From Istanbul: Sapanca and Masukiye Day Trip with Lunch

We travel a lot around the world, but this is the first time we've encountered such a scam in one place. Yes, a lot of it was described in words, but in reality, the words don't correspond to reality. It all started with a trip to a strange junk food joint in the middle of the highway for breakfast. Make sure you bring something from the store beforehand, because you'll only be served the slop prepared by the guide's friends. Next, you'll hear a story about Istanbul, but the guide apparently doesn't have much interesting information, so you'll spend most of the trip in silence, listening to music. The first stop after the cafe is the zoo, which is NOT INCLUDED in the price. At the time of writing, the price is about $40 for two people. There's nothing to see there, the animals are tired. It'll be fun for small children. Next up is a zip line. It doesn’t offer any stunning views; it’s just a bit of fun at an amusement park. I’d recommend going to the one in Istanbul itself, in the park by the bridge. It’s absolutely beautiful there and much more interesting. Riding ATVs is also boring. You drive for 20 minutes on a regular road at a speed of 10-20 km/h. That is all. There is no one-hour trip. The rest of the time, you just wait for the rest of the guys in the location, where another scammers try to sell you pictures for 500 lire apiece and other types of scam. Again, I remind you that the guide's friends work at all locations. Well, after this incredible adventure, you will be taken to eat. The menu included 1 small shish kebab on a skewer, a small portion of rice, a couple of cutlets, soda and a small portion of salad. It's not enough for a price that we paid. but you will also periodically have other dishes, drinks, and desserts on the table. AND AS SOON AS YOU TOUCH IT, THEY WILL TELL YOU THAT IT COSTS EXTRA MONEY. BUT NO ONE WARNS ABOUT THIS IN ADVANCE, AS WELL AS ABOUT THE PRICE. The guide's gang are already going crazy by this point. Well, I'll skip the cable car, which is just normal, but you won't find anything on the mountain. there are typical Turkish scammers and various outdoor attractions, the view will only be while you are going up. before the next point, I'll tell you that all the way out of the window we saw a lot of local markets where they sold a lot of cool handmade goods. The guide said he would take us to the super cool grocery market, where locals work and even tourists are not often taken there. This is such a unique place. But, unfortunately, in the end, it's just another divorce from overprice prices, where baklava and other sweets are sold. Well, the finale - we were just left in peace by the lake. most likely, this is the coolest time. We took a walk along the pleasant embankment, looked at the life of the locals, and chatted with passersby. After all this fraud, the usual human attitude was already missing and we only got it from the locals. I strongly do not recommend such trips from guides. if you want to take a similar one, then take the minimum package, and buy everything yourself on the spot. But it's better to go on your own. But I didn't think that Turkish guides would turn out to be so terrible and incompetent.

⭐☆☆☆☆ Very disappointing and a total rip-off I do not recommend this Sapanca and Maşukiye day trip at all. Almost every stop felt like a scam designed to make you spend more money, and the costs were much higher than expected. The food was average at best. Even the ATV ride, which could have been fun, stopped after just 15 minutes at a “photo point” where they tried to charge ridiculously high prices for pictures. Nothing about the experience was special. When I asked the guide about the famous waterfall and the beautiful spots shown in the pictures online, he casually said those were just restaurants and “not that great” — and that where we went was “better.” It absolutely was not. The whole trip felt misleading and disappointing. Save your money and skip this tour.

Simply, very well organized. Very well planned. Food was not as great. Osman our guide was the best guide we’ve had in a while. He made sure that we well informed about the trip and the history

This activity felt like very much of a tourist cash grab. The only included activity was the lunch and coach, the 'lunch' was at about half 5. There were stops at an aquarium, zipline, themepark with carting, turkish delight shop, cable car and the lunch cafe with 20 minutes at a beautiful lake. The lake was lovely, but if I were to do this again, I would arrange travel to the lake only. If you do do the carting, halfway through, expect to be stopped, taken from the vehicle and pushed to buy from a market/ photoshoot etc. Throughout the journey, the driver and guide played music at a really high volume that not even noise cancelling headphones could dull, and the driver was checking football results and clips on the way back. I can't really recommend this trip, there are nice elements to it, but you would be better off arranging to do these of your own accord.

Unfortunately, our guide did not make the trip fun. It seemed as they just wanted money. Every stop was about charging you for pictures.

So the trip has a nice start with a comfortable, air conditioned coach and a nice host (Doğan). The first stop was at the Zoo - for small a zoo that was completed in an hour - probably advise you to skip that if you've done a zoo before. The next stop was the ATV safari which we were really looking forward to, but was actually very, very disappointing. The worst bit was where it stops and every one exits to the photo points where you cant take your own pictures - these photographers do it for you than try to charge you the earth! Then we werent told that you are meant to drive your Vehicle to the start point where the whole experience was so deflating. Then on to the zip line which takes 10 times longer to prep and pay than the actual disappointing experience. Then on to the lunch and Lake Sapanca which was the best bit - the restaurant was superbly positioned overlooking the lake and the food was decent too. Then off to a sales opp again to buy Turkish delight! Finally the Cable cars which were great and a lovely way to finish as the sun started setting. The only problem is, you get an hour to get to the top, have a quick walk and back down. The experience seemed like they entice you with a great price but obviously make up for it on pushing you to do the paid activities - some are definitely worth it (cable cars) - others definitely not. I did like the host and for the trip and the food, the price was great value for money but felt I spent hundreds for a family of four on activities that werent worth it (zoo and ATV).

He’s asked me repeatedly this weekend why I’ve never been long, and if you have a car, you can get away from Istanbul in 1 hour

The trip was commercially oriented, they stopped in many areas for tourists to buy or to pay for unnecessary services instead of using the time to allow people see the beauty of the nature. They picked us from hotel on time, but we have to stop two times, and change the bus one time as they collect all the visitors for other trips in one bus and switch them at certain stops, which I don’t see it a harm, but you must know this since they don’t mention this anywhere. First stop was at the zoo, where all were adults and not interested. tickets after discount were 600TL ticket, we chose to wait at a near by cafe. Next, we went to a Lukum factory shop, it is optional to buy, but again another 1 hr wasted. Then the trip goes to Sapanca lake to have lunch which was average. Next was to the Telefrik to Kartepe which you have to pay again another 600/person. The stop after was to masukiya to use the buggies, which none of the tourists were interested to ask and pay, and then we stopped next to the zip line, and again none of us were interested to pay or use. Many people asked for the waterfall, which as per the tour guide, it is a water pipe that was called as waterfall! And he didn’t take us to the waterfall unlike their program! At the end, he dropped my family at the main street and refused to drop us in front of the hotel, I insisted to drop us next to the hotel, and the tour guide said that “it is a bus and not a taxi”! noting that I have elderly parents and we were carrying some stuff. To be fair, the tour guide explanation was good and he was clear about extra payments. But the entire trip was a disappointment. Overall, as a person who has been into this trip earlier with other groups, I do not recommend this trip unless you want to keep paying.

Great day out and the tour guide was exceptional with his information and had the day planned amazingly.

Several stages, zoo without interest... nice zip line for child place poorly maintained... the most unpleasant experience is the meal and service of a mediocre standard (no knives for a dish with meat) the dish was gross, orange juice extra cut with water, obvious lack of hygiene and all on the edge of a small waterhole cluttered with polluting waste with animation of rats 😀, the activity of the cable car and the quad are decent and nice Guide Too bad for the image of Turkey which has many other assets and beautiful places to visit