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Has anyone gone on excursions in Turkey from local travel agencies? Is it dangerous? Or is it better to order from guides?
Has anyone gone on excursions in Turkey from local travel agencies? Is it dangerous? Or is it better to order from guides?
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Answers • 33
There are all local travel agencies, including those whose guides sell tours in hotels. Large firms may have cleaner and newer buses, but it's the same thing.
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answered 7 years ago
Guides also sell excursions from local travel agencies. There are no tours from "non-local" travel agencies. And in the end, buy an excursion from a guide, on excursions, on a bus and on a boat you will go along with people who bought from a "local" company.
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answered 7 years ago
All commentators are right. Take a quiet excursion from the locals, it will be 3 times cheaper for the same range of services. Everything is safe.
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5.5
answered 7 years ago
For 7 trips I saw only one normal guide (from the tour operator), who did not try by hook or by crook to sell the tour at exorbitant prices .... Therefore, I think it’s not worth paying extra money for the arrogance and rudeness of the guides. Better, take three excursions from local travel agencies (instead of one from a tour operator), and you will also get a discount, accompanied by a good-natured smile (instead of the feigned grin of a mercantile bastard guide).
I have been to Turkey 5 times and always bought excursions from Turopertaor. Once we bought rafting from a local travel agency (it was cheaper by $15). It seems that everything is exactly the same, BUT when we were driving back at our huge bus on a serpentine in the mountains, a wheel burst and it was very scary and creepy! Because the road is narrow and the bus shakes from side to side. So, decide for yourself!
In some year, I don’t remember what year people on the yacht got poisoned with methanol, with a fatal outcome of several people (it was a yacht from a tour operator).
So it's up to you and only you. The tour operator guarantees at least some security. In European countries, I boldly buy excursions on the street and I’m not afraid, but I can’t in Turkey and Egypt.
In some year, I don’t remember what year people on the yacht got poisoned with methanol, with a fatal outcome of several people (it was a yacht from a tour operator).
So it's up to you and only you. The tour operator guarantees at least some security. In European countries, I boldly buy excursions on the street and I’m not afraid, but I can’t in Turkey and Egypt.
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answered 7 years ago
The guides are more expensive by 20-30 dollars. And what is the result? Everyone goes on the same tour, in the same bus. Only someone overpaid, and someone saved. I do not recommend listening to the guide, but to find a travel agency near the hotel and buy there. Checked!
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4.5
answered 7 years ago
svetlana190270, here you are 100% correct. In addition to the difference in price, there is also a huge difference in attitude towards the tourist. Guides from the tour operator are impudent, aggressive, aimed only at knocking money off you, and if this fails, then rudeness and insults are used. Another thing is the local travel agencies, who just lick every tourist, I want to return to them, I want to recommend them
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answered 7 years ago
kivik88
"In some year, I don’t remember what year people on the yacht got poisoned with methanol, with a fatal outcome of several people (it was a yacht from a tour operator)."
"The tour operator guarantees at least some security."
Somehow these two paragraphs do not fit together ... The tour operator does not guarantee any security. And, moreover, he cannot (and does not want to) provide it, unfortunately. Because for this you need to make extra expenses: for good equipment, for after-sales service, for good specialists. And in general, the tour operator, most often, does not have anything OWN for excursion activities. He is just a reseller of these excursions from local travel agencies.
"In some year, I don’t remember what year people on the yacht got poisoned with methanol, with a fatal outcome of several people (it was a yacht from a tour operator)."
"The tour operator guarantees at least some security."
Somehow these two paragraphs do not fit together ... The tour operator does not guarantee any security. And, moreover, he cannot (and does not want to) provide it, unfortunately. Because for this you need to make extra expenses: for good equipment, for after-sales service, for good specialists. And in general, the tour operator, most often, does not have anything OWN for excursion activities. He is just a reseller of these excursions from local travel agencies.
svetlana190270
“In some year, I don’t remember what year people on the yacht got poisoned with methanol, with a fatal outcome (it was a yacht from a tour operator). - most likely, the author wanted to say, “from a local travel agency.”
And it is even more likely that this "true" information was conveyed to him by the guide himself from the tour operator. They like to invent all sorts of scarecrows about local travel agencies, this is their standard trick to persuade tourists to buy an excursion from them.
“In some year, I don’t remember what year people on the yacht got poisoned with methanol, with a fatal outcome (it was a yacht from a tour operator). - most likely, the author wanted to say, “from a local travel agency.”
And it is even more likely that this "true" information was conveyed to him by the guide himself from the tour operator. They like to invent all sorts of scarecrows about local travel agencies, this is their standard trick to persuade tourists to buy an excursion from them.
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answered 7 years ago
"And it's even more likely that this "true" information was conveyed to him by the guide himself from the tour operator. They like to invent all sorts of scarecrows about local travel agencies, this is their standard trick to persuade tourists to buy an excursion from them" - yes, yes. That's for sure! Their favorite method of work (divorce).
kivik88 Logic, of course, is not something that is lame, but just went out for a smoke :)
The tire on the bus burst - this is of course 100% because they took it from a local travel agency. But if the guide had, the wheel would not have burst.
And by the way, can you tell me which "non-local" tour operator has its own fleet of buses in Turkey?
The tire on the bus burst - this is of course 100% because they took it from a local travel agency. But if the guide had, the wheel would not have burst.
And by the way, can you tell me which "non-local" tour operator has its own fleet of buses in Turkey?
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answered 7 years ago
I'm not advocating anyone not to buy from local excursions!!! It's all about your personal choice! It just so happened in my practice that the only excursion that we bought not from a tour operator was rafting. And such an incident happened with the bus at that time!
I just wanted to convey that it is only your choice.
I just wanted to convey that it is only your choice.
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answered 7 years ago
Now I am in Turkey.
And I can really answer you.
The tour operator is more expensive (we have Anex).
For example: a trip for a child on a pirate yacht with animation, a foam disco and meals $ 40, from an agency on the recommendation of vacationers in our hotel $ 20. All the same. And it is checked up on a response of parents and children.
We went .... Children - just delighted !!! And happy!!!
The same goes for the rest of the tours.
Excursions to Cyprus (the Turkish part) and Israel differ only in price, all by air.
The tour operator does not guarantee anything !!!!
The driver may be inadequate here and there .... but, lately, normal. And as for the "wheel" ... These are mountains, the heat and technology sometimes fail, you yourself can beat the wheel ...
The main positive!!!
And do not think about the bad.
Your protection is insurance (not the one that comes with the tour), but additional, especially if you take extreme sports (insure yourself at home in advance, especially children) do not spare money, it is not expensive and in case of emergency it is a lifesaver.
We always take extra. insurance and more advanced. We once had an emergency - our daughter slipped on the street and broke her arm.
Read the reviews of your hotel, usually they write where you can buy an excursion near the hotel.
Good luck to you !
And I can really answer you.
The tour operator is more expensive (we have Anex).
For example: a trip for a child on a pirate yacht with animation, a foam disco and meals $ 40, from an agency on the recommendation of vacationers in our hotel $ 20. All the same. And it is checked up on a response of parents and children.
We went .... Children - just delighted !!! And happy!!!
The same goes for the rest of the tours.
Excursions to Cyprus (the Turkish part) and Israel differ only in price, all by air.
The tour operator does not guarantee anything !!!!
The driver may be inadequate here and there .... but, lately, normal. And as for the "wheel" ... These are mountains, the heat and technology sometimes fail, you yourself can beat the wheel ...
The main positive!!!
And do not think about the bad.
Your protection is insurance (not the one that comes with the tour), but additional, especially if you take extreme sports (insure yourself at home in advance, especially children) do not spare money, it is not expensive and in case of emergency it is a lifesaver.
We always take extra. insurance and more advanced. We once had an emergency - our daughter slipped on the street and broke her arm.
Read the reviews of your hotel, usually they write where you can buy an excursion near the hotel.
Good luck to you !
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3.5
answered 7 years ago
kivik88 "Just coincided" - they tried to cheat me in a restaurant last week in Europe. According to your logic, we conclude "they cheat in Europe", we don't go to restaurants in Europe.
It is necessary to butcher - a burst wheel has nothing to do with the one from whom you bought the tour.
It is necessary to butcher - a burst wheel has nothing to do with the one from whom you bought the tour.
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answered 7 years ago
"Local travel agencies", as you called them, are licensed to organize excursions. Without such a license, no one will be able to take you on a tour. Our friends have their own yacht, their own travel agency - you can contact us by WhatsApp, Viber: +9 0532 454 64 96 - we will help with excursions in the Alanya region, some in Side. You can order an excursion by sending a message, and pay - on the spot, in fact, when the bus with the rest of the tourists arrives for you. The prices are lower, but the quality is not worse and often better. With wishes of a good rest - Zakhar!
Natali-Minsk
"For example: a trip for a child on a pirate yacht with animation, a foam disco and meals $ 40, from an agency on the recommendation of vacationers in our hotel $ 20. Everything is the same. And checked on the feedback of parents and the children themselves"
- we generally had a ratio of $40 / $15. That's why I wrote above that you can take 3 excursions from local travel agencies instead of one from a tour operator. All the tour operators with whom I traveled are equally absolutely overpriced: Anex, Coral, Pegasus ... But Mouzenidis was the leader with prices in "euro" (although this is not the topic anymore: the tour was to Greece).
"For example: a trip for a child on a pirate yacht with animation, a foam disco and meals $ 40, from an agency on the recommendation of vacationers in our hotel $ 20. Everything is the same. And checked on the feedback of parents and the children themselves"
- we generally had a ratio of $40 / $15. That's why I wrote above that you can take 3 excursions from local travel agencies instead of one from a tour operator. All the tour operators with whom I traveled are equally absolutely overpriced: Anex, Coral, Pegasus ... But Mouzenidis was the leader with prices in "euro" (although this is not the topic anymore: the tour was to Greece).
Rested in Antalya in July. The tour was first looked for in travel agencies in the city (they wanted to go to Demre), but they found it via the Internet. We read reviews, compared prices, opted for an "agency from the Internet". The problem is that there are few excursions with a Russian-speaking guide, Pamukkale offers the most. A couple of Frenchmen went on the tour with us, who were provided with an English-speaking guide. So this "guide" just slept all the way, did not translate any information to the French. Why he went I have no idea. During the trip, our group was joined to a group from other hotels. I noticed that there were Poles and Turks. It was also stated that an English-speaking guide was working. But he was neither heard nor seen. My recommendation: check with the guide. Everything else is the same for everyone (in my opinion).
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answered 7 years ago
In Turkey, we took tours from the Ginza Travel travel agency and there are no complaints. Their tours are 2, 2.5 times cheaper than those offered by your tour operators. Pamukkale, Jeep safari, trips to bays, a water park - I advise this, I personally bought it myself. I don't know about the rest.
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2.5
answered 7 years ago
Always ordered from travel agencies. They also do discounts. You need to talk to the guide. Service and transport is much better. The price will be about the same. But it is reliable
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1.5
answered 7 years ago
all street travel agencies in Turkey have a license to organize and conduct excursions (otherwise they would not be able to offer their services openly - this is Turkey :) ... guides scare many tourists with the fact that if they buy excursions "on the street", they lose using the "tour operator" insurance ... the main thing here is to understand that insurance has nothing to do with the tour operator, the main thing is to read and understand which insurance company covers your risks on vacation, and what tourist risks are covered by a standard insurance policy purchased from a tour operator in a standard tour package ... as a rule, no one reads this policy, but in vain! because tourists planning extreme excursions should buy additional insurance... regarding holidays in any countries... you can continue, but... this is the main thing you need to learn... have a good rest!
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answered 7 years ago
kivik88
"when we were driving back at our huge bus on a serpentine in the mountains, a wheel burst and it was very scary and creepy! Because the road is narrow and the bus shakes from side to side"
Almost every driver at least once in his life has heard of cases when a tire burst while driving a car leads to quite serious accidents. Hence the conclusion - you are not a driver. For the same reason, you do not know the causes of tire damage)) I see no reason to prioritize buying tours from tour operators. I am for buying excursions in local travel agencies. That's all I wanted to say))
"when we were driving back at our huge bus on a serpentine in the mountains, a wheel burst and it was very scary and creepy! Because the road is narrow and the bus shakes from side to side"
Almost every driver at least once in his life has heard of cases when a tire burst while driving a car leads to quite serious accidents. Hence the conclusion - you are not a driver. For the same reason, you do not know the causes of tire damage)) I see no reason to prioritize buying tours from tour operators. I am for buying excursions in local travel agencies. That's all I wanted to say))
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4.5
answered 7 years ago
You can book a tour wherever you want.
As you see fit.
In Alanya - you can not buy.
Come to the pier.
They invite you on water excursions.
And you don't have to wait.
Choose any decorated ship: you want a pirate one, or with a marine pattern.
Do you want a yacht?
Any whim.
Have a good mood !
As you see fit.
In Alanya - you can not buy.
Come to the pier.
They invite you on water excursions.
And you don't have to wait.
Choose any decorated ship: you want a pirate one, or with a marine pattern.
Do you want a yacht?
Any whim.
Have a good mood !
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answered 7 years ago
Yes, and cheaper. Adults $ 20, children $ 10 (we are 12.8 years old, also $ 10) I already wrote swimming in the sea opposite Cleopatra Beach, animation, foam disco, drinks and meals, alcohol for a fee. They swim next to the mountain and small caves .. Then they go out into the sea a little .... It was fun. Take children panamas, caps, etc. long sleeve tunics and leggings - the sun is hot !!!!! And cream, smear a lot and often !!!
And look after the children on the upper deck it shakes a lot (this is for me personally). If seasickness - air-sea pills.
You can also ride in the evening. There is also a disco for adults.
And look after the children on the upper deck it shakes a lot (this is for me personally). If seasickness - air-sea pills.
You can also ride in the evening. There is also a disco for adults.
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answered 7 years ago
Hotel guides arrange excursions with obligatory visits to carpet-textile-jewelry factories. If you book an excursion to Pamukkale-Hierapolis, they will take you for sure on the way to the Modal store, you will hang around there for two hours, then to the Berke carpet factory, this is also two hours. And jeweler on the way back. Although if you want to combine an excursion and such a solid shopping, you can go. And you can order everything from local travel agencies separately. They also arrange trips to the bazaars.
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answered 7 years ago
Excursions ordered from Osman. Found it online and had good reviews. Now more about excursions:1) Hamam. I liked everything here, I recommend it to everyone. All comers were promptly taken from the hotels, brought to the hammam. There was an individual approach to each couple. The treatment includes: sauna, jacuzzi, menthol steam room, body scrub with a special glove, foam massage and relaxing massage. At the end of all the procedures, we were given delicious tea to drink, which is also nice.
2) Pamukkale. The way to Pamukkale took us 10 hours! Plus, we spent time visiting stores (jewelry and cotton products) in each of them we were 40 minutes per hour (and 15 minutes would be enough). Because of this, we were given 1.5 hours to Pamukkale itself! They said that we were a little late on the way and we would have to hurry. This time is very short to see all the sights that are there. In a hurry, they quickly walked around everything and photographed what they had time to do. All participants of the trip were not satisfied with such amount of time, no one really had time to do anything! And those who wanted to swim in the Cleopatra pool also had to meet these 1.5 hours (see everything and swim). In general, I did not like it.
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answered 7 years ago
I am supplementing the review about excursions with Osman.
3) Manavgat River (Trip to the Manavgat River to see the waterfall). The first thing I didn't like was the lack of a Russian-speaking guide. Everything that happened on the yacht, the guide announced in Turkish and therefore nothing was clear. On the yacht itself, they also demanded $ 10 from us to see the waterfall itself. The money was demanded in broken Russian-English, but they could not explain to us why exactly the additional payment was required. The yacht trip lasted approximately 3 hours. Then we were transferred to the bus and taken to the waterfall. Where in English they said that we had 45 minutes to review the waterfall. After 30 minutes, we came to the parking lot, where our bus was supposed to be, but it was not! The bus left without us. It’s good that there was a person left from our excursion, it was probably one of the organizers, so he brought us to the market in his car, which also turned out to be part of the excursion. After 2 hours of staying at the market, we were collected and taken to the hotels.
4) Water planet water park. They forgot to pick us up! As Osman later said, for some reason we were not included in the list. There was no apology or anything like that.
3) Manavgat River (Trip to the Manavgat River to see the waterfall). The first thing I didn't like was the lack of a Russian-speaking guide. Everything that happened on the yacht, the guide announced in Turkish and therefore nothing was clear. On the yacht itself, they also demanded $ 10 from us to see the waterfall itself. The money was demanded in broken Russian-English, but they could not explain to us why exactly the additional payment was required. The yacht trip lasted approximately 3 hours. Then we were transferred to the bus and taken to the waterfall. Where in English they said that we had 45 minutes to review the waterfall. After 30 minutes, we came to the parking lot, where our bus was supposed to be, but it was not! The bus left without us. It’s good that there was a person left from our excursion, it was probably one of the organizers, so he brought us to the market in his car, which also turned out to be part of the excursion. After 2 hours of staying at the market, we were collected and taken to the hotels.
4) Water planet water park. They forgot to pick us up! As Osman later said, for some reason we were not included in the list. There was no apology or anything like that.
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answered 7 years ago
I also remember this story with a fatal outcome, when low-quality alcohol was sold to people during a sea excursion, even on TV they showed that two Russian girls had died ... but that was a long time ago, maybe 5 years ago or more. And as for excursions, I’ll say that you need to buy from locals. The most interesting ones are in Pamukkale and Demre-Mirra-Kekova. On the way back from Pamukkale, the bus stops at a market where local craftsmen sell silver jewelry with semi-precious stones. A chic amethyst ring can be bought for 20 dollars. Demre, too, after the tour, you can walk around the shops, it is much cheaper there than in the bazaars in Kemer, for example.
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answered 7 years ago
lemesheva69
And why pay so much attention and paint bazaars and rings in detail, if the question was originally about excursions? It's about excursions, not about shopping. For example, it is for this reason that we began to travel to the sights on our own a long time ago. Not even because of the difference in the cost of excursions, but more because it is a pity to waste precious vacation time on unnecessary and tedious wandering around markets, shopping centers and shops. This is EVERYTHING we have at home. We do not have a sea, waterfalls, caves, etc. This is what you want to see. And not markets and rings (even if only for $20).
And why pay so much attention and paint bazaars and rings in detail, if the question was originally about excursions? It's about excursions, not about shopping. For example, it is for this reason that we began to travel to the sights on our own a long time ago. Not even because of the difference in the cost of excursions, but more because it is a pity to waste precious vacation time on unnecessary and tedious wandering around markets, shopping centers and shops. This is EVERYTHING we have at home. We do not have a sea, waterfalls, caves, etc. This is what you want to see. And not markets and rings (even if only for $20).
svetlana190270 Why are you so nervous? 6 lines of text each for me and for you, and the energy from yours is kind of vicious))) Shopping is shopping, not buying a couple of nice little things as a keepsake of this amazing country. And why not combine business with pleasure?))) And what about waterfalls...well, some modest waterfalls in Turkey...there are more impressive ones in the Carpathians.
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answered 7 years ago
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