


Luxury Travel Turkey | Greece Vacations | Best Travel Agents
Based on authentic user experiences
Glenn Bauman
6731 reviews
N/A
9 months ago
Having just returned from a 10 day
Having just returned from a 10 day private family trip organized by Travel Atelier we wanted to express our delight with our experience visiting this diverse country We chose Travel Atelier as they are a local company based in Cappadocia and the itinerary suggested captured our interest as it allowed us to visit a great mix of locations to give us an appreciation of modern and historical Turkey We started out in Istanbul experiencing this fascinating city straddling the continents of Europe and Asia followed by time in the geological wonderland that is Cappadocia and finishing in the Izmir regions where we visited historical sites such as Ephesus and Pergamon and Didyma Throughout the planning process Orsan from Travel Atelier was helpful and accommodating seeking to understand our goals and requirements such as dietary restrictions for one of our family members for the trip and modifying the itinerary accordingly Information was communicated thoroughly and promptly On arrival in Turkey the trip unfolded seamlessly with all the guides drivers and the central office working as a team to provide the highest quality experience possible Day 1 on arrival included a trip to a Hamman after a quick check in at the hotel We can t think of a better way to have started our trip after a long flight than the luxurious soaking scrubbing and massaging that was all part of the Hamman experience The next day we met our guide who took us on a walking tour of Istanbul and spent the next 3 days with us in the city Additional local guides in the Cappadocia and Izmir region met up with us at each of the stages of our trip We can t say enough about our local guides who were all highly knowledgeable as well as personable and friendly They all had a can do attitude and where completely open and helpful to adapting the itinerary on the fly to meet our needs For example a day trip to Troy was substituted for more time in Istanbul to allow us to experience more of the city and also seek out some emergency camera repairs for one of our group The timing and sequencing of our excursions was adapted to address our interest in photography and take advantage of the best photographic conditions when they occurred As far as meals and accommodations went we were delighted with the offerings arranged by Travel Atelier We enjoyed eating in smaller local restaurants to experience the unique cuisine of the country along with the local people in the regions we were visiting For meals on our own our guides had helpful suggestions for excellent restaurants A cooking class in the home of a Turkish family was a unique experience to both experience the hospitality and warmth of the wonderful family hosting us as well as learn first hand about making typical Turkish dishes In setting up the trip we specified 4 star accomodations vs 5 star and honestly we felt so pampered we can t imagine what the 5 star option would be like Especially fantastic were the accomodations in Istanbul Ciragan Kempinsky Palace right on the Bosphorus and the Argos in Cappadocia During our trip our guides and Orsan were readily available to clarify questions and provide up to date information about our itinerary and facilitate details like check-in for our internal flights Even after our trip Travel Atelier was very accommodating and allowed us to delay our airport transfer to a few days as we planned an additional four days on our own after we returned to Istanbul at the end of the organized trip Overall Turkey as a destination and Travel Atelier as a tour company exceeded our expectations We absolutely felt we received terrific value for this tour and we had the opportunity to see an experience Turkey in a rich interactive and personally rewarding fashion
Adalgisa Constanzo-Muller
6731 reviews
N/A
9 months ago
Wow Above and Beyond Expectations Worry Free Traveling
I don t know where to start because they are AMAZING They more than fulfilled my expectations Note that I have a very high bar and always expect perfection I also have plenty of experience with travel agencies but this one is in a another league 1 Communication Fast prompt professional and to the point responses to all my emails and during chats From the first email to the last one few days before the trip and during the trip communication is immediate regardless of time All questions answered to the point and with extra information and tips that went beyond the original questions 2 Patience and friendliness our trip to Turkey lasted for about 15 days from end of Aust to early September It was 4 of us my husband 56 my son 31 my daughter 27 and me celebrating my 60th birthday We changed the itinerary multiple times changed the dates multiple times changed specific destinations multiple times and the length of it multiple times Not once I felt Ismael to be annoyed or bother at all by our indecisions On the contrary he diligently kept on making different suggestions and pointing out pros and cons of each The whole process took more than a month to get finalized and I always felt he had our best interests in mind and that he cared about making this vacations the best Never felt pushed to finalized the trip never felt pushed into anything or bother with required down payments or anything like that 3 Delivery Oh my God a truly perfect itinerary fun activities sites and perfect logistics We got a vacation where everything went as expected without any hiccups Ours was totally customized for us A Transportation punctual and courteous from the second we were picked up at the airport and throughout the trip Impeccable and luxurious van that were beyond our expectations We all felt so VIP We arrived to Istanbul at different times and every one of us was picked up on time and with incredible vehicles and drivers Every one of them so helpful kind and safe For local flights he checked us in ahead of time and got us great seats in They knew exactly how in advanced we needed to be picked up to make all of our flights on time and stress free Simply worry free experience B Accommodations all hotels really great I requested 3 to 4 star hotels to keep my cost reasonable and I felt more were 4 stars than 3 stars The first hotel in Istanbul was incredible Pera Palace luxurious and so friendly Most hotels were boutique hotels Cute clean charming great locations and incredible staff Every single hotel was expecting us and knew exactly who we were No issues with rooms my children room had an issue in first hotel and they upgraded them to a better room immediately The hotel in Izmir Viento Hotel so cute and in a crazy charming town and the Doga thermal hotel close to Pamukkale the blue thermal mountains with such amazing thermal pool so great We had excellent Turkish breakfast in all of the hotels some more extensive than others but all good Oh my God but my ultimate favorite hotel was Argos a cave hotel in Cappadocia It was the big star to finish our trip What a beautiful place It s magic C Tour Guides punctual knowledgeable friendly and accommodating Our 2nd favorite tour guide was Adam in Gallipoli Troy Ismael being our favorite of course Again driver and vans so incredibly comfortable punctual with such helpful and sweet drivers Ismael In Cappadocia was the cherry on top What an amazing professional and human being So caring and so thoughtful About him I can write on an on He anticipated everything that could go wrong and took care of it or fixed it before we even knew For example one of our local flights was during dinner time and the only opportunity for dinner due to itinerary He knew the airline would not provide food so he arranged dinner boxes and drinks for us Our names were called by flight attendant and we were Like OMG what an amazing detail In another occasion he saved us from disaster when in Cappadocia my daughter left her passport at the Argos hotel the day we were to flight back to Istanbul and then home The Argos hotel called him and he arranged special driver to meet our driver at a stop we had before our flight He knew we were going to see Turkish rugs in the way We hadn t even realized she was missing her passport until he texted her Another series of details to celebrate my birthday in the first hotel in Istanbul we were welcomed with a fruit and dessert plate along with a bottle of wine a Happy Birthday message in my room at our final destination hotel Argos in Cappadocia they also welcomed me with a plate of fruits nuts and Argos locally made bottle of wine with a beautiful note The night before my actual birthday while in Cappadocia he arranged a dinner for us where we were treated to a bottle of wine as well as a surprise cake with sparkling candles and all from the travel agency Ismael and the agency loves what they do for sure D Food in most cities we were taken for lunch to typical small restaurants with home style made foods representative of the different areas we visited So delicious Loved Turkish food Our tour guide advised us on food selections and to my surprise it was all included in our package Also timely drinks and ice cream at different stops were offered also complimentary The van always had cold water bottles for us too Dinner recommendations were very good We took couple of days on our own as well as evenings but we still felt taken care of because all the tour guides advices recommendations directions and because Ismail replied promptly to all our text messages How he does it I don t know but he is on top of every single detail Most Memorable 1 Turkish Bath in Istanbul most beautiful traditional bath house Ayasofya Hurrem Sultan Hamam recommended to us and arranged for us girls guys did not want to go on our arrival day was something Out of This World He was so right to say it was a good way of getting rid of jet lag and a great start to our trip Don t miss this 2 The VIP Hot air Balloon ride on the day of my birthday that Ismail arranged for us in Cappadocia was breathtaking It was the most magical experience I have ever had 3 Finally meeting Ismael in Cappadocia is memorable because he is truly a professional and great human being who truly made our vacation perfect especial and worry free He took us to his favorite restaurants for lunch and did everything to make us feel welcomed from letting us shop at our leisure to taking photographs for us His calmed and worry free personality was great I can t recommend him and Atelier more We can never forget him LOVE THEM and I can t wait to call Atelier for another great trip
Eric Su
6731 reviews
N/A
9 months ago
Trip of a Lifetime
We recently got back from a 2-week trip to Turkey organized by Travel Atelier and it was a trip of a lifetime Ismail from Travel Atelier oversaw all the planning and execution of the trip Right from our first few chat interactions it was clear that Travel Atelier was going to be a top-notch operation -- Ismail was incredibly responsive and patient as we worked through our various travel plans Our travels bore that initial impression out We did Travel Atelier s Treasures of Turkey escorted private tour with an extra day in Cappadocia choosing to stay at boutique hotels The itinerary was very thoughtfully put together and everything was top shelf quality Accommodations were clean and comfortable and provided us a varied look at Turkey - we stayed in Istanbul s Old Town just minutes from Topkapi Palace Hagia Sophia Blue Mosque a beautiful seaside resort in Assos in the lively town center of anakkale in a cave hotel in Cappadocia perfectly-located for balloon viewing and also in a rustic resort in a very cute hill village irince Travel Atelier s restaurant options were clean and provided a varied look at various Turkish cuisines -- be prepared to gain some weight on the trip It s hard to pick a favorite but probably our highlight was our lunch at a small Cappadocia restaurant named Aravan Evi -- amazing home-cooked meal and hospitality Travel Atelier also incorporated some unforgettable activities into our itinerary -- I want to call out three of them 1 Cappadocia balloon ride -- Travel Atelier placed us in the first and most desirable launch of the day in a very spacious balloon -- many of the other balloons we saw were packed with far more guests2 Bosphorus Tour -- We were expecting to be part of a large boat tour but were very pleasantly surprised to find out that Travel Atelier had reserved a private boat for our Bosphorus Cruise 3 Meskendir Valley -- as mentioned above we added a day to our Cappadocia itinerary and Ismail guided us in Meskendir Valley which was a fantastic hike Our local guides and drivers were all knowledgeable and personable Mehmet in Istanbul had an incredible wealth of historical knowledge and helped us skip every line in Istanbul Dicle in the Ephesus Izmir area was very helpful during an allergy incident that my wife had Erdem in anakkale had a great dry humor and he did a really great job engaging our kids Eda in Ihlara Valley was patient and personable Iron man enol drove us from Izmir all the way to Istanbul including a number of very long days And we were especially happy to get a chance to meet and be guided by Ismail in Cappadocia Overall we had a trip of a lifetime in Turkey -- we found Turkey to have a unique combination of incredibly rich history East-meets-West culture amazing sights delicious food cleanliness and safety and friendly and welcoming people Coming from the US I can say the trip really broadened our perspective Thanks to Travel Atelier for their impeccable attention to detail commitment to quality and amazing hospitality
Preston Hamrick
6731 reviews
N/A
9 months ago
Trip to Turkey
Orsan made our trip to Turkey an unforgettable experience Communication was prompt and very helpful All of the planning was taking care with attention to detail and he made this trip a wonderful experience for our family of 5
GaryB
6731 reviews
N/A
9 months ago
I had a sudden business trip to Turkey
I had a sudden business trip to Turkey we moved our team of 50 programmers out of Russia so I went to meet them and set them up in Cypress I always wanted to see sites like Gobekli Tepe Catalhoyuk Pamukkale and Cappadocia so about 10 days before travel I called Orsan found on the web with good reviews up in a panic I needed a tour put together fast and it s fairly crowded season in October Booking last minute can always turn a good travel agent into a bad one if their better people are already booked but he found us Uraz Nehir as our guide and Uraz is great -- he s very conscientious really knows the local sites and people so it was fantastic Our itinerary was packed but he added many fascinating but more obscure sites -- some not even on Google maps yet where no one goes but the sites are as interesting as the main sites Our basic itinerary was October 15 Private transfer to Antalya airport for your flight to Gaziantep Welcome at airport private Gaziantep tour and transfer to anl urfa for overnight October 16 Private G beklitepe tour and overnight in anl urfaOctober 17 Private transfer to Adiyaman and Mt Nemrut visit at sunset overnight in Adiyaman October 18 Private transfer to Cappadocia and overnightOctober 19 Hot air balloon flight private Cappadocia tourOctober 20 Private Cappadocia tourOctober 21 - Private transfer to Konya visit Catalhoyuk stay in KonyaOctober 22 - Konya Sagalassos Ancient City DenizliOctober 23 - Pamukkale and Hierapolis drive back to AntalyaOctober 24 - Day trip Perge or Side then to Airport arrive at 13 00 A lot But it was really great Highly recommended
Sue
6731 reviews
N/A
9 months ago
Trip of Lifetime to Turkey with Travel Atelier
We found Travel Atelier through friends who visited Turkey in 2018 and were very happy that we did Ismail at Travel Atelier tailored the trip and tours based on our interests creating a wonderful introduction to Turkey All the arrangements worked smoothly We did request some changes to our itinerary on the fly which Ismail handled to our satisfaction We had the pleasure of meeting Ismail in Cappodocia We visited Istanbul Cappodocia the area around Izmir Ephesus Priene Miletus Didyma Pamukkale Aphrodisisas before heading to Pergamon Canakkale Gallipoli and back to Istanbul We were very pleased with our guides Ozcan in Istanbul Ismail in Cappodocia Dicle in Ephesus area around Izmir and Erdem in Canakkale Gallipoli and our drivers All of our guides were knowledgeable and we learned a lot about Turkey s history and culture They accommodated our mobility challenges adjusting to our pace and or rearranging our itinerary to eliminate as many stairs as possible as well as adding visits to the museums associated with the ruins We particularly enjoyed all of the restaurants they recommended giving us a taste of local dishes a highlight of our trip We left Canada not liking eggplant and came home loving it Our drivers had nerves of steel We were very happy to have them at the wheel navigating the narrow streets through all kinds of traffic Overall it was the trip of a lifetime We are very happy to recommend Travel Atelier for travel to Turkey
Eric Stoen
6731 reviews
N/A
9 months ago
A perfect visit to Cappadocia with three kids
We used Travel Atelier for every element of our visit to Cappadocia They arranged everything for our family of five picked us up at the Cappadocia airport and took us to our hotel in U hisar provided a guide and driver for us for several days to take us around Cappadocia and then drove us to the airport to fly out Everything was perfect Ismail is one of our favorite guides we ve had anywhere It was great being able to skip the lines everywhere especially since we visited during a holiday week We got so much more from our visit and saw a lot more of Cappadocia than if we had tried to arrange things ourselves
Angela Cheung
6731 reviews
N/A
9 months ago
Travel Atelier get my highest recommendation
Travel Atelier organised a private 9 day tour of Turkey for us The tour was perfectly arranged with a level of personalization warmth and detail that couldn t be faulted We did run in a few snags on the way why oh why would Turkish Airline move the time of a flight EARLIER which is no fault of Travel Atelier s at all - and the way they quickly dealt with the issue - swift action calmness and remedy HIGH RECOMMENDATION
John
6731 reviews
N/A
9 months ago
Exquisite service Expert advice
Exquisite service expert advice tailored to our needs and professionalism