32 articles by a licensed guide
Turkey travel tips from a licensed local guide — that is exactly what this category offers, and it exists because my guests ask me the same practical questions year after year, standing in the shade of the Library of Celsus or over a glass of tea in Kuşadası. Rather than answer them one traveller at a time, I write the answers here.
Turkey vs Israel for a Christian journey: the Gospel lands of Israel, or the Turkey of Paul, John and the Seven Churches. A licensed Turkish guide compares sites, travel, costs and official advisories, and says which to visit first.
Where the Seven Churches of Revelation are today: the modern name of each city, its province, road distances from İzmir and Selçuk, what you can see at each site and short 2 to 4 day plans. Practical notes from a licensed guide; you arrange your own transport and hotels.
How I would spend 7 days in Turkey to see the Christian essentials: Istanbul, İznik, Pergamon, Sardis, Philadelphia, Hierapolis, Laodicea and Ephesus, with travel times and notes on Patmos. Free planning advice from a licensed guide; you arrange your own transport and hotels.
Top 5 Visited Attractions in Turkey 2025, learn Top 5 Visited Attractions in Turkey 2025 and book tour guide for attractions in Turkey. Book Turkish tour guide
Most Visited Historic Sites of 2024 in Turkey
Merhaba, and welcome. I am Hasan Gülday, a nationwide licensed tour guide based in Kuşadası, right beside the ancient city of Ephesus. My daily guiding rate is 175…
Ankara Esenboğa Havalimanı (ESB) International Airport in Ankara was opened in 1955. In 2019, it served almost 14 million passengers. The name Esenboga comes from a village near…
As of 2026 Turkey has 22 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 20 cultural and 2 mixed. This list names them in order, with an update on the three newest.
Concept and modern museums, which specialize in expanding areas of interest, changing technologies, and certain subjects, are candidates to become popular museums with new exhibition techniques and presentations.…
Tourism was one of the sectors that suffered the most in 2020 due to the global pandemic. With the measures taken and the acceleration of the vaccination process,…
Simple habits for a relaxed trip in Turkey: use the taxi meter, watch your bag in crowds, use ATMs inside banks and check your restaurant bill.
Cittaslow cities of Turkey list has been constantly updated in recent years and cities where calmness, slowness, and peace prevail are becoming a trend. The number of people…
Turkish Republic’s Museum and Tourism Management branch declared the most visited attractions of 2019. The full list can be seen on their website. Let’s have a look at…
There are nearly 20 UNESCO World Heritages sites in Turkey and also there are more than 100 sites from Turkey in the Tentative list of World Heritage Sites.…
Mount Ararat is a mountain with an altitude of 5,137 meters located in the Eastern Anatolia Region, also known for its volcanic features. Turkey’s Mount Ararat is the…
The Aegean Sea is the west border of the Anatolian peninsula. This 215,000 square kilometre area of water is actually part of the Mediterranean Sea but it is…
The biggest earthquakes in Turkey in modern times include Erzincan in 1939, Gölcük in 1999 and the two Kahramanmaraş earthquakes of 6 February 2023. The records of older…
Turkey is a country known for its intercontinental position as a bridge between the continents of Asia and Europe. Therefore, it has an extraordinary ecosystem and habitat diversity.…
Lake Salda in Burdur Province, Turkey, is known for its white shore and turquoise water, and you can swim at the supervised public beaches.
I compiled a list of ”Top 6 exciting activities in Turkey” for you. As a tour guide taking tours all around Turkey, I tried to choose activities which…
I compiled a list of the ”10 Amazing Natural Heritage Sites in Turkey” for my dear visitors. It might be long but definitely a great voyage in…
Turkey is a vast country offering thousands of places of interest. It might be hard to decide to design an itinerary in Turkey or decide what to visit…
The biggest question is the same before coming to Turkey which is ”Is it safe to travel to Turkey?”. Turkey suffered from some incidents related to Syrian and…
The city of Aydın has the fame to fascinate everyone with its historical buildings and natural beauties. There are many places to see in Aydin. It is a…
Turkey offers a vast variety of possibilities when it comes to choosing the right tour style fitting you. Train tours in Turkey started to become a favorite choice…
Popular travel routes around Turkey.
Turkey offers a great variety of unique attractions for visitors. I created a list of 10 Amazing Places to Visit in Turkey which can give you an idea…
Motorcycle journeys are sometimes indispensable in my life. Sometimes to have a pleasant time, sometimes to enjoy unique views on long trips with friends, and sometimes to spend…
Do you know that for “guiding” without a license in Turkey you can receive a serious penalty and even get behind bars? As well as travel agencies that…
As it is known, the geographical position of Anatolia is a bridge that connects two continents, Europe and Asia. It has been a frequent destination an home for…
Anitkabir in Ankara is the mausoleum of Atatürk, with a Lion Road, a ceremonial plaza and the Hall of Honor.
Turkish Airlines (THY) has a total of 341 aircraft, of which 18 are cargo and 323 are passengers. THY, the company with the largest flight fleet in Turkey,…
You will find posts on the essentials: the best time of year to visit Ephesus and the Aegean coast, what to wear and what to bring for a day among the ruins, how entrance tickets and opening hours work at the major sites, and how to manage the summer heat at places with little shade. Cruise passengers arriving at Kuşadası port will find articles written especially for them, because shore time is precious and a well-planned day makes all the difference — I have spent much of my career helping cruise guests see the very best of Ephesus, the House of the Virgin Mary and the surrounding sites within their hours ashore. There are also posts on money and tipping, on Turkish phrases worth learning, on staying comfortable and safe, and on how travel here differs from what first-time visitors often expect.
Everything I write comes from daily, on-the-ground experience rather than from other websites — when regulations, prices or opening arrangements change at the sites, I am usually standing there the week it happens. That is the advantage of advice from a working guide who lives twenty minutes from Ephesus.
Read these tips while you plan, and your days in Turkey will run smoothly from the first morning. And if you would like the smoothest day of all, I would be glad to guide you personally at Ephesus and beyond — send me a message and consider it arranged.
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