Turkey Trip Prices from France: What 4, 7 or 10 Days Really Cost

A trip to Turkey from France costs, before your flights, from $699 per person for 4 days in Istanbul, from $1,286 per person for 7 days across four regions and from $1,410 per person for 10 days, on our published packages. Private versions with your own guide start from $1,565, $3,085 and $3,865 per person for the same three lengths. All of these include hotels and guided days, and the multi-region tours include domestic flights. What changes between them is the hotel class, the number of meals, and whether entry tickets and some tour days are included or optional.

This page is a budget guide. For the day-by-day routes and the flights from Paris, Lyon and Nice, see our Turkey itinerary from France. For the full range of packages for French travellers, see Turkey tour packages from France.

Budget at a glance: 4, 7 or 10 days

All prices below are per person, from our current tour pages, in US dollars. International flights are not included in any of them.

Two things stand out. The 10-day group tour costs only a little more than the 7-day one, because the extra days are slower days in Istanbul and on the Aegean, not extra flights. And the private tours cost roughly twice as much, mainly because of the hotel class and your own guide and vehicle.

Four days: Istanbul alone, or an express loop

With four days, the first decision is whether to see one city well or three regions quickly.

Istanbul only, from $699 per person. Our private 4-day Istanbul package includes three nights in a mid-range hotel with breakfast, a guided full day in the Old City with lunch and entry tickets (Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapı Palace and the Grand Bazaar), a Bosphorus cruise with Dolmabahçe and Ortaköy, and airport transfers. Dinners and tips are extra. For a long weekend from Paris, this is the simplest budget.

Express loop, from $822 per person. The 4-day Cappadocia, Pamukkale and Ephesus tour starts with a flight from Istanbul and ends with an evening flight back. The low price has a cost: one of the three nights is on an overnight bus from Cappadocia to Pamukkale, and there is no Istanbul hotel night, so you add those yourself.

Express loop with hotels every night. The 4-day super express tour from $1,220 per person includes an Istanbul morning and three hotel nights, but no lunches. The private 4-day tour from $1,565 per person uses 5-star or boutique hotels and private guides, with flights and entry fees included and lunches extra.

Four days across three regions is tiring. If you have a choice, the 7-day budget below is better value per day of actual sightseeing.

Seven days: the classic four regions

Seven days is the most booked length for a first trip from France, and the budget range is wide.

• From $1,286 per person, the group 7-day Istanbul, Cappadocia, Pamukkale and Ephesus tour includes six hotel nights, three domestic flights, six breakfasts and four lunches, and the entry fees on the programme.
• From $1,510 per person, the direct 7-day tour uses 4 or 5-star hotels, but marks the Istanbul Old City tour, the Bosphorus cruise and Ephesus as optional. If you want all three, add their cost before comparing.
• From $3,085 per person, the private 7-day tour gives you a private guide, 5-star or boutique hotels and VIP entry to the sites. Breakfast is included; lunch and dinner are not.

For the route itself, our 7-day Turkey itinerary compares three ways to spend the week.

Ten days: slowing down or adding the coast

Ten days is where the choices multiply. Three budgets that suit different travellers:

The $2,800 private tour is often the best-value private option for families. It includes lunch on touring days, a hammam session, a dinner with a Turkish night show and entry to every museum and site on the programme, so there is less to pay on the spot. Our 10-day Turkey itinerary shows how the days are best divided.

Why the cheapest package is not always the cheapest trip

When you compare prices, read what each tour page lists under inclusions. Four lines make the biggest difference:

1. Lunches. Some tours include lunch on every tour day, others on a few, others never. Over a week, that adds up.
2. Entry tickets. Most of our packages include the entry fees on the programme. A few budget tours exclude the entrance fees of optional visits, and museum tickets in Turkey are not cheap. Our Hagia Sophia ticket update shows one example.
3. "Optional" days. A day marked optional is not in the price. Check whether the sights you care about most are in the main programme.
4. Night buses. An overnight bus saves a hotel night and a flight, which keeps the price down. Some travellers do not mind; others lose the next day to tiredness.

A slightly higher price that includes lunches, tickets and the main tours often ends up costing less than the cheapest package plus extras.

Costs the package does not cover

Budget separately for these:

• Flights from France. Turkish Airlines and Air France fly from Paris-Charles de Gaulle to Istanbul Airport, Pegasus and AJet serve Sabiha Gökçen, and Lyon and Nice also have nonstop flights to Istanbul. Fares depend on the month and on how early you book; school holidays cost more.
• The balloon flight in Cappadocia. Not included in any package. Our standard sunrise flight starts from $199 per person, the comfortable flight from $275 and the premium flight from $399. Flights go only when the civil aviation authority allows them, so wind can cancel a morning. Our balloon price update explains the difference.
• Dinners and drinks, on most evenings.
• Tips for guides and drivers.
• Pamukkale's Antique Pool, which is excluded on most group tours.
• Travel insurance and personal spending.

There is no visa cost for French citizens. According to France Diplomatie, no visa is needed for tourist stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period, and a carte d'identité or passport valid for at least 150 days beyond your entry date is accepted.

Our Turkey trip cost guide gives typical daily spending on food and transport.

Paying, currency and a guide in French

Currency. Our prices are in US dollars, and your card provider converts at its own rate. In Turkey you pay in Turkish lira. Cards are accepted in most hotels, restaurants and shops; carry some cash for small purchases, and when a cash machine offers to charge you in euros, choose lira.

A French-speaking guide is arranged on request, subject to availability, and is easiest to find in Istanbul. On group departures the guiding is in English. Our page on the French-speaking guide in Istanbul explains how it works.

Tours that cover this

• 4-day Istanbul package: private, hotel, Old City and Bosphorus, from $699 per person.
• 7-day Istanbul, Cappadocia, Pamukkale and Ephesus tour: group, three flights, from $1,286 per person.
• 10-day Istanbul, Cappadocia, Pamukkale and Ephesus tour: group, slower pace, from $1,410 per person.
• Grand Turkey tour, 10 days: private, lunches, hammam and all entries, from $2,800 per person.

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