chuly Posted November 14, 2007 #1 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Can you recommend private tour operators in Istanbul? Thanks in advance!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack1 Posted November 14, 2007 #2 Share Posted November 14, 2007 We used Levent Solmaz for 3 days while there last july. He is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monterey Girl Posted November 14, 2007 #3 Share Posted November 14, 2007 We used EKOL Travel in Istanbul and Athens in OCT 2007. The cost includes a driver AND a guide. They do NOT require a credit card to guarentee your reservation. Do a search on this board about them. I am sure you will only find glowing reports. They have a web site. MG :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kate21 Posted November 14, 2007 #4 Share Posted November 14, 2007 In October 2007 we used Nejat Incedogan **********@yahoo.com] for a 1 day private tour of Ephesus and surrounding area. We outlined what we wanted to do for the day and he delivered as promised. He was amazing and exactly as described previously by other reviewers. There was a last minute crunch when our cruiseline changed our Kusadasi arrival date by one day so I immediately emailed Nejat. What a relief when he phoned me direct that same day to say 'not to worry' and that he was available for the next day. Our tour with Nejat was one of the 'not to be forgotten' highlights of our trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcman Posted November 14, 2007 #5 Share Posted November 14, 2007 We also used Levent Solmaz in October in Istanbul and he was wonderful. The cost was very reasonable and he arranged an tsayed with us for evening entertainment. Had a great time with him and highky recommend him. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunnyette Posted November 14, 2007 #6 Share Posted November 14, 2007 I arranged for a tour of 12 people with CTC Turkey/Danya tours. Absolutely fantastic. Only $50pp! Included transport, wonderful young tour guide and all entrance fees. He got us into Hagia Sophia on a day it was supposedly closed except to those on cruise ship tours. They have an office in the US and were great to deal with. They have a website. They will do private tours from 2 - however many you want. The best part about this tour was no lockdown in a carpet store:eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teach2travel Posted November 14, 2007 #7 Share Posted November 14, 2007 We used Ekol Travel this past July, and were VERY pleased with them. We had a driver and tour guide for the entire day, and one of the things I liked was that we were taken to places where the locals go (restaurant) My son and I agree that it was our favorite city! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joandbun Posted November 14, 2007 #8 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Yes - I second the recommendationof Nejat Incedogan. We used his services in Kusadasi in 05 & on the success of that we booked him for Istanbul in 06. We ended up switching cruises to west med for 06, but the rest of the party had an excellent time with him. Very knowelgable & very personable. jo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuly Posted November 14, 2007 Author #9 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Thank You All!!!!!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChansonDeLaMer Posted November 15, 2007 #10 Share Posted November 15, 2007 We used Kagan Kosagan. We found him on CC, and he was extremely good. He is an intelligent, highly educated man with a great personality. His car broke down on the way to pick us up, and instead of cancelling, he hired a Mercedes van and driver at no extra charge to us. After picking us up at our hotel, we went to the quiet area of the Suleyman Mosque where we sat together and chatted at least an hour while he "taught" us about Istanbul, Islam, and other topics in which we were interested. He tailored our tour to our interests. It was a fantastic day. His suggestions for restaurants, Turkish bath, etc. all turned out well. Kagan also works in Ephesus. His wife is also a highly regarded tour guide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsjb1 Posted November 15, 2007 #11 Share Posted November 15, 2007 We also used Kagan Kosagan in July 2007. He was very pleasant and very well informed. We had a great day with him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefarl Posted November 15, 2007 #12 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Can you recommend private tour operators in Istanbul?Thanks in advance!:) If you are Jewish and want a great guide to include the Jewish sites and history of our people PLUS all the regular non-jewish sites in Istanbul or other areas of Turkey, I would highly recommend Hayim Algazi. His email is haymi@hayimalgazi.com and his web site is http://www.hayimalgazi.com/index.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZqueen Posted November 16, 2007 #13 Share Posted November 16, 2007 We used EKOL Travel in Istanbul and Athens in OCT 2007. The cost includes a driver AND a guide. They do NOT require a credit card to guarentee your reservation. Do a search on this board about them. I am sure you will only find glowing reports. They have a web site. MG :) We used Ekol for Istanbul and Kusadasi and both guides were wonderful. Ali, who we had for Kusadasi, was the most amazing guide we had. His knowledge and expertise went above and beyond. There were six of us on our private tour and he took very good care of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuly Posted November 16, 2007 Author #14 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Thank you! Your advice is much appreciated.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdsailing Posted November 16, 2007 #15 Share Posted November 16, 2007 When we were in Istanbul in September, we had a ship's tour, and it was OK. Too much time in the shopping areas for our taste. Istanbul was an amazing city, and we did manage to see a lot, but when you're planning a tour, you really have to take traffic into consideration. Istanbul will just about come to a standstill sometimes, and there you sit in a bus. I think if I had it to do over again, I would arrange a private tour with someone who utilized the water taxis, or some sort of water transport, as much as possible. Has anyone done it this way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YAC Posted November 17, 2007 #16 Share Posted November 17, 2007 WE used Meander Travel. Naz was our guide and she was VERY thorough and took us around town. "What I'm showing you in one day is what I usually do in 3 days!" Our trip included: Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Haga Sofia, Underground Cistern, Topaki Palace, Grand Bazaar & the Spice Bazaar. Our cruisemates only covered 2 places of interest with the ship's tours! Meander is based out of Kusadasi and Attinc, a second generation owner was there to greet us. He is very reputable and honorable. I booked the trip 1 year before the cruise and he had a "special" at the time of booking (50% less than the new cost). He honored the original price cuz he said "it was not ethical to change the price, despite the price going up 50%)! Mehmet was our guide in Kusadasi. Both trips were in very good AC vans as well!:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAS-KARR Posted November 17, 2007 #17 Share Posted November 17, 2007 We used EKOL in ISTANBUL & KUSADASI.We CUSTOMIZED both tours to our liking and our time schedule. Both came out great and we were most happy with them and the fee. Good luck. CIAO, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.