Turkey Holidays

Cappadocia is one of the best places in the world for a hot-air balloon flight. With its soaring boulders, pigeon houses, deep canyons and fairy chimneys, there’s nowhere else like it. During this magical experience, you’ll get a bird’s-eye view of Cappadocia as you float above its lunar-like landscape. Your adventure begins with a light breakfast while you watch the crew inflate the balloon. Then you’ll climb into the basket for a gentle take-off before reaching full height – at times, the excellent flying conditions mean you’ll even drift between the fairy chimneys. Fly through impressive valleys, each with distinctive rock formations and colours, and then float up over rippled ravines. Back on the ground, a Champagne celebration and your flight certificate await. This is an unforgettable experience for couples and honeymooners – it’s also a fantastic way for groups of family and friends to make memories together.

• Duration: half day
• Departing daily from Cappadocia
• Departs year round
• Group experience

The best way to get to know a destination is to immerse yourself in it, and this full-day sightseeing tour with an expert guide will give you a deeper understanding of this otherworldly region. Your experience begins with a visit to the fascinating underground city of Kaymaklı – one of the deepest underground cities in Cappadocia, where a maze of tunnels and rooms are carved eight levels deep. Next, walk around the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Göreme Open Air Museum, home to some of the most remarkable rock-cut churches from the 10th-12th centuries. The frescoes here are particularly beautiful. Your guide will take you on to Pigeon Valley, which gets its name from the pigeon houses that have been carved into the landscape. Pigeons have always been important to the Cappadocian people, providing food and fertiliser for the poor soil. In Devrent Valley, you’ll have fun trying to work out the animal-shaped rocks (the most famous one is shaped like a camel!). Visit Monks Valley (Paşabağları), where the mushroom-shaped fairy chimneys with twin and triple rock caps are unique even for Cappadocia. The final stop is Avanos, known for its pottery. The Red River has supplied many generations of craftspeople with the red clay used to create their art, and pottery has been produced here as far back as around 2000 BC.

• Duration: full day
• Time: 10am to 6pm
• Departing daily from Cappadocia
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Explore Cappadocia in style, travelling in a classic car with your own private driver/guide. You’ll have the freedom to discover the region at your leisure. If you have a list of must-see attractions, you can simply let your driver-guide know where you’d like to go or if you're not sure where best to go, then your driver-guide will be happy to make recommendations based on your interests. This is the ultimate way to get around for families, couples, and honeymooners looking for independent exploration and a more private sightseeing experience of Cappadocia.

• Duration: 2 hours
• Departing daily from Cappadocia
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Feel Istanbul’s past come to vivid life as you discover the sights, sounds and smells of Sultanahmet with an expert guide. Your day in the city’s oldest district starts at Sultanahmet Meydanı, a vast square on the site of the Roman hippodrome in which horse and chariot races were once held. From here, you’ll head to the iconic Blue Mosque, with its six slender minarets, graceful cascade of domes and beautiful blue-tiled interior. The next stop is the breathtaking Hagia Sophia, built as a church in the sixth century, before being converted to a mosque and then a museum, and recently reinstated as a mosque. There will be time to see some of the most interesting sections of the labyrinthine Topkapı Palace, where generations of Ottoman sultans once lived in eye-watering splendour. The final destination is the richly decorated and atmospheric Grand Bazaar, home to more than 4,000 small shops selling everything from handmade rugs and ceramics to hammam soaps and local sweetmeats.

• Duration: full day
• Time: 9am to 6pm
• Departs Wednesday to Monday
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Good to know
There’s no tour on Tuesdays as Topkapı Palace is closed on that day.

Step back in time to the 1890s with dinner in the evocative setting of one of Istanbul’s most historic railway stations. Sirkeci Gar, designed by a Prussian architect and opened in 1888, was originally the terminus for the luxurious Orient Express from Paris - not so much a train journey as a five-star hotel on rails. Over a relaxed four-course meal of Turkish favourites in the Orient Express Restaurant, you’ll have time to take in the Orientalist-style architecture, admire the old black-and-white photos on the wall and soak up the unique atmosphere. Before or afterwards, take the time to stroll through the station picturing the scene a hundred years ago, with eminent passengers just arrived from Europe with their mountains of luggage and, perhaps, Agatha Christie’s fictional creation Hercule Poirot among them ready to solve his latest case.

• Duration: evening
• Daily departures
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Good to know
Transfers are included. Drinks are extra. Vegetarian option available on request.

Hammams are a key element of Turkish culture and a visit to one of the city’s finest is an indulgent way to spend a few hours in Istanbul. The boutique Çukurcuma Hamamı, which dates from the 1830s, reopened in 2018 after a decade of careful and sensitive restoration and offers mixed sessions in magnificent surroundings, something that couples will certainly appreciate. You’ll have plenty of time to relax in the marble-lined hot, warm and cold zones, enjoy a traditional body scrub and a bubble-wash ritual on a heated marble platform, and be offered the option of adding other treatments at extra cost. To complete the relaxing experience, you’ll finish with herb tea and dried fruits in the chic and airy lounge area.

• Duration: half day
• Daily departures
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Good to know Hammam towel, soap, shampoo, hair conditioner, scrub mitt and slippers will be provided. If you forget to bring your bikini or shorts, single-use ones are available.

Spending a few hours in one of Istanbul’s hammams is an indulgent way to discover a slice of Turkish culture. The Ayasofya Hürrem Sultan Hamamı was built in the 16th century for one of the wives of Suleiman the Magnificant, on the site of the ancient Roman baths, between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. After a checkered existence throughout the 20th century, when it was used as everything from an overflow prison to a carpet bazaar, it has since been immaculately restored to its former glory as a luxurious bathhouse with separate, mirror-image sections for men and women. You’ll have time to relax in the marble-lined hot, warm and cold zones, experience a traditional body scrub and a bubble-wash ritual and be offered the option of adding other treatments such as a massage at extra cost.

• Duration: half day
• Daily departures
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Good to know
You’ll be provided with a personal care kit consisting of a bath mitt (kese), shampoo, hair conditioner and body lotion, natural olive oil soap, disposable anti-slip slippers and underwear.

Seeing Istanbul lit up in the evening is a magical experience and one you’ll have the opportunity to appreciate on a private dinner cruise on the Bosphorus. Setting off from Bebek, a trendy district on the European side of the Strait, you’ll motor past various waterfront districts, admiring historic villas, marble palaces and mosques - some illuminated to spectacular effect - and the humbler clusters of cottages belonging to the city’s fishermen. Along the way, you’ll be served a meal of Turkish specialities, accompanied by select drinks and onboard entertainment. The trip ends back at Bebek, whose buzzing bars will appeal to night owls.

• Duration: evening
• Daily departures
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Good to know
A vegetarian option is available. Please let your Personal Travel Expert know of your dietry requirements.