تور ریک استیوز ترکیه ۲۰۲۷ در مقابل تور خصوصی: همان مسیر، تاریخ شما

Rick Steves lists two Turkey tours for 2027: the 13-day Best of Turkey, which runs by bus from Istanbul to Kuşadası, and the 7-day Best of Istanbul. Both are escorted tours for groups of 24 to 28 people on fixed dates. A private tour can cover the same route for your party alone, on dates you choose. Our 11-day Turkey tour with Antalya and Konya is the closest private match to the 13-day route.

Get Turkey Tours has no link with Rick Steves' Europe or its tours. Every detail about Rick Steves on this page comes from the tour pages on ricksteves.com as we read them on 6 November 2026. We do not quote their prices or judge their tours; check ricksteves.com for current dates, terms and costs.

Rick Steves Turkey tours in 2027 at a glance

Here is what the two tour pages state, side by side.

Neither tour includes a domestic flight. The 13-day tour starts at 1 p.m. at a hotel in Istanbul's historic centre and ends after breakfast on day 13 in Kuşadası, on the Aegean coast. You then make your own way to Izmir for a flight home or onward.

The 13-day route, one leg at a time

The Rick Steves route is a full loop of central and southern Turkey on the road. That is a sensible choice for a group of 28. A private trip can follow the same order, or fly one leg and give the extra day to the places you like most. The table sets the two side by side. Driving figures are our own planning figures, not Rick Steves'.

Two things stand out. First, the Ankara night gives the tour its most important museum, the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, plus Anıtkabir. Many private trips drop Ankara to save a day, which is a real loss if you like archaeology. Second, Antalya and Konya are on the Rick Steves route but missing from many classic private loops, which run Istanbul, Cappadocia, Pamukkale and Ephesus only. If you want the same southern stops privately, ask for them by name.

How active the tour is, in its own words

Rick Steves is open about the physical side. The 13-day tour page calls its tours "physically active" and lists what that means. Travellers must be able to stand or walk for up to three hours, walk "over steep, slippery, uneven terrain at several ancient sites," and carry or roll their own luggage over uneven pavement and up stairs. Some hotels have street noise and weak or no air conditioning. The bus has no toilet, with rest stops every two hours.

Each day carries a walking rating. Days 2 and 12 are rated "Strenuous walking: 2–8 miles." The Istanbul tour rates its first day as light and the next two days as strenuous.

For many travellers that is part of the appeal. For others, it is the reason to go private. On a private tour:

• the car waits at the gate, so you do not carry bags between bus and hotel;
• the guide can shorten a walk at Ephesus or skip the stairs of the Kaymaklı underground city without holding anyone up;
• you can stop when you like, not every two hours;
• you choose hotels with lifts and air conditioning.

The walking at the sites themselves does not change. Ephesus is still worn marble with little shade, and Pamukkale's white terraces are still walked barefoot. A private guide changes the pace, not the ground.

2027 dates: a fixed calendar or your own

The Best of Turkey tour has 25 departures listed for 2027, from 15 March to 4 December. On 6 November 2026, 11 of them were already waitlist-only, mostly in April, May, September and October. Several others showed one to nine seats left. There is one start date in late June and none in July or August.

The Best of Istanbul tour has ten 2027 departures, each running Sunday to Saturday, from late March to late November.

That pattern tells you something useful about Turkey itself. Spring and autumn are the comfortable months, and every operator fills up then. If your dates are fixed by work or school, a private tour is built around those dates; you are limited only by hotel and flight availability. If you must travel in July or August, a private guide can start at sunrise at Ephesus and Pamukkale, when it is still cool. Our best time to visit Turkey guide goes month by month.

Seven days in Istanbul: the city-only option

The Best of Istanbul tour keeps you in one central hotel for six nights. Its page lists at least 14 group sightseeing events, among them Topkapı Palace and Harem, the Süleymaniye Mosque, the Chora Church, a city walls walk, a Golden Horn walk, the Bosphorus cruise, a Kadıköy walk and the Istanbul Archaeological Museums. The tour ends after breakfast on day 7.

A week in one city is a good way to see Istanbul, and you do not need a group to do it. Private options work in two ways:

1. A full package. Our 8-day private Istanbul package, from $1,499 per person, covers the old city, the Bosphorus and the Princes' Islands with hotel and guide.
2. Guided days plus free days. Book two or three guided days with the private Istanbul guide tour, from $199 per group, and spend the other days on your own with a ferry pass. The Istanbul 5-day itinerary shows how to split the week.

For more Istanbul day trips and guides, our sister site Get Istanbul Tours lists tours in the city only.

What is included, and how to compare fairly

The Rick Steves 13-day page lists 12 nights in "centrally located hotels and B&Bs," all breakfasts and half the dinners, the full-time Rick Steves guide plus local experts, all group transport, tips for guides and driver, at least 23 group sightseeing events and a tour kit with a guidebook. Drinks and free-time sightseeing are extra. In Cappadocia the group may be split between two B&Bs.

When you put a private quote next to that, check the same points line by line:

• Flights. Rick Steves prices are "+ air". Our package prices also exclude international flights. Some of our packages include domestic flights; the tour page says which.
• Entrance fees. Turkish museum fees are high and partly in euros. Hagia Sophia costs €25 for foreign visitors and Ephesus €40, rising to €45 from 1 April 2027. Ask whether tickets are in the price; see our Hagia Sophia ticket update.
• Meals. Count included lunches and dinners.
• Tips. Rick Steves includes guide and driver tips. On a private tour, tipping is usually up to you.
• Guide. In Turkey, guides at the main sites must hold a state licence. Ask whether one guide travels with you or a local guide meets you in each region. Our note on what a private guide costs in Turkey explains how this changes the price.
• Extras. A balloon flight is not on the Rick Steves itinerary page, and on most tours it is an extra. Flights depend on the weather and are never certain.

Three travellers, three answers

A solo traveller in their sixties who likes company. The Rick Steves format suits this person well. The group shares the cost of guide and bus, dinners are social, and everything is decided for you. A private tour for one person is the most expensive way to see Turkey.

A couple with fixed school holidays in July. No Rick Steves Turkey tour starts in July or August in 2027. A private tour can run on their dates, with early starts and an afternoon pool break at the hottest sites. The private 8-day Turkey package is a typical starting point.

Two couples travelling together, one with a knee problem. Four people can share a private car and guide, so the cost per head comes down. The guide can drop the steep sections without affecting a group of 28. Domestic flights replace the longest drives.

If you are comparing other escorted brands too, our page on Gate 1 Turkey or a private tour looks at a different operator's 2027 programme.

Tours that cover this

• Best of Turkey Tour 11 Days: Istanbul, Antalya, Cappadocia and Ephesus: from $3,370 per person. Adds Konya and Antalya, as on the Rick Steves route.
• Best of Turkey Tour Package: 8 Days with Domestic Flights: from $2,825 per person. Includes Konya, with the longest legs flown.
• Private 8-day Turkey tour package: from $2,250 per person. Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus and Pamukkale for your party only.
• Private 8-day Istanbul package: from $1,499 per person. The private alternative to a week in Istanbul.

All our private Turkey tour packages can be adjusted, and a tailor-made Turkey tour starts from a blank page. US travellers can check flights and budgets on our Turkey trip cost from the USA page.

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