Review: Turkey Vacation, Ephesus, Cappadocia, Kas, Patara, Letoon, Rose & Ilhara Valley Hiking

The agent was friendly and patient but I found that I had to be alert in checking items in the itinerary and pricing. Follow-up could be better. I told the agent about a restaurant I wanted to go to but this did not materialise. The final itinerary had a mistake in the number of days we were spending in Turkey.

Service was somewhat inconsistent from place to place - the first vehicle we travelled on in Cappadocia had wi-fi, which was excellent, bottles of cold water provided in the car but no car seat for our toddler. The second leg of our journey saw vehicles with car-seats but no wi-fi and no water (save for one driver, who suddenly thought of getting us two bottles towards the end of the day). The rest of the journey was in cars with car seat and water provided but no wi-fi.

When we were in Kas, Patara, Xanthos and Letoon, we had no guide and the driver could barely speak English. We were pointed ruins but the driver could not tell us anything other than "Lycian", "Roman", "necro" and "basilica".  One of the meals on the way from Kas to Gocek was rather disappointing - we were brought to an eatery next to a petrol station without a high chair. As I was alone with my children then, I spent that meal struggling with my toddler.

There were good parts, though - where we had guides, they were fantastic. They knew their country and its history but we found out that was because all licensed guides in Turkey had to undergo a rigorous process to get their licence. Special mention of our guides in Kayseri and Istanbul who kindly helped out with our kids. Our guide in Kayseri had umbrellas waiting for us at the exit of Pammukkale, when we were caught in the rain. Our guide in Istanbul took pains to engage our two older kids and was patient when the toddler was difficult.

Our drivers were all very kindly and nice to us.

The agent's local representative rose to the occasion, providing a local phone with his phone number on the contact list upon our arrival in Turkey and arranging last-minute transport and changing the date of a domestic airticket for my husband from Dalaman Airport to Istanbul when something urgent came up. He graciously waved the fee for the car ride from Kas to Dalaman Airport and did not charge for these last minute services.