October 29, 2003 -- This deal isn't a turkey: well-respected Picasso Tours is offering one of the cheapest packages we've ever seen to Istanbul, with air and four nights at a three-star hotel starting at $499.
Istanbul is one of the world's greatest historical cities, a beautiful symbol of the interaction between Islam and Christianity that has defined the Middle East over the past thousand years. And don't worry: peaceful, secular, democratic Turkey is probably the safest place to go in the region. It's a firm American ally, a place with a thriving free press, and even our skittish State Department has no objections to Americans traveling there.
Picasso's package includes roundtrip flights on Lufthansa, four nights at a three-star hotel, daily breakfasts and a bus from the airport to your hotel. You must book by Nov. 15, and the lowest prices are available for trips between Nov. 1 - Dec. 11 and Jan. 12 - March 31. All prices are per person, double occupancy, before the usual $100 in taxes.
You'll be put up in either the Hotel Ilkay (www.ilkayhotel.com), Hotel Olimpiyat (www.hotelolimpiyat.com) or the Hotel Erboy (www.erboyhotel.com). You can trade up to four-star hotels for $50/night, or to five-stars for $100 per night. Prices include:
- From Boston, New York and Philadelphia: $499
- From Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Miami and Washington, DC: $574
- From Denver, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston and Phoenix: $599
- From LA, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle: $624
These prices are considerably lower than we've seen from other tour operators recently, and they're lower than you can find independently. While hotels in Istanbul are cheap -- double rooms at the Olympiat go for a startling $32/night -- the airfares we could find started at $419 plus tax from New York (the cheapest US gateway), so you're saving at least $50 per couple by booking the Picasso deal.
Picasso is a high-quality travel agent and consolidator, and they've been around for 25 years. We recommend them without hesitation. While Picasso is doing perfectly well financially, we still advise that you buy separate travel insurance for any package you book, with any tour provider.
To book, call 800/995-7997 between 8 AM and 5:30 PM Pacific time Monday-Friday; for more details on Picasso, go to www.picassotours.com.
By the way: The State Department does issue one warning about Turkey, and we mention it here only because it's a great example of unintentional humor. Turkish drivers may be the worst in the world, so the US has issued a unique warning about Turkish roads at https://travel.state.gov/turkdrv.html. Apparently, Turkish roads are filled with "completely inattentive drivers," "Vehicles backing up (in reverse) on exit ramps and on main highways," and "oncoming drivers who play inscrutable light games," and key driving lingo includes the phrase "may God protect me." Needless to say, you don't need to drive on a four-day trip to Istanbul.
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