Turkey Trips from Lahore: Anatolia Visa, Ertuğrul Country and Uzungöl

From Lahore, a Turkey trip starts at the Anatolia Travel Services office on Jail Road in Gulberg, where Pakistani ordinary passport holders lodge a sticker visa. The exception is anyone who already holds a valid UK, US, Schengen or Irish visa or residence permit, who can use the online e-Visa. After that comes a Turkish Airlines morning flight of about six and a half hours from Allama Iqbal International to Istanbul. Most Lahori families we plan for then combine Istanbul with the Ertuğrul story in Söğüt and Bursa, plus a short flight to Trabzon for Sumela and Uzungöl. Our two-day Ertuğrul Ghazi tour to Söğüt and Bursa starts from $535 per person, and a two-day Trabzon trip from Istanbul with flights from $640 per person.

This page is for travellers from Lahore and the rest of Punjab. Couples should also see our Turkey honeymoon guide for Pakistan, and large families our family tours from Pakistan.

The visa: Anatolia's Lahore office on Jail Road

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye states that ordinary Pakistani passport holders need a visa to enter Turkey. There are two routes:

• e-Visa. If you hold a valid Schengen, US, UK or Irish visa or residence permit, apply at evisa.gov.tr for a single-entry e-Visa valid for one month.
• Sticker visa. Everyone else applies through Anatolia Travel Services, which the Turkish Embassy in Islamabad names as the sole authorised service provider for visa applications in Pakistan. The decision belongs to the Turkish mission, not to Anatolia.

Anatolia's Lahore visa application centre is at High Q Tower, Ground Floor Main Lobby, Arcade Hall No. 5, Plot No. 1, Gulberg Scheme No. 5, Jail Road. Anatolia lists submission hours of 09:00 to 15:00 and passport collection until 17:00, Monday to Friday. Anatolia also has offices in Sialkot, Gujranwala and Faisalabad.

Points worth knowing before you go:

• Pay only against the computer receipt. Anatolia says it is not responsible for files handed to unauthorised agents, and the embassy warns against anyone selling Turkish visas.
• Fees are in rupees. The embassy published its 2026 visa fee schedule in Pakistani rupees in February 2026; Anatolia's service fee comes on top. You can track the file on Anatolia's website with your passport number.
• Passport validity. At least 60 days beyond the end of your permitted stay; the Ministry recommends six months from arrival.
• Each traveller applies. Children need their own visa, and one parent's UK or Schengen visa does not cover the rest of the family.
• Our part. Once you book, we email hotel confirmations and a day-by-day plan in English for the file.

The general rules for every nationality are on our Turkey visa requirements update.

The flight from Allama Iqbal International

Turkish Airlines flies nonstop from Lahore (LHE) to Istanbul Airport (IST). On the schedule we checked for early November 2026, the morning flight left Lahore at about 06:00 and landed in Istanbul at about 10:30 local time. With Turkey two hours behind Pakistan, that is about six and a half hours in the air. PIA sells seats on the same flight as a codeshare. Timetables change by season, so check your date.

You land before hotel check-in, so we keep day one light: transfer, lunch, rest, an evening walk. Buy the Lahore ticket only once the visas are issued; the domestic flights are inside our tours.

A VIP airport transfer in a Mercedes Vito costs from $60 per group, and our Istanbul Airport private transfer page explains the drive into the city.

A nine-night plan built around Lahore favourites

Lahore families usually ask for three things: Istanbul's mosques, the places linked to Diriliş: Ertuğrul, and the green lakes of the Black Sea. This plan fits all three into ten days.

Days 4 and 5 are our private Ertuğrul Ghazi tour: hotel pickup at 08:30, arrival in Söğüt around 11:30, one night in a five-star or boutique hotel in Bursa, from $535 per person. Days 7 and 8 are the Trabzon tour with Sumela and Uzungöl, with domestic flights, one hotel night and an English-speaking guide, from $640 per person. Pickup on day 7 is at 04:30, so pack the night before.

With only seven days, drop days 6 and 9. With twelve, add two nights in Cappadocia after day 3, and see the Eyüp Sultan Mosque guide for the day 3 morning.

Ertuğrul country: Söğüt, the film set and Bursa

The Ottoman story begins in the hills between Bilecik and Bursa, south-east of Istanbul, and viewers of the series can see it in two quite different ways.

The real places. Ertuğrul Ghazi is buried in the small town of Söğüt. Our two-day tour visits his tomb and the graves of his alps, the tomb of Sheikh Edebali, the Orhan Gazi Mosque and the Söğüt museum, then the tombs of Osman and Orhan Ghazi in Bursa, the first Ottoman capital. Dress as you would for a mosque.

The film set. The Diriliş: Ertuğrul and Kuruluş: Osman sets stand on the Bozdağ film plateau in Bilecik province. Our film-set day tour runs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from meeting points in Sultanahmet and Taksim. It takes about seven and a half hours, with a sword performance and an Ottoman-style lunch on the set, from $88 per person. There is no hotel pickup, and costume photos, horse riding and archery are paid on the spot.

In our experience, children prefer the set and grandparents prefer Söğüt. With nine nights you can do both.

Bursa itself. Bursa deserves a day even if nobody watches Turkish drama. The Green Mosque and Green Tomb are known for their early Ottoman tilework, the Grand Mosque is covered by twenty domes, and Koza Han is still a silk market. A cable car climbs to Uludağ, which has snow in winter, the first snow many children from Lahore have touched. Bursa is also the home of İskender kebab. Without the overnight tour, it works as a day trip: the Bursa and Uludağ day trip with ferry, cable car and lunch from $90 per person, or a private Bursa day tour from $100 per person. More on our Bursa tours list and in the Bursa guide.

Trabzon, Sumela and Uzungöl

The Black Sea coast reminds many Pakistani visitors of the northern areas at home: steep green valleys, tea gardens and wooden houses. Trabzon is the gateway, one domestic flight from Istanbul.

• Sumela Monastery is built into a cliff face above a forested valley south of Trabzon. Expect a walk and steps from the car park; see the Sumela Monastery guide.
• Uzungöl is a lake village in a narrow valley, with a mosque on the shore and wooden hotels on the slopes. See the Uzungöl guide.

Rain is common on the Black Sea even in summer, so pack a light waterproof. For Ayder and the Rize highlands, see all our Black Sea Turkey tours.

Halal food, prayer and Fridays on the road

Meat in ordinary Turkish restaurants is halal as standard, and kebabs, rice, lentil soup and fresh bread feel familiar, if milder; ask for acı and chilli flakes arrive. In Trabzon, try kuymak, cornmeal and melted cheese served in the pan. The thing to mention is alcohol, which many tourist-area restaurants serve; say so at booking and the guide chooses alcohol-free places.

Your guide plans the Old City around the noon and afternoon prayers, when tourist visits to the Blue Mosque pause. On a Friday we move palace visits so the men can attend Jumu'ah, and on the road to Söğüt the driver stops at mosques along the way. Our Muslim-friendly Turkey tours page covers prayer, privacy and Ramadan in more depth.

When Lahore travellers go

• June to August. School holidays and the most popular time. Trabzon and Uzungöl are green and far cooler than Punjab, but also at their busiest, so book hotels early.
• Eid. The 2027 Pakistan holiday list published by the Turkish Embassy shows Eid-ul-Fitr on 10 to 12 March and Eid-ul-Azha on 17 and 18 May. Domestic flights fill up, because Turkish families travel at Eid too.
• December to February. Snow on Uludağ; cold and wet in Istanbul. See our Turkey in winter guide.
• September and October. Our choice for adults without school dates: mild weather and thinner crowds.

Month-by-month weather is in the best time to visit Turkey guide.

What the nine-night plan costs

These are our current starting prices for everything after you land in Istanbul. International flights, visa and Anatolia fees, Istanbul hotel nights outside the tours, dinners and shopping are not included.

For a couple, the core of the plan comes to from $3,044 before Istanbul hotel nights: two airport transfers ($120), two guided Istanbul days ($398), Söğüt and Bursa ($1,070), Trabzon ($1,280) and the film set ($176). To book the Istanbul days as one package instead, the Islamic Istanbul tour package starts from $768 per person. A wider budget is on our Turkey trip cost page, and every option for Pakistani travellers is on Turkey tour packages from Pakistan.

Tours that cover this

• Private Ertuğrul Ghazi tour from Istanbul, 2 days in Söğüt and Bursa: from $535 per person.
• Trabzon tour from Istanbul, 2 days with flights, Sumela and Uzungöl: from $640 per person.
• Diriliş Ertuğrul and Kuruluş Osman film-set day tour: from $88 per person.
• Bursa and Uludağ day trip with ferry, cable car and lunch: from $90 per person.
• Private Istanbul tour with a licensed guide, 1 to 3 days: from $199 per group.

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