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We are booking our 4th vacation with Go-Today and our trip to Turkey was no exception to the excellent and reliable planning and arrangements that we have experienced with Go-Today.
We split the six nights to accomodate two weeks of on our own travel to Bodrum, Epheses, Palmakale between two three-day stays in Istanbul. We found the country to be modern, exceptionally clean and energetic. The economy is robust and things were a bit more expensive than we anticipated. Five stars minimum for Go-Today
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Review Provided by:
Jay Gunsauls who traveled on 9/9/2008
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Go-Today was very accommodating. We worked with a customer service agent that altered (per our request) the Essential Istanbul by splitting the six days into two 3-day stays over two weekends. My friend and I then traveled (on our own) to Izmir and Antalya during the weekdays. The weather was perfect and we saw many magnificent sights in Instanbul (including the Whirling Dervishes, Aya Sofia and all the beautiful mosques) and outside of Izmir and Antalya (Ephesus, Side etc.). The hotel (Nazar) we stayed at in Istanbul was nice enough, however the lobby was smoky and there was no shower curtain in the bathroom, so we had to mop up the floor after every shower.
All and all our Turkey trip experience was excellent. From the food, to the sites to the extremely reasonable price, we would definitely do Turkey again and most likely with GoToday.
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Review Provided by:
Mary Bomm who traveled on 4/19/2007
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We returned from Istanbul last night. What remarkable trip!! I would highly recommend go-today.com. The flight connections were very good; enough time to stretch your legs without unnecessary waiting. The airport/hotel transfers were a blessing; jet lag and arriving in Istanbul is a bit daunting. We stayed at the Grand Yavus Hotel, which I would put at about 3 or 3 1/2 stars, in the Sultanahmet area. I can not say enough about the hotel & staff, they were very professional, courteous and hospitable. The hostess/desk clerk was a delight and helped us with many side trips. Their doorman came to our rescue one evening when a taxi cab driver tried to do a money switch and argued with the driver in the street after getting us safely to the hotel entrance. The hotel was going through renovations at the time of our stay and if we stopped back in the middle of the day we could hear the noise, in the future I'm sure the Grand Yavus will be all that much more grander. The Sultanahmet area is a bit up & down hills, be prepared if walking, and you can walk to the major sights. The Mosques (Blue & Hagia Sohia) Hippodrome, Topkapi Palace, Grand Bazaar, Cistern, etc are all about 10/15 minutes walking distance away. We took advantage of the Tram system, which was very user friendly, and toured pretty far on our own. Over all there was not much of laungue problem being most native Istanbul's seemed to speak some English and were very happy to help(and try to sell you a carpet!) At the Topkapi Palace there were several classes of school children visiting that day and were very excited to try out their English on us, it was a delight to answer their questions and just watch their faces brighten up to have someone talk to them. I would not worry about there being a langue barrier!
I would definitely recommend a trip to Istanbul and using go-today.com. I will be checking go-today.com's packages the next time we travel.
Virginia & Ron
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Review Provided by:
Virginia Eddy who traveled on 11/14/2005
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This was our third trip with go-today.com and once again, it proved to be a wonderful, hassle free trip. We stayed at the Divan hotel and although the bathroom was small and there was no view, the pros clearly outweighed the cons at this hotel. We found the staff to be professional and courteous, they provided nice touches like bed turn down (complete with Turkish delight made in house and the following day’s weather report), and best of all was the hotel’s location. It was centrally situated a seven minute’s walk from Taksim square, which is chock full of stores and eateries, while the other side of the hotel had more upscale cafes and restaurants for those with sophisticated tastes.
We also went on several tours – Ottoman Wonders, Ottoman Marvels and Princes Island -- which we felt provided us with both a historical and culture view of Istanbul’s unique history and location. Even better was that our tour group only averaged five people so tours were intimate and allowed us to ask a number of questions (for the Princes Islands tour, it was just us and the tour guide!). If you have the chance, we would also recommend going to a Turkish bath. We went to Cagaloglu baths in the old quarter, which is one of the oldest and most luxurious in the city. It was pricey at $22 (which included a massage), but it was well worth it for the experience alone. Additionally, taxis are cheap and plentiful in the city, although we found that prices vary widely (from $3 to $15) depending on whether you got stuck in one of Istanbul’s infamous traffic jams!
Overall, we were well satisfied with our journey to Istanbul. We found the Turkish people to be very hospitable, the city lively and interesting, and most importantly we thank go-today.com for yet another memorable trip at a reasonable price.
Note: The Turkish lira has recently changed. Now, 1,000,000 TL = 1 YTL; however, both the old and new currency is being accepted through 2005. It’s a bit confusing at first, but just keep the zeroes straight and you’ll be OK. As another side note, when buying souvenirs (especially at the bazaars), we got much better deals with our American dollars (particularly if we were willing to pay in cash rather than on a credit card), so we would recommend only converting enough funds to cover your meal and transportation expenses.
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Review Provided by:
E K who traveled on 6/9/2005
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Average Rating: (4.75)
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