Turkey West to East tour

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION

Efforts to Reduce Flying
International flights to and from Turkey are not built into the tour price. Keeping them separate means travelers book their own air travel and can compare carriers and routes on carbon performance, pick the most direct option, and - for anyone already traveling in Europe or the eastern Mediterranean - avoid laying on a separate long-haul trip purely for this vacation.

Crossroads of Turkey is, in effect, a one-way crossing of the country: it begins in Istanbul in the north-west and works steadily south and east, finishing close to the Syrian border at Gaziantep and Gobekli Tepe. The whole of that crossing through Gallipoli, Troy, Ephesus, Pamukkale, Konya, Cappadocia, Mount Nemrut, and Sanliurfa is made overland by road. Only the final leg, Gaziantep back to Istanbul on Day 12, is flown. Driving that return distance of well over a thousand kilometres would add at least a day to the trip, so a single short flight is used to close the loop while the entire eastward journey is still experienced from the ground.

Shared Local Transport
Every overland section of the tour runs on shared group transport. A maximum of 20 travelers on standard departures - travel together in private vehicles and tourist coaches sized to the group, which spreads the fuel and emissions of each long Turkish road journey across everyone on board rather than across a string of individual cars or taxis. Airport arrival and departure transfers in Istanbul are included on the same shared basis, supported by a 24-hour meet-and-greet service.

Human-Powered Exploration
For all the distance the tour covers between cities, the sightseeing itself is almost entirely on foot. Travelers walk the old city of Istanbul, the marble streets of Roman Ephesus, the calcium terraces of Pamukkale, the rock-cut churches and valleys of Cappadocia, the battlefield paths of Gallipoli, and the excavations at Troy and Gobekli Tepe. Exploring each destination under their own steam, rather than by vehicle, keeps the day-to-day footprint of the trip low once the group has arrived.

Advising Customers to Reduce Carbon Impacts
The tour notes give travelers a set of straightforward steps for trimming their own impact. They are asked to treat resources carefully in their hotels - turning off lights, fans and air-conditioning in empty rooms and not letting water run to waste - and to strip superfluous packaging from new purchases before they travel, rather than leaving it behind in a country with less developed waste processing.

Travelers are also pointed towards a Water-to-Go filter bottle. Because the bottle filters drinking water on the move, a traveler using one across a 13-day trip avoids buying bottled water at every stop, with a single filter doing the work of several hundred plastic bottles over its lifespan.
When it comes to choosing the international flight, the tour notes suggest travelers make use of the emissions data now shown by services such as Google Flights and Skyscanner, weighing options on carbon as well as cost, so a greener routing can be picked wherever the choice exists.


ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE

Entrance Fees and the Upkeep of Natural and Heritage Sites
The tour price includes the entrance fees for every site listed in the itinerary. That covers not only the museums and ancient cities but also the natural landmarks the trip is built around - most notably the travertine terraces of Pamukkale, a fragile, naturally forming calcium landscape, and the extraordinary eroded rock country of Cappadocia. Entrance fees of this kind are part of how Turkey funds the conservation, management and visitor control that protect sites like these from being damaged by tourism.

Small Groups, Lighter Footprint
Run as a genuinely small-group tour, capped at 20 travelers on standard departures rather than the fifty-strong coach parties common elsewhere. A smaller group places noticeably less strain on the places it visits - fewer visitors moving through the fragile travertine site at Pamukkale, the underground villages of Cappadocia and the excavated lanes of Ephesus - which matters at sites where heavy, concentrated footfall is itself one of the main conservation threats.

Environmental Awareness
Through its responsible-travel guidance, travelers are encouraged to take a share of the responsibility for the condition of the places they pass through. The main points raised are:
• Never littering, and carrying recyclable waste such as plastic bottles away where local waste systems are stretched.
• Switching to biodegradable suncreams, shampoos and detergents to reduce pollution.
• Using water and energy sparingly throughout the trip.
• Recognising that, spread across a 13-day, multi-stop itinerary, these small habits add up to a real difference.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY

Local Hotels and Boutique Accommodation
Accommodation along the route is a mix of local 3- and 4-star hotels and boutique properties, chosen town by town as the itinerary moves across the country - Istanbul, Canakkale, Kusadasi, Pamukkale, Cappadocia, Adiyaman and Sanliurfa. Using independent Turkish hotels and boutiques of this kind, rather than a single international chain, spreads the tour’s accommodation spending across a string of separate local businesses and regional economies.

Supporting Local Communities and Enterprise
The itinerary repeatedly puts travelers in contact with local producers, traders and communities. On Day 5 the tour stops at the fruit-wine-growing village of Sirince and looks at the history of Turkish carpet weaving; the Silk Road day pauses at the Sultanhani Caravanserai; and there is free time to spend in places such as the harbour of Assos, the bazaars of Istanbul and the towns of the south-east. Travelers can also opt into hands-on cooking classes in Istanbul, Kusadasi and Cappadocia, several held in village houses with local chefs, which channels spending directly to rural households and Turkish food traditions. With only breakfasts and some dinners included, travelers buy many of their own meals from local restaurants and cafes along the way.

Tipping Kitty
A tipping kitty is built into the tour price and is used by the guide and driver to tip the many people who help the tour run smoothly along the route. Wages for service staff in Turkey are very low and tips are a necessary supplement to those incomes, so collecting and distributing these gratuities reliably helps ensure that support actually reaches local workers.


EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY

Local Employment
A local Turkish tour leader accompanies the group for the full 13 days, and local Turkish guides and reps are used as much as possible for the sightseeing and in the towns and cities along the route. Staffing the tour this way keeps the guiding and leadership income within Turkey and gives travelers their interpretation from people who live in and know the regions being crossed.

Fair Working Conditions
Any porters used in connection with the tour are employed and equipped in line with the guidelines of the International Porter Protection Group (IPPG), which set standards for loads, equipment and working conditions.

Accessibility
This is a touring vacation with a great deal of walking on historic ground. Travelers cover ancient cities, battlefield paths, underground settlements and a climb to the tumulus at Mount Nemrut, much of it on uneven or steep surfaces, alongside several long road days as the tour crosses the country. If you are unsure if this tour is suitable for you, please contact us and we’d be happy to guide you in making a decision.

Cultural Respect
Turkey on this route runs from cosmopolitan Istanbul to more conservative towns in the east, and the tour notes prepare travelers for that range. They explain that modest, loose-fitting clothing is expected in many areas - particularly for women and particularly in eastern Turkey - and that arms and legs should be covered in village settings and in any mosque. With the itinerary taking in working religious sites such as the Blue Mosque, the Mevlana museum in Konya and the Holy Pools of Abraham in Sanliurfa, the tour leader briefs travelers on appropriate dress and behaviour as these places are reached.