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Guides
Private Cappadocian Guides
The best way to explore the landscape and history of Cappadocia is with a certified Turkish tour guide. The information they provide far exceeds any tour book or website (including this one!). The price for a guide is a small investment. Guides plan your trip with maximum efficiency, provide background information, answer your questions, and become your window into Turkish culture.
Anyone can enjoy Cappadocia without a guide, but a tour guide greatly enhances your visit. You can hire a guide for a half-day, full-day, or multiple days.
CappadociaHistory.com can connect you with an elite tour guides. These are “the best of the best” based on their language fluency, historical knowledge, and professional experience. Most guides take you only to the physical sites, but a skilled tour guide takes you back into history!
Request a Guide
Complete the form below to request a Turkish tour guide recommended by CappadociaHistory.com. Please be sure to include: how many people are in your group, whether you have your own transportation (or need it provided), any sites you want to see, and any other helpful information.
Tour Guiding in Turkey
The following information explains how the tour guide industry works in Turkey.
To ensure an excellent experience for all visitors, the Turkish government regulates the tour guide industry. All tour guides in Turkey must study for several years, pass a government exam, and maintain official certification. The government also mandates the minimum daily price for all guides (usually around $100/day). Only licensed tour guides can lead a tour. I have visited other countries and heard many times, “Oh, my uncle give you good tour!” That does not happen in Turkey.
The professional organization for tour guides in Turkey is called TUREB. It oversees the certification and quality of all tour guides in the country. Official tour guides wear blue “kokart” badges around their necks at all times. There are about 500 tour guides in Cappadocia alone. They are all professional and qualified, but not all guides have a deep historical understanding of Cappadocia’s cave churches.
All professional guides work for a fee. This is their full time profession. Because experienced tour guides are in high demand, they may charge more. When you request a tour guide through the form below, your price is directly from the tour guide, not a travel agency or intermediary that charges a broker fee. There is no mark up or “finder’s fee” involved.
Tour guides in Turkey are not travel agents or drivers. Turkish law prohibits tour guides from driving clients. If you tour requires transportation, the guide can arrange for a licensed driver from a licensed travel agent, or you can easily rent a car to use for your time in Turkey (~$30-40/day). Remember: guides, drivers, and agents are three separate professions in Turkish. All are regulated and licensed by the government.
And finally, Jason Borges (the author of CappadociaHistory.com) is not a certified guide, nor is he a travel agent. CappadociaHistory.com does not guarantee any information or provide any paid services.
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