Turkey Tours for Dutch Travellers: Resort Day Trips and Round Trips

Dutch travellers can take a private tour anywhere in Turkey on a Dutch passport or just a Dutch ID card, with no visa for stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. The two set-ups that work best from the Netherlands are day tours from the beach resort you have already booked, such as a private Pamukkale tour from Antalya from $180 per person, or a 7 to 10-day round trip such as our 7-day Pamukkale, Ephesus, Cappadocia and Istanbul tour from $1,510 per person. Which one suits you depends mostly on which Turkish airport you fly into.

Most Dutch visitors to Turkey come for a beach week on the Turkish Riviera or the Aegean, and many want to see more than the hotel pool. This page explains the entry rules, how to match your arrival airport to a tour, what you can see from a resort in one or two days, which round trips fit a Dutch holiday, and how guides, payment and insurance work.

Dutch passport or ID card: what Turkey asks for

No visa. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists Dutch ordinary passport holders as exempt from a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. There is no e-Visa and no entry fee.

The ID card is enough. The ministry's list of countries whose citizens may enter Türkiye with a national ID card includes the Netherlands, together with Belgium, Germany and 18 other countries. You can therefore fly to Antalya, Bodrum or Istanbul with your Dutch identity card.

Validity. For most visitors, Turkish law requires a passport valid for at least 60 days beyond the end of the stay, which is 150 days for a full 90-day stay, and the ministry advises six months. Citizens who enter on a national ID card under the Council of Europe agreement are named as an exception to the 60-day rule, but the safest habit is the same for everyone: check that every passport and ID card in the family is comfortably valid, and look at children's documents first, because they expire sooner.

Mixed families. If someone in your group travels on a non-Dutch passport, their rules may be different. Our Turkey visa requirements update covers the main nationalities, and the official source is always the ministry's visa page.

Pick the airport first, then the tour

From the Netherlands you can fly straight to several Turkish regions, not only Istanbul. The airport decides which tours are practical without an extra domestic flight.

Two notes. First, many routes to the coast run only in the summer timetable, from spring to autumn, and on a few days a week. Check your exact dates before you build a plan around them. Second, open-jaw tickets work well: fly into Istanbul and home from Antalya or Kayseri, and you save a day of backtracking. Our Istanbul and Cappadocia round trip for Dutch travellers shows how that looks in practice.

Already booked a beach week? Day tours from the resort

If you are staying in or around Antalya, Belek, Side or Kemer, you can see a lot of Turkey in day trips, with hotel pickup and return.

• Pamukkale and Hierapolis. The white travertine terraces and the Roman city above them. Our private Pamukkale tour from Antalya runs for about 12 hours from $180 per person; a Pamukkale day trip with lunch is a group alternative from $90 per person. It is a long day on the road, so choose it once, not twice.
• Perge, Aspendos and Side. Three ancient sites east of Antalya, including the Roman theatre at Aspendos, one of the best preserved anywhere. The Perge, Aspendos, Side and Manavgat waterfall tour is from $90 per person.
• Demre, Myra and Kekova. The church of St Nicholas, the rock tombs of Myra and a boat over the sunken city at Kekova. The Demre, Myra and Kekova boat trip is from $120 per person, a good choice for Dutch families because it mixes history and swimming.
• Antalya old town. Kaleiçi, the harbour and the city museum on a private Antalya old town tour from $90 per person.
• A boat day. The Suluada island boat tour, from $50 per person, is a day of swimming coves, not history.

From Bodrum or Kuşadası, Ephesus is the obvious day out; see our Ephesus and Kuşadası destination guide. All our Antalya options are on the Antalya tours page.

Turkey round trips of 6 to 10 days

If you would rather tour first and rest later, a round trip covers the classic route: Istanbul, Cappadocia, Pamukkale and Ephesus, with domestic flights or overland legs.

Prices are per person. Each tour page lists the hotels, flights, guided days and meals included. Entrance fees, tips and drinks are usually extra, so read the inclusions before comparing.

Combining a resort week with Cappadocia

The most popular Dutch combination is a beach week plus two or three nights in Cappadocia. There are two ways to do it.

Fly in from the coast. From Antalya, our 3-day Cappadocia tour with flights from Antalya is from $613 per person and saves the long drive across the Taurus mountains.

Fly in from the Netherlands. Start the holiday in Cappadocia by flying to Kayseri, then take a domestic flight to the coast. You arrive fresh for early balloon mornings and end the trip on the beach. Read our Dutch guide to the Cappadocia hot air balloon for prices, months and insurance.

On the ground, our Cappadocia tour package for 4 days is from $750 per person with a cave hotel, the Red Tour and the valleys. Balloon flights are booked separately and depend on a daily weather decision by the civil aviation authority, so no company can promise one.

English guide by default, Dutch on request

Our tours are guided in English by licensed Turkish guides. Most Dutch travellers are comfortable with that, and it keeps every date and every route available.

A Dutch-speaking guide can be arranged on request, subject to availability. There are few Dutch-speaking licensed guides in Turkey, and they are booked first in the busy months, so ask when you send your dates. We confirm the guide and the price before you book, and if no Dutch-speaking guide is free, the same tour runs in English. Our page on Dutch-speaking guides in Istanbul explains how it works for city tours.

For families with grandparents who prefer Dutch, a private tour also helps in another way: the guide adapts the pace and can explain more slowly in English, without a group waiting.

Paying, insurance and other Dutch questions

• Currency. Our prices are in US dollars. When you pay by card, your bank converts the amount from euros, so check the exchange rate and fees it charges. In Turkey you pay in Turkish lira; cards work almost everywhere in the tourist areas, and some museums set their foreign-visitor prices in euros.
• Travel insurance. Check that your policy covers activities such as balloon flights, ATV rides or paragliding before you book them. Some Dutch policies exclude them or need an extra module.
• Time. Turkey stays on UTC+3 all year. It is one hour ahead of the Netherlands in summer and two hours ahead in winter.
• Driving. You can rent a car with your Dutch licence, but on a private tour you have a car and driver, which avoids city traffic and long distances at night.
• Children. Private tours suit families because breaks, ice-cream stops and swimming time can be built in. Tell us the children's ages when you ask for a quote.

For Istanbul itself, our Istanbul city break from the Netherlands covers flights from Schiphol, Rotterdam and Eindhoven airport by airport.

Best weeks around Dutch school holidays

Meivakantie (late April to early May). Mild weather everywhere, green landscapes in Cappadocia and comfortable sightseeing at Ephesus and Pamukkale. A very good time for a round trip.

Zomervakantie (July and August). The Netherlands' busiest travel period. The coast is hot and lively, and inland sites such as Pamukkale and Ephesus are very hot in the middle of the day, so start early. Cappadocia has its most reliable balloon mornings in summer.

Herfstvakantie (October). Often the best balance: the sea is still warm on the south coast, the cities are cooler, and the summer crowds have gone.

Kerstvakantie (late December). Istanbul in winter, possibly snow in Cappadocia. Balloon mornings are cancelled more often. Our guide to the best time to visit Turkey goes month by month.

Tours that cover this

• Private Pamukkale tour from Antalya, 12 hours, from $180 per person.
• 7-Day Turkey Tour Package: Pamukkale, Ephesus, Cappadocia & Istanbul, from $1,510 per person.
• Turkey Tour Package 8 Days: Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus & Pamukkale, private, from $2,250 per person.
• Cappadocia 3-day tour with flights from Antalya, from $613 per person.

Frequently Asked Questions