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I wrote travel
guidebooks for 35 years,
so I think it's fine to find
your way around Istanbul and Turkey
with a book and a map. Turkey
is not the kind of place where a personal
guide is essential to protect you and
lead you through chaos every day.
That having been said, there's
no denying that touring Turkey with
your own private
guide is the best way
to fully appreciate the richness of
Turkey's history, culture and cuisine.
Unlike a guidebook, a private guide
can answer any question that may
pop into your head, and provide far
more information than can fit in
a book.
Depending on preference, some visitors
will choose to employ a guide for a
day or two (particularly in Istanbul),
and others may choose to have a guide
accompany them throughout their entire
trip.
Tourist guides in Turkey are required
by law to complete a rigorous training
program of several years,
and to obtain an official government tour
guide's license.
It is against the
law for anyone who has not
been trained and licensed to function
as a tourist
guide in Turkey.
As
anyone who has ever employed a guide
knows, it is not just
a guide's knowledge that
makes a tour successful, but also his
or her personality and sensitivity to
your needs and wants.
Turkey has hundreds and hundreds of
licensed tour guides. If you want a
private guide, how do you choose?
My Turkish Tour Guide List includes the
tour guides I can suggest,
based on recommendations I've
received
from travelers like you who have used
their services.
Note that professional guides provide
their services for a fee.
Although they welcome inquiries about
scheduling
and availability of their services,
they expect to be paid when
they provide tourism information. If
you contact them for information and
trip-planning help, you may be asked
to arrange payment by
credit card before
questions are answered, and before
their time is scheduled—just
as with other travel services such
as hotels and flights.
Please also note that guides
are not travel
agents, and are not
licensed to make reservations or
other travel agency services. (For
those services, contact one of my recommended
travel agencies.)
I cannot guarantee that
any particular guide will be successful
for any particular tour or location(s),
or that a guide will have the right "chemistry" with
your personality to make your tour
100% successful. I can only say that
the guides
on my list have
satisfied other travelers who
have told me so.
If you employ a guide
for a private tour in Turkey, please
mention
TurkeyTravelPlanner.com to
the guide when you contact her
or him (here's
why),
and send
me a message after
your tour is completed so that I can
keep
track
of the best guides and suggest
them to other travelers. Thanks!
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