Isn't three places in eight days tiring?

The way the programme is built prevents it: one main area per day, the two out-of-town trips spaced rather than back to back, and a completely free day in the middle. What tires people is not the number of days but how many places are squeezed into one — three stops is the practical limit, a fourth passes without pleasure.

Do I keep the car and driver on the free day?

If you want, yes — the car and driver stay at your disposal all day, you decide where to go and you are waited for at every stop. If you would rather not, no vehicle goes out that day; resting at the hotel or wandering within walking distance is a choice too. Just tell us at booking.

Can Sapanca and Bursa fit in one day?

No, and we would not suggest trying. They lie in different directions from Istanbul: Sapanca east by road, Bursa south by ferry. Squeezed into one day, the day is spent on the road and you see little of either but the car park. That is why the programme places them on separate, spaced days.

8 daysIstanbul · Sapanca · Bursa

Istanbul, Sapanca and Bursa in 8 Days

City, lake and mountain together — the most balanced length for families, with two day trips.

Day by day

1Day
Arrival and welcome
Met at the airport, taken to the hotel, and time to rest.
2Day
The historic peninsula
Sultanahmet, Hagia Sophia and Topkapı; the Grand Bazaar in the afternoon.
3Day
The Bosphorus and Beyoğlu
The cruise, Galata Tower and Beyoğlu; free time along the Bosphorus in the evening.
4Day
Sapanca and Maşukiye
130 km from Istanbul; a few hours by the lake, a walk to the waterfalls at Maşukiye and trout for lunch. At its best in spring and autumn; in summer, an escape from the city's humid heat.
5Day
A free day
No programme. If you like, the car and driver stay at your disposal all day and you decide the route.
6Day
Bursa and Uludağ
Over to Bursa by ferry, the Uludağ cable car, and the Grand Mosque and Koza Han in the city centre.
7Day
Shopping
Nişantaşı, Bağdat Avenue or the malls; the vehicle is with you all day.
8Day
Departure
Collected from the hotel according to your flight and taken to the airport.

What the programme includes

Airport meet-and-greet and return transfer
Private air-conditioned vehicle and fuel
Arabic-speaking guide or driver
An itinerary built around prayer times
Intercity journeys with the same vehicle and driver
A free day outside the programme

Common questions about this programme

The programme bends to you

These are a starting point. You can add a day, drop a stop or reorder the route — the tours are private, so you never have to fit a group's schedule.

How the price is set

Price on request

A package price depends on the number of travellers, the hotel class and the dates, so we do not publish a fixed figure. Send your dates and party size and we will put the total in writing the same day. Nothing starts until you approve it.

Ask about this package

Cities covered

Istanbul · Sapanca · Bursa

What sets the price

We do not print a fixed figure on the programme pages, and the reason is that the same programme does not cost two families the same. Four things set the price.

How many people
The cost of the vehicle and driver is per car, not per person; the vehicle side of a programme for two and one for six is almost the same. That is why the per-person figure drops noticeably for larger families.
The date
The summer months and the two Eid periods are the highest; November to March is the easiest. The gap is wider on the hotel side and narrower on the vehicle.
Hotel class and district
You choose the hotel part of the programme. The same programme can be built around three stars in Sultanahmet or five on the Bosphorus shore.
Whether flights are included
Domestic and international tickets are not part of the programme; if you want, we buy them in your name, and if not, you buy them yourself.

Once you send us those four, we reply the same day with the total and a day-by-day draft. The figure we give does not change afterwards.

Who this programme suits

Eight days is enough to see three places without hurrying — and that is the real logic of the programme: less rushing, not more stops.

The shape: Istanbul, then a day of countryside at Sapanca, then Bursa. Sapanca is the calmest stop; it is the day with the least walking of any programme on the site.

It suits: those with more than a week and less than a fortnight, anyone who wants both city and countryside in one trip, and families travelling with a small child or an elderly relative — the quiet days in between lower the pace.

We do not suggest adding a third city to this programme. A fourth stop in eight days gives two more days to the road; what you gain is less than what you lose.

If you are staying longer than eight days, moving to a coastal city works better than keeping Istanbul as the base — Antalya or Bodrum. At that point the plan becomes a multi-city one.