Top Turkey Day Trips

This tour starts early morning, to try to beat some of the crowds. It seems to have worked for the ruins. The guide will keep the group together, but there is not really any risk of getting lost -- just keep on walking downhill! The visit to Mother Mary's House was a bit disappointing. I did not know what to expect, but I did not feel Her presence, as I had hoped. However, this was the main point of the tour for me, and I would visit it again. I would have liked to skip the rug demonstration and sales opportunity, but one couple in our group did fall in love with a rug, which they bought. They were happy with the price and quality. So it is good that the tour included this stop. The rug company is shipping the rug, so this couple did not have to deal with it. Because it is on a credit card, and because the tour company has been dealing with this rug company for many years, there should be no problems! We stopped at a candy store, and my wife bought some boxes of Turkish Delight to bring home as gifts. These were very well received by our friends. There were enough bathroom stops for all of our tour group. Our guide, Bugra, was excellent. His English was good, and he enjoyed relating the history and stories of the ancient times. And he was very delicate in dealing with the religious issues of Turkey's history. No one (Muslim, Orthodox or Jews) could take offence! Overall, a very good tour, that I would recommend to my friends.