Gallipoli and Troy in 2 Days from Istanbul: Route, Tickets, Tours

Two days is the right length for Gallipoli and Troy from Istanbul: the First World War battlefields on day one, a night in Çanakkale, and the ruins of Troy on the morning of day two before the drive back. Our shared 2-day Gallipoli and Troy tour from Istanbul includes the hotel, a licensed guide, entrance fees and lunch on the Gallipoli day, from $289 per person. Below you will find the route hour by hour, what you actually see at Troy, how the versions compare, and what the 2027 entrance fees mean for your budget.

Why these two belong in one trip

Gallipoli and Troy face each other across the Dardanelles, within about 50 km of each other. One is the ground of a 1915 campaign that shaped modern Turkey, Australia and New Zealand; the other is a hill that people have lived on for more than 3,000 years, and the setting of the Trojan War in Homer's Iliad. A guide who knows both can tell you why the same strait mattered to Bronze Age traders and to the Allied fleet in 1915.

The practical reason is simpler. From Istanbul, either place on its own means about ten hours on the road for a few hours on site. Put them together with a night in Çanakkale in the middle, and the same driving buys you a full afternoon at Gallipoli and a full morning at Troy.

For a day-trip-only plan, our guide to Gallipoli tours from Istanbul compares the one-day options.

The route, hour by hour

This is the schedule of our shared 2-day tour. The private versions follow the same shape but start a little later and move at your pace.

Day one stays on the European side. The Gallipoli peninsula is on the same shore as Istanbul, so you only cross the strait at the end of the afternoon, by the car ferry from Eceabat or by the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, depending on the route. Çanakkale itself is on the Asian side, and Troy is about 30 km south of it.

The free morning on day two surprises some guests. It is there because the Troy visit is timed for the afternoon, so you have a few hours to walk the Çanakkale seafront, see the wooden horse from the 2004 film Troy that stands by the water, or simply rest after the early start.

Day one at Gallipoli: what the afternoon covers

The battlefield route runs through the Anzac sector, from the landing beaches up to the high ground. In four hours you see where the Australian and New Zealand troops came ashore on 25 April 1915, the trench lines on the ridge, the Australian memorial at Lone Pine and the New Zealand memorial at Chunuk Bair, along with the Turkish memorials that tell the defenders' side.

Many visitors find the Turkish Memorial at Anzac Cove the stop they remember most. It carries the words attributed to Atatürk in 1934, addressed to the mothers of the Allied dead: "Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace."

Cape Helles, the British and French sector at the southern tip, is not part of this route. If it matters to you, choose our Troy, Cape Helles and Gallipoli tour, which visits Troy on day one and both battlefield sectors on day two.

Day two at Troy: what you actually see

Troy surprises people in both directions. There are no towering temples, and the site is smaller than many expect. What it has is depth: settlement built on settlement on the hill of Hisarlık, from the early Bronze Age to the Roman period. Archaeologists divide it into nine main layers, Troy I to Troy IX, and the guided path takes you through them in about two hours.

The stops on our route:

• The wooden horse at the entrance. A modern replica that children and adults climb into. It is a photo stop, not an ancient object.
• The walls of Troy VI. Massive sloping stone walls built without mortar, about 3,700 years old, among the best-preserved parts of the site.
• The houses of Troy I. The earliest settlement on the hill, roughly 3000 to 2500 BC.
• The ramp of Troy II. A stone ramp that once led up to the citadel gate.
• The sanctuary and its altars. Where offerings were made over many centuries.
• The odeon and the bouleuterion. A small theatre and a council house from the Roman city, Troy IX.

Troy has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998. The Troy Museum, opened in 2018, stands close to the entrance to the site and holds finds from the excavations and the surrounding region. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the museum is open every day from 08:30 to 17:30, with the ticket office closing at 17:00. Our private Gallipoli and Troy tour with guide and van includes it; on the shared tour, ask your guide whether there is time.

For more on the site itself, read our pages on Troy ancient city and the Troy destination guide.

Entrance fees in 2026 and 2027

Most of what you see at Gallipoli costs nothing: the cemeteries and memorials are open-air and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Turkish authorities. Troy is the one significant ticket on this trip.

• Troy site and Troy Museum, one ticket: €27 for foreign visitors until 31 March 2027, then €30 from 1 April 2027, under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's new tariff.
• How you pay: prices are set in euros and charged in Turkish lira at the exchange rate on the day.
• Museum Pass Türkiye covers Troy, but for a two-day trip it only pays off if you are visiting many other ministry sites in the same 15 days.

All of our 2-day tours listed below include entrance fees for the sites in the itinerary, so the price rise in April 2027 does not change what you pay on the day.

Comparing our 2-day Gallipoli and Troy tours

These are our current starting prices. Per-person prices on private tours fall as your group gets bigger.

How to choose:

• On a budget, happy with a group: the shared 2-day tour.
• British, Irish or French family history: the Helles version, because the standard route stays in the Anzac sector.
• Your own pace, a specific grave, or small children: one of the private tours. The van version leaves the hotel to you, which suits travellers who already have a room booked or want to choose their own.
• One hotel price for everything, with a good hotel: the private tour with a 5-star or boutique hotel.

Going on from Troy instead of back to Istanbul

You do not have to return to Istanbul at all. Troy sits at the top of the Aegean route, and several of our tours carry on south:

• To Pergamon and Kuşadası in 2 days. The Gallipoli, Troy and Pergamon tour from Istanbul ends at your Kuşadası or Selçuk hotel, from $443 per person, ready for Ephesus. See our Pergamon guide for that stop.
• Down to Ephesus and Pamukkale in 4 days. The 4-day Gallipoli, Troy, Pamukkale and Ephesus tour costs from $889 per person.
• Already in Çanakkale? The Troy day tour from Çanakkale is a 4-hour guided visit with pickup, from $93 per person.

This saves a ten-hour round trip to Istanbul if western Turkey is next on your plan anyway. Our Ephesus and Kuşadası guide helps with where to stay.

When to go, and what to pack

The memorials and Troy are open all year. The most comfortable months are April to June and September to October; the Turkish State Meteorological Service's long-term averages for Çanakkale give highs of about 17 °C in April, 23 °C in May, 27 °C in September and 21 °C in October. July and August are hot, and there is little shade on the Gallipoli ridges or at Troy.

Avoid, or book well ahead for, two periods: around 18 March, when Turkey commemorates the 1915 naval victory, and around 25 April, Anzac Day, when access to the Anzac sector is controlled and services need a free attendance pass. The 2027 Anzac Day arrangements have not yet been published.

Pack for one night: walking shoes, a warm layer for the evening by the water, a hat and sun cream, and a small bag for day two, since you check out before the Troy visit.

Tours that cover this

Every tour here comes with a licensed guide and hotel pickup in Istanbul. On the private tours you have your own car and driver, and you can reach us on WhatsApp during the trip.

• 2-day Gallipoli and Troy tour from Istanbul with Çanakkale hotel: from $289 per person.
• Private 2-day Troy and Gallipoli tour from Istanbul with hotel: from $535 per person.
• Troy, Cape Helles and Gallipoli tour from Istanbul, 2 days: from $430 per person.
• Gallipoli and Troy tour from Istanbul, 2 days private with guide and van: from $235 per person, hotel not included.

See all Troy tours and Gallipoli tours, or the Gallipoli destination guide.

Frequently Asked Questions