Tour Day: Timing, Guides, Meals & Vehicles

We pick you up directly at your hotel lobby at the time printed on your voucher.

• Istanbul: Hotels in Sultanahmet, Taksim, Eminönü and Galata are standard pickup zones — included.
• Cappadocia: Göreme, Uçhisar, Ürgüp, Ortahisar and Avanos — all included.
• Ephesus / Kuşadası: Hotels in Kuşadası center and Selçuk — included.
• Pamukkale: Hotels in Pamukkale village and Karahayit — included.
• Outside standard zones: Possible with a supplement (€10–30 depending on distance). We quote in advance.

Your driver carries a sign with your name or the toursce logo and will come to the lobby. We send their photo, name and phone number on WhatsApp the evening before each tour day.

Tip: Be at the lobby 5 minutes early. Drivers serve multiple hotels in sequence; delays in one pickup cascade to later guests. If you need to move the pickup time by 10+ minutes, text your driver directly — they'll usually accommodate, and the rest of the day still works.

Yes. Every guide on our tours is licensed by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and speaks fluent English.

• License: A state-issued guide card is required by Turkish law to work at major archaeological sites; we never send an unlicensed guide.
• Languages: English is standard. Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian, Japanese and Chinese are available on request (at least 2 weeks lead time).
• Specialty: Guides usually specialize in a region — an Ephesus guide is different from a Cappadocia guide. You get the specialist at each destination.
• Group size: 2–16 travelers per guide on shared tours; private tours have a dedicated guide for your group only.

If your group has a dedicated interest (archaeology, photography, religious heritage, gastronomy, architecture), tell us at booking — we match a guide whose background fits.

Tip: Turkish guides are known to be exceptionally well-read and proud of their craft. If you ask a follow-up question during the tour, you'll usually get a 10-minute unscripted deep-dive — it's one of the best parts of traveling with us.

Every tour day includes:

• Breakfast at your hotel (if you are staying with us that morning).
• Lunch at a local restaurant chosen by your guide — usually a mezze-style Turkish meal with a main course, salad, bread and tea/coffee.

Dinner is not included on standard tour days — it's your free evening to explore local restaurants or enjoy your hotel's à la carte menu.

Special dinners are included on these named tours:

• Bosphorus Dinner Cruise: 4-course Turkish meal with live music on a boat.
• Cappadocia Turkish Night: Multi-course dinner in a cave venue with Whirling Dervishes and folk performances.
• Luxury / all-inclusive tour packages: Some full-board packages include dinner at hotel every night.

Tip: The included lunch is usually good — guides choose places they would eat themselves. If you want a specific lunch (kebab-only, vegetarian-forward, a particular local specialty), tell the guide at pickup and they'll adjust the restaurant choice when possible.

Yes. Turkish cuisine handles vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and common allergies well — just tell us your needs at booking so the guide and restaurants are prepared.

• Vegetarian: Extremely well covered. Almost every restaurant offers multiple meat-free mezze, stuffed vegetables, lentil soup and breads. Standard.
• Vegan: Possible with advance notice. Common mezze (hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, ezme) are naturally vegan; we coordinate with restaurants to omit yogurt and butter.
• Gluten-free: Requires 21 days advance notice per our Terms & Conditions, because lunch venues need to source certified gluten-free bread and rework the mezze selection.
• Nut, shellfish, egg allergies: Manageable with advance notice. Please state severity clearly (strict vs trace-tolerant).
• Halal: All included lunches are halal by default in Turkey.
• Kosher: Limited options; best arranged through Istanbul's Jewish community restaurants — we can coordinate.

Bring an allergy card in Turkish if your allergy is severe. We can print one for you; just email info@toursce.com with the details.

Tip: Breakfast buffets at all our partner hotels include cheese, olives, bread, fruit, honey, yogurt, fresh eggs, tea and coffee — naturally flexible for most diets. Your hotel's kitchen can also prepare custom morning dishes on request, especially in middle-class and higher tiers.

We use modern, fully air-conditioned, non-smoking vehicles selected for group size and route:

• 1–4 passengers: Mercedes Vito or VW Caravelle minivan.
• 5–8 passengers: Mercedes Sprinter or Isuzu Turquoise minibus.
• 9–16 passengers: Full-size minibus with luggage bay.
• 17+ passengers: Coach (Mercedes Travego or Setra) for large group tours.

Every vehicle carries bottled water, phone chargers (USB-A and USB-C), seatbelts for every seat, and a first-aid kit. Drivers are licensed by the Turkish Ministry of Transport and pass annual medical and driving exams.

For long intercity transfers (Istanbul ↔ Ankara overland, Antalya ↔ Denizli) we occasionally use major intercity bus lines (Metro Turizm, Kamil Koç) for the segment itself; these are premium 2+1 seat coaches with Wi-Fi and are included in the tour price.

Tip: If anyone in your group gets motion sick, request the front-row seats at pickup. Cappadocia's winding valley roads and the Istanbul-to-Pamukkale highway both reward a front view.

Shopping stops are handled differently for group tours and private tours.

• Group tours: May include short stops at selected artisan workshops (Turkish carpet, ceramic, jewelry). You see authentic craftsmanship, have Turkish tea, and leave whenever you want. Never any obligation to buy.
• Private tours: Shopping stops are off by default. You can opt in if you want to see workshops, or skip them entirely.

If you prefer group tours without shopping stops altogether, choose a tour labelled "No shopping stops" on the tour page, or tell us at booking and we route your group tour without workshops.

• Why workshops exist at all: Turkish artisanry is world-class — carpets, hand-painted ceramics from Kütahya, Anatolian silverwork — and seeing production is genuinely interesting even if you never buy.
• Commissions transparency: We do not take commissions that change your tour price. If you buy, the price on the shop's tag is what any local customer pays.

Tip: Even if you're not planning to buy, the ceramic workshop in Avanos is a legitimately cool 30 minutes — watching a master shape clay by foot-wheel is a Cappadocia memory on its own. Stay for the tea, skip the showroom.

The core difference is who else is in the vehicle with you.

• Group tour: 8–16 travelers from different bookings share the same vehicle, guide and schedule. Fixed itinerary; stops follow the group pace; social atmosphere. From €80/person/day.
• Private tour: Only your family or friends. Dedicated guide, dedicated vehicle, flexible schedule that the guide shapes with you. From €250/person/day, but per-person cost drops fast with group size.

Rules of thumb:

• Choose group if you are solo or a couple, value the social side, and are happy with a fixed program.
• Choose private if you have kids, mobility needs, a tight schedule, a special interest that deserves extra time (archaeology, photography), or simply want the freedom to linger at what you love and skip what you don't.
• Break-even for 4 people: Private often costs about the same per person as group when you have 4 or more travelers — and you get full flexibility.

Tip: If you're unsure, run the numbers with us for your exact dates. We often find that families of 4 on a 5-day Cappadocia + Istanbul trip pay only 10–15% more for private than group — a trivial premium for the upgrade in experience.

Tipping is appreciated but not mandatory in Turkey. It's a thank-you for good service, not a required top-up.

• Guide (excellent day): €5–10 per person per day.
• Guide (full private tour): €20–40 per day for the group.
• Driver: €3–5 per person per day.
• Hotel staff: €1–2 per night for housekeeping, €2–5 for a porter who carries bags.
• Restaurant (if lunch wasn't included): Round up the bill or add 5–10% for good service.

Tips are given in cash at the end of a tour day — Euro, US Dollar or Turkish Lira all work. Tipping by credit card is technically possible but rarely reaches the intended person.

Tip: If your guide genuinely made the trip, a quick Google / TripAdvisor review mentioning them by name matters more to them than the tip itself. Guides are booked through us, and those reviews literally shape their next month's assignments.

Call or WhatsApp your driver immediately. We track every pickup in real time and can usually flex 10–15 minutes without affecting the day.

• Under 10 minutes late: Driver waits. No cost, no drama.
• 10–15 minutes late: Driver waits if possible, or continues to the next pickup and circles back. A guide may open the first stop without you and meet you there.
• Over 15 minutes late or no-show: Driver completes pickups for other guests and proceeds.
• Full no-show without message: The tour is considered forfeit; no refund per our Terms & Conditions.

Tip: The most common cause of lateness isn't actually being late — it's being at the wrong hotel exit. Many Istanbul hotels have two entrances; our driver stops at the one listed on the voucher. If you don't see the driver, walk around the block before assuming they're late.