How to stay in Turkey and not have the first idea about the place.

[Colwyn]

For the record, on our very first visit to Turkey we booked a visit to Pammukkle and Ephesus through our tour operator.

And us, well similar anyway. We went with the tour operator who had a stall outside out hotel.

[KKOB]

Kakakoy was a total mystery to them.

I can't think why !

[Colwyn]

Oh dear, JH in trouble again. Never mind she'll pretend she did it deliberately as a windup.

[Liz 101]

For the record, on our very first visit to Turkey we booked a visit to Pammukkle and Ephesus through our tour operator.

So did I H, went with a guide with an archeology degree, who was attached to Bodrum castle. Likewise did a guided tour of Konya & Cappadoccia. I believe that I got far more info, which I could relate to what I was seeing, than if I'd tried reading a guide book whilst walking around

[marina]

For the record, on our very first visit to Turkey we booked a visit to Pammukkle and Ephesus through our tour operator.

And us too!  Nothing wrong with using tour operators for trips, especially when you are new to a country or particular area.  I agree too that you often get much more information from a local guide who knows the area well than reading guide books.  It's not just about being led around by the nose!  Books can't always answer your questions!

It's easy to criticise people who don't yet feel brave enough to go off on their own in a new place when it's somewhere you've been visiting several times a year for donkey's years and know it almost like your own home town.

One of our stopovers on the way home from NZ in April was Hong Kong.  We'd never been there before and didn't even know where to start sightseeing, despite all the maps and books we had.  But fortunately there was a travel agent with an office in our hotel so we booked a half day trip round HK island.  It was brilliant!  A young lady was our guide, she'd lived there all her life.  Never stopped talking about HK, was very amusing and entertaining. We were taken all round the island, had a ride in a sampan, saw so many places we just wouldn't have got to on our own.  Well worth what we paid.

I don't like AI's for several reasons, one being that so many people just never leave the complex and many don't want to, and if they want to spend their money doing that then that's their business and it is a shame that they don't see any of the area where they are staying. But if they do venture out they may just get a feel for the place and decide on a next trip they they will see a bit more. 

[Colwyn]

Quite agree with comments on the value of an informed guide. When in Kapadokya (Goreme) we booked a tour with a local company to one of the underground cities and then on to walk down the Ilhara Valley (stunningly beautiful). Driving to the undergroud city the guide said "See the women sitting cross-legged at the side of the road? They are taking the seeds out of pomegranates to sell them to passers-by. Pomegranates are very important to the economy around here". Such a labour intensive task! How much could it possibly pay? How would I have found that out without a guide?

A few days later Hilary and I drove back to walk the second part of the Ilhara Canyon and stayed at Selima, the village at the bottom of the canyon.

[Lotty]

Well, the way I read the meaning of this thread was that it's not necessarily the big trips out from their hotels, to Ephesus, Capodoccia etc it's just exploring the local holiday area and getting a feel for the town/village/surroundings in which they are staying. I was introduced to a lady in UK who with her family had been holidaying for several years at Letoonia, yet had no idea what Paspatur was, nor had they seen or heard of the old Theatre in Fethiye. To me they were missing so much of local value.

[Jacqui Harvey]

At last, thanks Lotty so glad someone understands what I mean.  It seems so simple to you and me. 
Why should I be in trouble by stating the  obvious ?   It seems a lot of people on this forum like to pick faults where there are none.   
I would say this couple where not shy or nervous.  They also owned a house in India and had been around the world, but, they needed to be looked after because that is what they were used to.
We would book trips and did when we first came to stay at Letoonia and found the guides very helpful, but we did go out and about and did some research about the area, unlike a lot of people who stayed at Letoonia and never ventured out of the place.

[Scunner]

Interesting how they escaped to Kings Garden, its not like its the first place you would come across.

Believe it or not, dinner at Kings Garden is also a tour op excursion. I know this because we were there one April when two rottweillers from Thomas Cook were "negotiating" the deal. The most important part being how much per person they could make personally - from Kings Garden, not Thomas Cook.

[Jacqui Harvey]

Yes, they booked in their Hotel for the Kings Garden.  I noted the people from the Nevada that we picked up also had vouchers in their hands that they offered to Salih.