Tour company recommendations for Turkey

My first Rick Steves tour was Turkey, a few years ago, and it was wonderful! I’ve recommended it to so many friends. I also arrived 5 days early and explored Istanbul on my own. I’m used to traveling solo and I always try to learn a few words in the language. YouTube is a great resource for this. Please, thank you, excuse me, yes, no, hello go a long way for me. One person said, you speak Turkish, where did you learn? Everyone seemed pleased with my efforts and it was so much fun! It was an awesome adventure and I plan to return, possibly taking my daughter on that same tour.

Very helpful Donna! Could you tell me how many people approximately were on the tour? Also, did you travel from place to place in a large tour bus?

pjmun, I am often a solo traveler and decided to take the Rick Steves Best of Istanbul and Best of Turkey tours, in part to let them handle all the logistics. They were my very first full length tours and since then I've signed up for 2 more with Rick Steves. I wrote extensively about my tours on two posts that might answer some of your questions.

I wrote this trip report while I was on the tours:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/3-weeks-to-fall-in-love-with-turkey

And I wrote this post in follow up to questions from other travelers:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/so-you-re-going-on-the-best-of-turkey-or-best-of-istanbul-tour

Please remember that these posts are 2.5 years old, so some of the information is out of date. Most notably, US citizens no longer need a Visa to travel to Turkey.

I loved my two tours and my time in Turkey! Enough that I visited Istanbul again last summer as a solo traveler. That trip was filled with activities for a second or third visit, but it does provide some helpful details if you decide to go to Istanbul on your own.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/8-nights-in-istanbul-solo-this-time

My summary of taking the tour vs going to Turkey on my own was this:

"There is no way I could have accomplished all of the Best of Turkey, in this amount of time, at this level of interest and variety, with virtually no travel stress. What a great decision this was for me."

Look also at Gate 1 tours. I did their tour of Türkiye in October and it was very positive . I am also a solo traveler.

CW, Thank you so much for your feedback. I think you nailed it for me when you said you don't think you could have done all that you were able to do had you traveled solo and tried to do it all on your own. That specifically is the reason I am considering a tour for the first time. Having someone handle all the logistics is pretty compelling--especially since I will be traveling on my own this time and for the first time in almost 30 years. My only hesitation was feeling like I was a "tourist" on a big bus, pulling in and pulling out and only getting a feel for a place on a very superficial level but it sounds like the remedy for that is returning and spending more time in places that really spoke to you like it seems you have done. I will read through all the threads you sent.

And Carol, thank you also for your suggestion of Gate1. I've heard them mentioned in various threads as well so will check them out.

I recommend you take a look at Turkey Insiders (https://turkeyinsiders.com/). They'll give you the best of both worlds: you can still travel like a solo traveler, but they will do all the logistical arrangements for you. Completely custom (or they have package tour options).

I used them for my Turkey trip a few years ago. I ended up making good friends with a couple who were also using their custom services. We had three day tours together, two in Istanbul and one in Ephesus. Other tours in other places were small groups.

The arrangements were all handled perfectly, and when they didn't offer a hotel option I liked, they booked me in a hotel of my choice.

Thank you Lane. That is definitely something I will check out. Appreciate it!