey tour only spends about 2 days in Istanbul, so that's the max overlap. We were happy with a 2nd visit to the Istanbul highlights, which (in our case) were with a different guide, so we got a different perspective.

Both tours include a Bosphorus cruise, but the cruise during the Istanbul tour takes you over to the Asia side where you wander around and have lunch. So the cruise is just one part of a larger day in the Best of Istanbul itinerary.

Too much Istanbul?

I suppose that depends on how much you like cities. We did both tours AND we spent a day or two in Istanbul before the tours. And I've since been back for a full week, without duplicating much of what I did during my tour visits. I love big cities and was thrilled to have the extra time in Istanbul between the tours.

One small note of caution on skipping things that are duplicated between the tours.

We had thought we might skip the 2nd visit to the Grand Bazaar. However, the logistics of that day in our Best of Turkey tour were such that we walked from the tour hotel to the Grand Bazaar and from there, continued directly to the bus. So skipping that would have been tricky.

You might be able to skip the 2nd visit to the Hagia Sophia or Topkapi Palace .... but we wanted to go the 2nd time to see things that we might have missed the first time, or just to have a closer look.

For me, Hagia Sophia twice? Yes please!!