2 days 1 night Gallipoli and Troy Tour

The tour of Gallipoli was fantastic. I got picked up early and we drove for about 4 and a half hours from Istanbul to the peninsula. Unfortunately, the mini-bus was pretty cramped and uncomfortable. One suggestion would be to provide a better bus. After lunch, though, we boarded a much more comfortable coach and visited all the key sites of the campaign including Brighton Beach where they were supposed to land, and then on to Anzac Cove, Lone Pine, the Nek etc. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and passionate, and spoke excellent English. He was outstanding. I over-nighted in a comfortable enough budget hotel in Cannakale and wandered the quietish streets and found a nice place for dinner on the recommendation of the Hotel Manager. The next morning I was left to my own devices, as were the other guests, before being collected around 1pm for the Troy tour. There's not much to do in Cannakale and if the Troy tour was in the morning and guests could then travel back to Istanbul in the afternoon, arriving in the city at a reasonable time rather than 10pm, that would be a definite improvement. Again, our guide for Troy was knowledgeable and this was an interesting if not fascinating tour. Gallipoli is a must for any Australian visiting Turkey and I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon visiting the sites, making the overall experience a very worthwhile one indeed.

Although this was a big travelling requirement and two long days it was worth it to us. We had terrific guides for both he Gallilopi and Troy tours and we learned so much from them. We also got to stay at Cannerkale which is so picturesque and has a good museum which exploded the naval conflict and completed the whole history of the campaign. The Crowded House team staff were very helpful and friendly and everything was well organised. The hotel at Cannerkale the Grand Anzac was clean and comfortable. It is very tiring but I would do it again as although my knowledge of WW1 was quite good this explained a side I hadn't really much awareness of and it was a moving experience.