When to book a private tour in Greece/Turkey?

[ruthnlarry]

Hi. How far in advance do you book a private tour in Greece or Turkey.

We've recently booked the 10/29 Athens to Istanbul cruise on Nautica. Have been reading about various private tours and guides on these boards, and we're interested in booking some, possibly with others on the roll call, after we have completed our research. Would appreciate any advice or suggestions.

 

Thank you!

[EV2008]

Hi. How far in advance do you book a private tour in Greece or Turkey.

We've recently booked the 10/29 Athens to Istanbul cruise on Nautica. Have been reading about various private tours and guides on these boards, and we're interested in booking some, possibly with others on the roll call, after we have completed our research. Would appreciate any advice or suggestions.

 

Thank you!

 

I would get in touch with the tour company now and see what is available and cost.

By the way I have/had friends that are ruthnlarry, but not from Chicago.;)

[CintiPam]

We did not book our early September 2008 cruise until late May 2008 (when we got the 2009 catalog!). We started investigating tours in mid-July, and booked our Ephesus tour in early August, so don't feel pressured. However, if you have a certain individual tour guide in mind, rather than just a tour company who will supply your guide, I am certain the earlier the better. (Although I have read on these boards that some in Turkey will provide a different guide if they get a better offer for your particular day, for example, touring 10 people rather than two.)

 

Private tours in Turkey are very reasonably price and I highly recommend one for your day in Ephesus. (We found touring on our own in Istanbul, using the Rick Steves' Istanbul book best for us.)

 

I assume you also have read here that many Greek tour guides are not licensed guides, but simply knowledgable taxi drivers who are informed, but are not allowed to accompany you into the actual sights, but will transport you and patiently wait while you visit. We did not use any guides for Athens, Santorini, Rhodes or Corfu.

[chipmaster]

Hi. How far in advance do you book a private tour in Greece or Turkey.

We've recently booked the 10/29 Athens to Istanbul cruise on Nautica. Have been reading about various private tours and guides on these boards, and we're interested in booking some, possibly with others on the roll call, after we have completed our research. Would appreciate any advice or suggestions.

 

Thank you!

 

As the other poster said start now. We procrastinated a bit and I started booking ~ 3 months ahead. In one port my first choice wasn't available.

This holds for the smaller family run tourers, probably less so for the larger ones that use contracted guides and lease cars/vans.

[eh2zed]

I would get my research done now and book by March.

[ruthnlarry]

Thanks to everybody for your advice! We've ordered several books, and have started our research. Hope to make our decisions within the next few months.

[Friscorays]

October is a long way away. However, one of the commonly recommended tour operators in Turkey is offering 50% off for second person fee if you pay for your tour by the end of January. We booked two Kusadasi and Istanbul tours with them for this coming April.

[Louise45]

We did not book our early September 2008 cruise until late May 2008 (when we got the 2009 catalog!). We started investigating tours in mid-July, and booked our Ephesus tour in early August, so don't feel pressured. However, if you have a certain individual tour guide in mind, rather than just a tour company who will supply your guide, I am certain the earlier the better. (Although I have read on these boards that some in Turkey will provide a different guide if they get a better offer for your particular day, for example, touring 10 people rather than two.)

 

Private tours in Turkey are very reasonably price and I highly recommend one for your day in Ephesus. (We found touring on our own in Istanbul, using the Rick Steves' Istanbul book best for us.)

 

I assume you also have read here that many Greek tour guides are not licensed guides, but simply knowledgable taxi drivers who are informed, but are not allowed to accompany you into the actual sights, but will transport you and patiently wait while you visit. We did not use any guides for Athens, Santorini, Rhodes or Corfu.

 

Where do I get the catalog?

[dibbitz]

We have booked a tour of Ephesus for our stop in April as well. We used the company that is currently giving the discount but I hear there are lots of choices. there are several mentioned on the ports site. One bit of advice I was given is that if you are not interested in shopping, tell them ahead of time, as in when you are booking. I emailed them and got almost an immediate reply. There is a 7 hour time difference between the east coast USA and Turkey. That ended up being a helpful thing to know. Good Luck, us

[rk713]

October is a long way away. However, one of the commonly recommended tour operators in Turkey is offering 50% off for second person fee if you pay for your tour by the end of January. We booked two Kusadasi and Istanbul tours with them for this coming April.

 

We are also going to be in Kusadasi but in Nov. Can you tell me who you booked with? You can e-mail me directly if you want. Thanks for the info. Have a geat trip.

Rosalie

rk713@optonline.net

[Friscorays]

We are also going to be in Kusadasi but in Nov. Can you tell me who you booked with? You can e-mail me directly if you want. Thanks for the info. Have a geat trip.

Rosalie

rk713@optonline.net

 

Ekol travel is the operator. We have not used them before but they are well reviewed on this site. They can be reached at: www.Ekoltravel.com and www.ToursinTurkey.org

 

On our last trip we used Kagen Kosagen in Istanbul and had a very nice day as well.