In 2013, as the internet reduced many travel journalists to penury, I wondered how I might otherwise turn my undimmed enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, Turkey to account. I began guiding for companies like Westminster Classic Tours, and soon discovered how much this rather more hands-on and sociable relationship with an audience appealed. Unlike travel journalism, with its insistence on the new and the newsy over the tried and the tested, guiding allowed me to take guests to places, people, restaurants, swimming spots and much else besides that I, and often they, had encountered before – secure in the knowledge that we would enjoy ourselves. Guiding has given me a platform to develop my relationship with a country which means a great deal to me, while sharing its joys and delights with like-minded types whom I have come to think of as friends.
What with coups, crises and the subsequent collapse in tourist numbers to Turkey, however, Westminster Classic Tours and my other employees were all but gone by 2016. I might have given up too but for a hard core of splendid Turkophiles who soon made it clear that they would not be put off, whatever the papers and neighbours might be saying. So I teamed up with my Turkish friend and guide Yunus Özdemir and launched a tour programme; in 2017, the nadir for Turkish tourism, we managed to run two tours, both on gulet schooners, which proved a great success. Since then we have been developing and extending a programme which now sees us offer not only gulet tours and land tours, both in spring and autumn, but also a midwinter tour to Istanbul and Cappadocia.
Our classic gulet tours are often described as archaeology holidays, though that po-faced description fails to evoke the diverse and joyous experiences on offer: visits to southwest Turkey’s superb and picturesque classical sites, certainly, but also pristine swimming spots and idyllic overnight anchorages, wonderful food and drink and exceptional service, informed talks on the region’s culture, history and politics, and like-minded company.
In 2020 we will also offer a somewhat more energetic gulet-based variant, Walking and Ruins, where the days revolve around daily walks, of negotiable length, to ruin sites, before we return to the gulet for the usual round of swimming, sunning and relaxation. We encourage walkers to be in touch as we are interested in running such itineraries and may be able to combine numbers to fill a gulet. Click here for a typical itinerary.
Our holidays are led by two guides who have been exploring Turkey for decades: myself, originally a teacher here in the 1980s and latterly a travel writer, and the delightful Yunus Özdemir, a qualified guide and archaeologist. To ensure maximum comfort, there are never more than 12 guests on board the gulet, though the land tours may go slightly bigger. The cost of your holiday now includes all tips, including that for the gulet crew. Rest assured that rather than leave you to fend for yourselves on the final day, as many gulet holidays do, our itineraries now extend to the moment we drop you at the airport for homeward flights, often in the evening.
These holidays are full-board; all meals and on board drinks, including alcohol, are included as are land visits, entry fees, crew tips and airport transfers. Alcoholic drinks are not included on the land tours and where meals are taken on land during gulet tours. International flights and visas are not included. These holidays are fully bonded by Heritage Group Travel, your contact point for the paperwork.
I also guide for other companies, as detailed below.
Our programme of tours for 2022 are:
Monday 9th - Monday 16th May 2022: From Istanbul To Assos By Boat: An Incredible Journey Through History. Unique tour, part on land and part by beautiful restored small ship, with prices to match, run by Cazenove and Loyd. Click here for details.
Monday 16th – Saturday 21st May 2022: Göbekli Tepe and Southeast Turkey. Five days exploring the glories of the southeast, a bewitching fusion of Turkish, Kurdish and Arab influences. In the years that this area has been off-limits, there have been startling developments, not least the excavations at neolithic Göbekli Tepe and fabulous archaeological museums at both Gaziantep and Urfa. Itinerary and prices to follow.
Saturday 21st May – Saturday 4th June 2022: Lycia and Pamphylia. A fortnight combining the glories of the Lycian coast – fabulous sites, countless bays – with a rare foray further east to take in such glories as Termessos and Perge. Itinerary and prices to follow.
Saturday 17th - Saturday 30th September 2022: Lycia and Caria. A fortnight combining the best of the Lycian and Carian sites. Itinerary and prices to follow.
Monday 3rd – Sunday 9th October 2022: I am leader-lecturing on a tour for Martin Randall Travel called Istanbul Revealed. Itinerary and prices to follow.
Please feel free to email me with any expressions of your own interest, however provisional, at your convenience. Or call me to chat things through on 07757 703604.
What with coups, crises and the subsequent collapse in tourist numbers to Turkey, however, Westminster Classic Tours and my other employees were all but gone by 2016. I might have given up too but for a hard core of splendid Turkophiles who soon made it clear that they would not be put off, whatever the papers and neighbours might be saying. So I teamed up with my Turkish friend and guide Yunus Özdemir and launched a tour programme; in 2017, the nadir for Turkish tourism, we managed to run two tours, both on gulet schooners, which proved a great success. Since then we have been developing and extending a programme which now sees us offer not only gulet tours and land tours, both in spring and autumn, but also a midwinter tour to Istanbul and Cappadocia.
Our classic gulet tours are often described as archaeology holidays, though that po-faced description fails to evoke the diverse and joyous experiences on offer: visits to southwest Turkey’s superb and picturesque classical sites, certainly, but also pristine swimming spots and idyllic overnight anchorages, wonderful food and drink and exceptional service, informed talks on the region’s culture, history and politics, and like-minded company.
In 2020 we will also offer a somewhat more energetic gulet-based variant, Walking and Ruins, where the days revolve around daily walks, of negotiable length, to ruin sites, before we return to the gulet for the usual round of swimming, sunning and relaxation. We encourage walkers to be in touch as we are interested in running such itineraries and may be able to combine numbers to fill a gulet. Click here for a typical itinerary.
Our holidays are led by two guides who have been exploring Turkey for decades: myself, originally a teacher here in the 1980s and latterly a travel writer, and the delightful Yunus Özdemir, a qualified guide and archaeologist. To ensure maximum comfort, there are never more than 12 guests on board the gulet, though the land tours may go slightly bigger. The cost of your holiday now includes all tips, including that for the gulet crew. Rest assured that rather than leave you to fend for yourselves on the final day, as many gulet holidays do, our itineraries now extend to the moment we drop you at the airport for homeward flights, often in the evening.
These holidays are full-board; all meals and on board drinks, including alcohol, are included as are land visits, entry fees, crew tips and airport transfers. Alcoholic drinks are not included on the land tours and where meals are taken on land during gulet tours. International flights and visas are not included. These holidays are fully bonded by Heritage Group Travel, your contact point for the paperwork.
I also guide for other companies, as detailed below.
Our programme of tours for 2022 are:
Monday 9th - Monday 16th May 2022: From Istanbul To Assos By Boat: An Incredible Journey Through History. Unique tour, part on land and part by beautiful restored small ship, with prices to match, run by Cazenove and Loyd. Click here for details.
Monday 16th – Saturday 21st May 2022: Göbekli Tepe and Southeast Turkey. Five days exploring the glories of the southeast, a bewitching fusion of Turkish, Kurdish and Arab influences. In the years that this area has been off-limits, there have been startling developments, not least the excavations at neolithic Göbekli Tepe and fabulous archaeological museums at both Gaziantep and Urfa. Itinerary and prices to follow.
Saturday 21st May – Saturday 4th June 2022: Lycia and Pamphylia. A fortnight combining the glories of the Lycian coast – fabulous sites, countless bays – with a rare foray further east to take in such glories as Termessos and Perge. Itinerary and prices to follow.
Saturday 17th - Saturday 30th September 2022: Lycia and Caria. A fortnight combining the best of the Lycian and Carian sites. Itinerary and prices to follow.
Monday 3rd – Sunday 9th October 2022: I am leader-lecturing on a tour for Martin Randall Travel called Istanbul Revealed. Itinerary and prices to follow.
Please feel free to email me with any expressions of your own interest, however provisional, at your convenience. Or call me to chat things through on 07757 703604.
