Fethiye to Istanbul - Ancient Turkey Tour

Traveler Reviews

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  Lydia1.0•September 2023
  This is the worst tour I have ever been on, I'm not one to write reviews and I always try to find the positive in...
  This is the worst tour I have ever been on, I'm not one to write reviews and I always try to find the positive in everything but I feel absolutely scammed of a fortune (almost the price of the airfares here and back from Australia) and it has left the worst memory of our honeymoon. Fethiye we get picked up at 6.30am for a 7am bus departure. Nothing is open in Turkey let alone Fethiye that early in the morning so we go without breakfast. Bus is tiny, dirty and cramped and because it is a public bus we stop constantly so it becomes a 4 hour trip very quickly. We had one stop at convenience store that only sold potato chips in bags so that was our breakfast I guess. We reach bus depot and meet our guide but then shortly meet another guide and then another guide and nothing is explained to us about our tour. We start a long 1 hour journey in the sun looking at the ruins of pamukkale, then sit around at Cleopatra's pool for more time and then only get 30 minutes at the tervertines.. That's the only reason I came out this far and I barely get enough time to enjoy it. Should be free time as soon as you get there so you can do what you actually want to and not waste time at the rubble. 3.30pm and we are finally having lunch... Keep in mind we have not eaten all day because we haven't had a chance. Ephesos tour was phenomenal! Our guide was amazing, the transfers were actually private and non stop and our guide even arranged an early finish for us so we could enjoy the town a little bit in the arvo. Permagon day was the worst of our whole trip, a random guy picked us up for the (late) saying he is doing a favour to help his friend, drives so fast I felt endangered. We finish the tour and lunch so early we have to sit around at an onyx shop for over an hour (maybe we didn't need to speed here then) then he asks for a tip at the end of the day, they're not supposed to ask for a tip in this country as it is not customary especially for Australians. I found that very rude and uncomfortable as he almost begged saying it was for his son. We are at the end of our trip and trying to stretch our cash as far as we can for essentials. They seem to think Australians are rich Americans but our dollar is so weak we have to spend double for everything in this country, add on forced tipping and it hurts! Transfer from Permagon to Gallipoli accommodation is another lengthy public bus trip of 4.5 hours. You reach the other end with nobody to great you and then someone calls you to tell you to take a taxi to the ferry port and then a ferry accross and they will meet you... This will come at your own cost by the way so the tour is not all inclusive of transport. You don't get to your hotel until 9pm and then you get picked up again at 6am the following day, not really enough time to relax and get dinner.. Went without dinner this night. Yet to complete the final day but I doubt it's going to get any better from here.Show more
  Traveled in September 2023