29 Sep 2022
Meeting Emre for our tour we of, course, did not really know how this would go: A private tour for two days with a guide we had never met in a country we had never been.
The two-day tour was fantastic. I mean that truthfully. Emre is an experienced guide, quite knowledgeable about all things Istanbul and Turkiye. Any questions we had (many) were answered fully and truthfully from the story of the language and their history to civil and political life in the country.
More importantly I had contacted Emre prior to the tour on WhatsApp advising that my wife had some mobility issues, so we needed a slower type of tour (we are both 75). I asked him to design the tour around that condition. Because of his care and concern about my wife's problem the tour design was perfect for her making it more pleasant than she could have expected. The van was very helpful getting from one place to another, avoiding long walks. He asked only once if we wanted to see shopping places for rugs, etc. We said no and we saw none - that was nice for us.
Both days we bought lunch for Emre at the type of restaurants we had asked about. This enabled us to spend that time relaxing and just talking Turkey with him casually.
I rarely review on Trip Advisor saving it for either dire warnings to others or expressing outstanding service. This was the latter. We owe Emre a debt of gratitude for the time he spent with us. Thank you, Emre!