Türkei Rundreise 2027: Matching Your Ferien to the Right Route

A Türkei Rundreise in 2027 fits best into the Osterferien, which start on 22 March in most Länder, and the Herbstferien in October, when the weather suits both the coast and the interior. The Sommerferien work too, but with a different route, and the Pfingstferien in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg collide with a Turkish national holiday. For a first round trip, our private 8-day tour through Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus and Pamukkale starts from $2,250 per person. With two weeks, the 14-day tour from Istanbul with two domestic flights starts from $1,807 per person.

This page is built around the German calendar: the KMK school holiday table for 2027, the Brückentage, and the Turkish holidays that fall inside them. Each block of Ferien gets the route that suits its weather. For the two-week route day by day, read our Türkei Rundreise 14 Tage page. For Cappadocia on its own, read Kappadokien Reise ab Deutschland 2027.

Schulferien 2027 by Land, read for a round trip

The Kultusministerkonferenz (KMK) publishes the school holidays of all 16 Länder. The table shows the three breaks that matter most for a Rundreise in 2027, with the first and last day of each, as listed in the KMK tables dated 9 October 2025.

Three things stand out. Most Länder start the Osterferien on Monday 22 March, a week before Easter Sunday, so flights for the weekend of 20 March sell first. Hamburg breaks early, from 1 March, which puts its spring holiday across the end of Ramadan. And the Herbstferien are spread from early October in Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz and the Saarland to early November in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, so no single October week is full of German families.

Brückentage 2027: where four days of leave buy ten

Without school-age children, the public holidays decide the trip. In 2027 they fall well in spring and badly at Christmas.

• Easter. Karfreitag is 26 March and Ostermontag 29 March. Take the four working days from 30 March to 2 April and you are off for ten days, from Friday 26 March to Sunday 4 April. That is enough for Istanbul, Cappadocia and the Aegean coast.
• Christi Himmelfahrt, Thursday 6 May. With Friday 7 May as a Brückentag you get four days, enough for Istanbul or Cappadocia, not for a round trip. Several Länder close their schools on 7 May.
• Pfingsten and the following week. Pfingstmontag is 17 May. Four days of leave from 18 to 21 May give nine days off, from Saturday 15 to Sunday 23 May, but read the next section first.
• Fronleichnam, Thursday 27 May. A holiday in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and the Saarland, and in parts of Saxony and Thuringia. Friday 28 May is the bridge.
• Allerheiligen, Monday 1 November. A long weekend where it is a holiday; in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg it runs straight into the Herbstferien.
• No help in winter. Tag der Deutschen Einheit falls on Sunday 3 October, 1 May on a Saturday, and both Christmas days on the weekend.

Turkish holidays inside your Ferien

Turkey has its own calendar, and three dates in 2027 overlap German travel weeks. According to the 2027 calendar of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), as reported by Turkish national media:

• Ramadan and Ramazan Bayramı. Ramadan is expected to begin around 8 February. The holiday that ends it runs from 9 to 11 March, with the afternoon of 8 March as a half day. Museums and restaurants in tourist areas stay open, but Turkish families travel, so domestic flights and intercity coaches fill up. This affects Hamburg families most.
• Kurban Bayramı, 16 to 19 May. The Feast of Sacrifice is the longest holiday in the Turkish year, and 19 May, Youth and Sports Day, falls inside it. It overlaps Pfingstmontag and the first days of the Pfingstferien in Bavaria (18 to 28 May) and Baden-Württemberg (18 to 29 May). If those are your dates, start in Istanbul, which empties as residents leave for their home towns, and book the domestic flights to Cappadocia or the coast for 20 May or later.
• The national days. 23 April (a Friday), 15 July (a Thursday), 30 August (a Monday) and 29 October, Republic Day (a Friday, with the afternoon of 28 October off), are public holidays. Offices and banks close; most sights stay open. Republic Day falls inside the Herbstferien of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, and the streets of every town are hung with flags.

Which route for which Ferien

The same country needs a different route in April and in August; our best time to visit Turkey guide has the month-by-month detail. This is how we plan a Rundreise for each block.

Osterferien. This is the classic first Rundreise. Istanbul is cool and fresh, Cappadocia's valleys turn green, and Ephesus and Pamukkale are pleasant at midday. Pack a warm jacket for the Cappadocia mornings.

Sommerferien. Turn the route around the heat. Visit Ephesus and Pamukkale early in the morning, spend the afternoons by the sea, and keep Cappadocia, where the evenings on the plateau are cool, for two or three nights. Families who want green hills rather than beaches take the Black Sea and Eastern Turkey tour, seven days from Rize to Van, from $2,480 per person. Our Black Sea guide explains that region.

Herbstferien. October is our favourite month for the long version. The sea on the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts is still warm in early October, the interior is clear, and the summer crowds are gone. Families from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, whose holiday starts on 2 November, should expect cold mornings in Cappadocia and shorter days, and plan more time in Istanbul and on the coast.

Flights from Germany: fly in and out of different airports

Most large German airports have nonstop flights to Istanbul: Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Cologne/Bonn. Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa land at Istanbul Airport on the European side; Pegasus and AJet mostly use Sabiha Gökçen on the Asian side. The flight takes roughly two and a half to three and a half hours. In the summer timetable, holiday airlines also fly from many German airports to Antalya, Izmir and Dalaman, and some fly direct to Kayseri for Cappadocia.

For a Rundreise, the best ticket is usually an open jaw: fly into Istanbul and home from Antalya or Izmir, or the reverse. You save the day it would take to travel back to your starting point. Check the return airport before you book the tour, so the last day ends where your flight leaves.

Time difference. Turkey stays on UTC+3 all year. In 2027 Germany moves its clocks forward on 28 March, Easter Sunday, and back on 31 October. So during the first week of most Osterferien and in the Bavarian and Baden-Württemberg Herbstferien, Turkey is two hours ahead; for the rest of the summer, one hour.

Personalausweis, Kinderreisepass and the 90-day rule

German citizens need no visa for Turkey. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara lists Germany as visa-exempt for stays of up to 90 days, and the Auswärtiges Amt adds that this applies within any 180 days.

• Accepted documents. Reisepass, vorläufiger Reisepass, Personalausweis and Kinderreisepass. A vorläufiger Personalausweis is accepted, but the Auswärtiges Amt advises against it because of past problems.
• Expired documents. Entry is possible with a passport, ID card or Kinderreisepass that expired less than a year ago, but leaving the country with one can cause difficulties, and airlines may refuse you. Travel with a valid document.
• Children. No special rules apply to children travelling with one parent if they left Germany legally. Children with German and Turkish citizenship need a German document to re-enter Germany.
• Souvenirs. Do not buy antiques, old coins or fossils. The Auswärtiges Amt warns that any worked stone can count as an antiquity, with severe penalties. Carpets and ceramics from a shop with an invoice are no problem.

Travelling with Austrian friends? They need a passport, because Austria is not on Turkey's ID-card list.

What a Rundreise costs in 2027

Our prices are set in US dollars per person, so the euro amount depends on the rate on the day you pay. Flights from Germany are not included; domestic flights are included where the tour title says so. For a guide who speaks German, see our pages on the German-speaking guide in Istanbul and the German-speaking guide in Cappadocia; this is arranged on request, subject to availability.

• Seven days, group tour: from $1,286 per person, Istanbul, Cappadocia, Pamukkale and Ephesus with flights.
• Eight days, private: from $2,250 per person, the same four regions with your own guide and car.
• Two weeks: from $1,807 per person for the 14-day tour.
• Extras: entrance fees at state museums (priced in euros for foreign visitors), the optional balloon flight, which depends on same-morning permission from the civil aviation authority, lunches and dinners outside the plan, and tips.

Pay in Turkish lira by card or cash on the spot, and say no when a card terminal or cash machine offers to charge you in euros. More ideas are in our Turkey tour packages from Germany.

Tours that cover this

• Turkey Tour Package 8 Days: Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus and Pamukkale: from $2,250 per person.
• 14-Day Turkey Tour Package from Istanbul with 2 Domestic Flights: from $1,807 per person.
• Istanbul, Cappadocia, Pamukkale and Ephesus Tour: 7 Days with Flights: from $1,286 per person.
• Best of Turkey Tour with Fethiye Gulet Cruise: 7 Days: from $2,865 per person.

All our multi-day trips can be adjusted to your Ferien dates, or built from scratch as a tailor-made Turkey tour.

Frequently Asked Questions