All-Inclusive Turkey Tour from France: What Tout Compris Really Covers

No tour of Turkey is completely "tout compris": even the most complete package leaves out the flight from France, drinks and tips. The closest you can get is a private circuit such as our Grand Turkey tour, 10 days, from $2,800 per person, whose exclusion list has only two lines: personal expenses and the optional balloon flight. If you want every meal paid as well, only our two full-board tours do that.

French travellers usually compare a local operator with the circuits tout compris sold by French agencies, which bundle the flight from Paris, a coach and a French-speaking guide. This page translates the French brochure terms into what our tour pages actually include, shows which of our packages come closest to tout compris and what they cost, and explains what you pay on top, how to fly in and what changes when you book directly with a Turkish operator. For the general version of this question, see our page on all-inclusive Turkey tour packages.

Brochure French versus our inclusion lists

French brochures use a small set of terms, and each one hides a decision about meals, drinks or tips. Here is how they map onto the inclusion and exclusion lists on our tour pages.

Two words to look for on any French quote: ou similaire after a hotel name, which means the hotel can change, and selon programme, which limits the tickets and meals to those named in the day-by-day plan. Our private packages handle the first point by naming the hotel class and asking you to approve the hotel before it is booked.

Full board: the two tours where every meal is paid

If pension complète is the point for you, these are the only two packages on our list that include breakfast, lunch and dinner every day:

• Christian heritage tour, 10 days, from $3,625 per person: Istanbul, Ephesus and Pamukkale, with nine nights in 4-star or equivalent hotels, a professional guide, an air-conditioned vehicle and the admission fees in the itinerary.
• Seven Churches of Revelation, 7 days, from $2,410 per person: the same regions on a shorter route through the sites of the seven churches, with six nights in 4-star or equivalent hotels and the admission fees in the itinerary.

Both are group tours built for church and pilgrimage groups, and the only exclusions listed are optional extra tours and activities. They suit parishes, Bible-study groups and anyone who wants the trip to run on a fixed plan with no restaurant decisions. They do not include Cappadocia, so if the fairy chimneys are on your list, look at the private packages below. Our page on the Seven Churches of Revelation tour explains the route.

Private circuits that come closest to tout compris

A private circuit means your own guide and vehicle on the touring days, so you set the start time and the pace. These four are the most inclusive on our list:

• Grand Turkey tour, 10 days, from $2,800 per person. Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus and Pamukkale. Lunches on touring days, every flight inside Turkey, entry to every museum and attraction, a Bosphorus lunch cruise, a hammam and spa visit, the Red and Green Tours in Cappadocia and a dinner with a Turkish Night show. Excluded: personal expenses and the balloon.
• Istanbul and Cappadocia, 10 days, from $2,499 per person. Two regions only, at a slower pace. Lunch when touring, the flights to and from Cappadocia, a food tour, a Bosphorus cruise and a dinner cruise with shows, a hammam, a horseback ride and a Turkish Night dinner.
• Turkey tour, 8 days, from $2,250 per person. The classic four regions in eight days, with lunch on each touring day, every flight inside Turkey, every museum ticket and a Bosphorus cruise. The hammam and the balloon are optional extras.
• Best of Turkey, 15 days, from $3,980 per person. The four regions plus the Mediterranean coast at Antalya, with a boat trip, an old-town walk and free beach days at the end. Lunch on each tour day and every domestic flight.

On these packages, the hotel is a mid-range hotel from our list, booked once you approve it. If you prefer another hotel, you pay only the difference. For more private routes, see our private Turkey tour packages page.

What you still pay, however inclusive the circuit

Some costs stay outside every package. Plan for them before you compare prices:

• The flight from France. Never included in our packages. See the next section.
• Drinks with meals. Excluded everywhere, including on the full-board tours.
• Dinners, on every package except the two full-board tours and the dinners named in an itinerary.
• The balloon flight in Cappadocia. Our standard sunrise flight starts from $199 per person. Flights depend on the wind and are cancelled when it is too strong, so no one can promise you will fly.
• Tips for guides and drivers. Customary, never compulsory.
• Entry tickets not in the plan. Where a package lists only the fees "in the itinerary", any extra site is yours to pay.
• Travel insurance, which is not part of any package.

A point that matters to French travellers: Turkey's state museums price their tickets for foreign visitors in euros, so you can budget them directly. Hagia Sophia costs €25, rising to €30 on 1 January 2027, and Ephesus costs €40, rising to €45 on 1 April 2027. Our update on Turkey museum prices for 2027 lists the other sites. On our private packages these tickets are already paid.

Flying from France and entering with your ID card

Flights. From Paris, Turkish Airlines and Air France fly from Charles de Gaulle to Istanbul Airport (IST), and Pegasus and AJet fly to Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) on the Asian side. The flight takes about three and a half hours. Check which Istanbul airport your flight uses, because the two are on opposite sides of the city. Our packages start with the airport transfer, so tell us your flight number when you book.

ID card or passport. According to France Diplomatie, French citizens can enter Turkey with a valid national identity card (carte nationale d'identité) or a passport, provided the document is valid for at least 150 days after the date of entry and in good condition. No visa is needed for tourist stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Adult ID cards issued between 2004 and 2013 are accepted beyond their printed date, but France Diplomatie recommends travelling with a valid passport instead.

Time difference. Turkey stays on UTC+3 all year: two hours ahead of France in winter and one hour ahead in summer.

If you are only planning a city break, our Istanbul trip from France page covers the shorter version, and our Cappadocia trip from France page covers the direct flights to Kayseri.

Booking through a French agency or directly with us

When you buy a circuit from a French travel agency, your contract is with that agency, under French rules for package travel. When you book directly with us, your contract is with a licensed Turkish travel agency: Get Turkey Tours is operated by Viracocha Travel, a member of TÜRSAB, the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, with A-group licence number A-15751. You can check the licence with TÜRSAB's agency search before you pay.

In practice, booking direct changes three things:

1. The price is for the Turkish part only. You buy the flight yourself, which lets you use your own airline, dates and loyalty points.
2. Prices are in US dollars. Your bank converts the amount to euros when you pay by card. Ask your bank about its fees on payments in foreign currency.
3. The terms are ours, in writing. Payment and cancellation terms are confirmed in writing for each booking. Our general cancellation policy and terms and conditions are published on the site.

During the trip you can reach us on WhatsApp, and our private packages include hotel pickup on touring days.

A French-speaking guide

Our standard guide language is English. A French-speaking guide is arranged on request, subject to availability. On a private circuit that usually means one guide in Istanbul and local guides in the other regions, each confirmed in writing before the trip. Ask when you book, as early as you can, especially for spring and autumn dates. Our page on the French-speaking guide in Istanbul explains how the request works, and our Turkey tour packages from France page lists the routes most French travellers choose.

Tours that cover this

• Grand Turkey tour, 10 days, private: Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus and Pamukkale with lunches, every ticket, hammam and Turkish Night, from $2,800 per person.
• Istanbul and Cappadocia, 10 days, private: two regions with lunches, cruises, hammam and horseback ride, from $2,499 per person.
• Turkey tour, 8 days, private: the four classic regions with lunches and every museum ticket, from $2,250 per person.
• Christian heritage tour, 10 days, full board: Istanbul, Ephesus and Pamukkale with every meal, from $3,625 per person.

You can also browse all our multi-day trips or start from our Turkey destination guide.

Frequently Asked Questions