Full-Day Wine Tour from Istanbul

Fatih was an excellent guide and made the day fun exploring the local wineries and learning about wine making and the commitment to preserve tradition

Our tour included 3 Turkish wineries — all very good. And the guide was fantastic, and transportation was friendly and well-organized. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is that each winery is at least 1.5-2 hours apart (one was close to the Bulgarian border), which makes for an exceptionally long day.

The highlight of our trip to Istanbul was Full-Day Wine Tour lead by vibrant knowledgeable Ozzie. The 3 hour journey west along the Sea of Marmara, trips to 2 wineries and lunch with panoramic views across vast wine fields was terrific as was the unlimited wine lunch. Ozzie provided a WiFi hotspot which made the day out even more special especially as my husband and I were the only guests hence a fantastic private tour. Ozzie, thanks so much. This tour is HIGHLY recommended for not only learning more about Turkish wines but also the people, land and foods outside of Istanbul.

<p>This was a long but really enjoyable day. Be warned that the countryside of Thrace does not look particularly inviting on a cold and overcast February day what countryside does?. But we visited 3 excellent and very welcoming wineries and enjoyed generous tasting measures of wines that were always interesting and sometimes excellent. The winemakers were clearly very proud of what they do and this came over in their welcome. The lunch was excellent, as were the generous supplies of cheese and nuts which got us through a lot of tasting. In between our guide Ahmed shared lots of interesting information about what it's like to live in Turkey and we had some enjoyable conversations. If like us, you were only visiting Istanbul on your trip and want to get out of the big city for a day, this is a good choice.</p>

<p>While our guide was very nice and took great care of us I would not recommend this tour for people who are visiting the country for the first time. If you are spending extended time in Turkey however or are returning it is definitely worth doing. As an American it was delightful to taste varietals that are not often exported if ever to the USA.</p>

<p>We enjoyed it and there are 3things you should be aware of. 1) if you go during winter months, there is not much of an vineyard to look at, 2) The wine region for this tour have not been around for too long so don't expect vintage type wines. 3) This tour takes you to part of the Thracian wine route</p>

<p>Enjoyed seeing the countryside outside of Istanbul. Because of the rainy weather we could not visit one Vinyard so the lady came to the lunch place with the wine instead. Only reason why I did not give five stars is that I was the sole person on the tour and as a single traveller would have preferred to have at least one other person to enjoy and discuss the different wines. Tour guide was very gracious and knowledable about the history of turkey. Driver was also very friendly and accommodating.</p>

<p>A really awesome tour! Something different to do in Istanbul. You get to not only taste the wines but see the vineyards and how the wine is made. Enjoyable for those who know a lot about wine and those who don't. I would highly recommend to anyone!</p>

<p>This was a new tour for the Operator and we were only the second client to go on the tour but it was amazing. The tour took us to places in Turkey that would have normally been missed by a simple city tour. We met some wonderful people along the way and were welcomed so graciously. The vineyards they linked up with were very good. "Niko" was very knowledgeable and totally committed to giving a phenomenal tour. Fun, Fun day!</p>