My next adventure: Turkey and the Caucasus

Seems I just got back from South America, and I’m already just a few months away from my next adventure to Turkey and the Caucasus.

I settled on my plans sooner than normal, because I was concerned about rising airline prices. And now it’s just about 3 1/2 months until I leave.

So here’s the plan:

Turkey

My travels begin with twelve nights in Turkey, starting in Istanbul. I got some recommendations online and read a lot of reviews about several tour companies in Turkey, and after contacting three different ones, I settled on Turkey Insiders. I worked with a woman named Zerrin Yalçın, and she was absolutely delightful, accommodating all my requests and making whatever adjustments I asked about.

The only thing I booked on my own was my accommodation in Istanbul. 

Itinerary

Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia

For “Part Two” of my trip to Turkey and the Caucasus, I worked with JayWay Travel to make all the arrangements. This is my third JayWay trip; I used them for the Balkans in 2014 and Central Europe in 2019. They have always been great to work with, and their recommendations for lodging and tours were spot on in the past.

JayWay offers a number of optional tours for days when I’m free (of which there aren’t many). They also suggest some activities I can do on my own. I have a little time still to decide on any of the optional tours, but I need to start doing my research so I can figure out what I want to see besides the things that are included. 

Itinerary

Day	Activity	Sleep
15	Fly Turkish Airlines, Istanbul to Baku	Two Seasons Boutique Hotel
16	Baku Highlights Driving & Walking Private City Tour
17	Highlights of Baku’s Surroundings Private Day Trip
18	Free day
19	Car transfer, Baku to Sheki, with stops at Diri Baba Mausoleum & Shamakhi Juma Mosque Sheki Private Walking Tour	Sheki Palace Hotel
20	Car transfer, Sheki to Sighnaghi	Hotel Brigitte
21	Sighnaghi Private City Tour Car transfer, Sighnaghi to Tbilisi, with a stop at David Gareja Monastery	Vinotel
22	Tbilisi Private Walking Tour
23	Kazbegi Private Day Trip
24	Free day
25	Car transfer, Tbilisi to Kutaisi, with stops in Gori, Chiatura, Mgvimevi Monastery & Katskhi Pillar	Hotel Solomon
26	Kutaisi Private City Tour
27	Car transfer, Kutaisi to Batumi, with stops at the Batumi Botanical Gardens and Petra Fortress	Hotel N16
28	Batumi Private City Tour
29	Car transfer, Batumi to Akhaltsikhe	Hotel Julia
30	Private day trip to Rabati Castle, Vardzia and Khertvisi Fortress
31	Car transfer, Akhaltsikhe to Yerevan, with stops in Gyumri and Dashtadem Fortress	Hotel 14 Floor
32	Yerevan Old Town Private Walking Tour
33	Garni Temple, Geghard Monastery and Master Levon’s Cave Private Day Trip
34	Khor Virap and Noravank Monasteries Private Day Trip with Wine Tasting
35	Fly Pegasus, Yerevan to Sabiha Gokcen Airport, Istanbul Transfer to Istanbul International Airport	On the plane
36	Fly Turkish Airlines, Istanbul to Mexico City Fly Volaris, Mexico City to Guadalajara	At home!

Details

There are a lot of places, especially in the Caucasus section of my trip, about which I know little or nothing. So I’m going to need to do a lot of research before my trip starts. I’ve been reading Lonely Planet’s Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, and that’s been very helpful. 

I’m going to follow up this post with some specific destination posts. That should help me expand my understanding of the places I’m visiting. And it should give you, my readers and fans, a good idea about why I’m going to these places.