Turkey Tour Itinerary – 9 Days in 1000$ (80000 INR)

After comparing several tour itineraries, packages and tours, I decided to explore the country of Turkey on my own with my family. The cost of the trip per person for 8 nights / 9 Days came upto 75K INR and this was inclusive of Flights, Visa, 3/4* Hotel stay (very close to all tourist places), vegetarian lunch & dinners, walking tours (Istanbul), ferry & Metro rides, taxi rides to airport and everything else (except shopping). So here’s a Turkey 9 day tour expense summary , that helps you budget a trip for your family at the lowest possible cost and also strictly avoid tour packages of any kind

Visa

India has 4 centres to apply for a Turkey tourist visa (Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkatta). However you have only option based on your jurisdiction and has to go through VFS who’ll internally send it across to the respective centre. Cost of Tourist Visa was around 4000 and Cost of VFS Processing Fees was 4500 . So totally 8500 INR . Allow yourself atleast 40-45 days to receive the visa from date of submission, esp for the Mumbai Jurisdiction.

Schedule an appointment by calling this no : 022 67866029

If you’re a US or a Schengen visa holder, the process becomes much more easier with just applying for a sticker visa online, else you need to opt in for the normal Tourist Visa, which is granted for three months from date of issue.

Currency & Exchange

Turkish’s national currency is Liras. 1 Lira is roughly 6 INR.

However Turkish Liras are not available directly in India and you have to get Euros and once you land in Istanbul convert it to Liras in a local foreign exchange store.

However be wise to convert only what you need as if you are left with a lot of Liras at the end of your trip, conversion back to Euros in a Forex shop might be at a loss for you.

Top Cities to Cover in Turkey

Turkey is a huge country with plenty of cities to cover. The top cities that you should definitely include in your itinerary would be as follows

Total no of days needed: 9 nights / 9 days ( including the start and end day of travel). The no of days mentioned above is the least amount of time needed to cover the cities. Eg : 3 days is a bare minimum to cover a city as huge as Istanbul

To put it simply, start from Istanbul , go to Cappadoccia (flight), third go to Antalya(via Flight), and finally go to Izmir(Via flight) as a final stop. From Izmir , visit Epheseus on Day 1(train from Izmir) and Pamukkale on Day 2(train from Izmir) and return to Izmir on the same night. Fly back to Istanbul to Izmir for your flight back home.

Turkey Tour Itinerary

If you are looking for Turkey tour itinerary, you can check out the individual city itineraries here

Expense Summary

Activity DescriptionPrice in INR
Attraction Entrance Tickets & Walking Tours                         17,068
Domestic Flights (4 flights overall)                           7,194
Food (Lunch & Dinner) for 8 Nights                           3,352
Hotel (8 Nights)                         10,273
International Flights ( Return ticket from Blr)                         22,500
Transportation (Tram,Taxi,Bus,Ferri,Metro)                           6,609
Visa                           8,500
Grand Total 75,497

Turkey Cost of Living

(1 Turkish Lira = 6 INR)

ItemTurkish Lira
Tea4
Coffee5
Tshirt30
Metro / Tram / Ferry Ride2.5
Istanbul Kart6
Water Bottle2
Vegetarian Lunch/Dinner25
15 day  All Museum Pass for Entire Turkey315
Simit (Bagel)5

Turkey Tour Packages Comparison

DescriptionSelf Tour ThomasCookSOTCTripFactory & Other similar Tour Packages
Price75,0001,50,0001,44,000134,000
Incl of Intl Flights & VisaYesYesYesNo
# Nights8878
# Days in Istanbul31.51.51.5
Meals Included (Lunch & Dinner)YesYesYesNo
Internal Domestic FlightsYesPartly Bus/Partly FlightsPartly Bus/Partly FlightsNo
Includes International Flight?YesYesYesNo
Stay in a Cave Room Suite in CappadociaYesNoNoNo
Price includes all attractions & Leisure time activity costsYesNoNoNo
Enouh time to explore all important attractionsYesNoNoNo
Cities CoveredIstanbul, Capadocia, Antalya, Izmir-Epheseus, PamukkaleIstanbul, Capadocia, Antalya, PamukkaleIstanbul, Capadocia, Antalya, PamukkaleIstanbul, Capadocia, Epheseus, Pamukkale

Disclaimer on above pricing comparison : The pricing for self is based on my actual expenses to Turkey travelled in the last month of October. The total price for a Turkey 9 Days tour may vary depending on the cost of Airfare which contributes to a significant chunk of the expense and the no of days you stay, the cities you want to cover

Price quotes from ThomasCook, SOTC and other tour operators were obtained, inclusive of GST, . These turkey tour itinerary was studied in detail compared only post that in Nov 2019. The price mentioned in the above table for other tour companies is the least price mentioned for their tours in their respective websites. The pricing was obtained from the below links:

If you have any queries requiring a Turkey tour itinerary for your family, do drop me a comment or mail me at [email protected] . Meanwhile, do check out my other posts on Turkey Tour itinerary

Istanbul 3 day itinerary

Cappadocia Travel Guide

Ephesus Pammukale Itinerary

5 Comments

  1. Great post, very informative. I have also seen whether international or domestic, its best to do self packages rather than use the tour operators – both money wise and freedom wise.
    I like that you have given prices for all things in Turkey – they are actually the kind of information required when self planning.
    Thanks!

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