Although our company and experience in general Turkish tourism dates back to 15 years, we have been organizing tours and travel related services in Turkey since 2001 exclusively for gay and lesbian guests from all over the world. We are more focused on independent and customized tours and travel services for individuals and for groups rather than typical scheduled gay tours, because of the limited potential of gay visitors and also because the people need a personal touch in a country like Turkey full of mysteries for new comers.

Below are just a few samples of some recent services we have provided before and the testimonials of some of our former clients. You can trust that all of these testimonials are real and mostly our clients delivered them without being requested especially. We are hoping many new ones will added to our pages in time. For us personal satisfaction is the best advertisement.

 

DATE : March 06 2010
SERVICE : Private Gay Bar & Club Tour for 3 pax
CLIENT : Mr. Chris Berns (US) and 2 friends
 

From left, our guide, Mr. Berns and friends
You can click to enlarge this photo.

Mr. Berns is director of Aces Entertainment, Inc. modeling agency that is growing fast in North America and Europe. For details see:
Ace Models: http://www.acemalemodels.com

Testimonial:
Hi Mustafa - I just wanted to thank you for the great service. Seljuk did a wonderful job. We all had a great time and got to see people, places and things that would not be possible on our own. Exactly what I had hoped for - Please pass my thanks on to Seljuk well - he was great.
I'll certainly recommend you guys in the future.

My Best, Chris


 

 

DATE : January 07-11 2010
SERVICE : Accommodation and Various Tours in Istanbul for 2 pax
CLIENT : Mr. Alessandro (Italy)
Testimonial: Dearest Ms. Derya and Mr. Mustafa
Just a few lines to thank you for all the gentleness and professionality showed towards us.
We've been around quite a lot and our initial expectations on Istanbul were not exactly the highest. You swept away any cliché about Istanbul and Turkish people. Thanks to you Istanbul is now among my 5 top favorite cities I've visited so far and Pride Travel ranks the best Travel Agency we've traveled with. Please forward this message to Ali (Mr. Silk for us buddies) so to let him know too how much we appreciated his excellent work as a professional guide. We've never felt so comfortable and relaxed with a guide -it was like traveling with a good friend.

Sincere congratulations and keep up with the good work!
 

 

DATE : October 22 2009
SERVICE : Private Gay Bar & Club Tour for 4 pax
CLIENT : Mr. Derek (New Zealand)
Testimonial: Dear Mustafa,
Just wanted to pass on our thanks for helping make our stay in Istanbul truly memorable. Our guide was amazing and gave us an excellent insight to the gay scene in Istanbul, and would ask that you let him know how much we appreciated his time with us. He was just the best ! ! ! !
Keep up the good work. Many thanks
Derek

 

DATE : August 21 2009
SERVICE : Private Gay Bar & Club Tour for 1 pax
CLIENT : Mr. Panca (Japan)
Testimonial: Dear Mustafa,
Thank you very much for the arrangements for yesterday. I had a great evening indeed.
The guide is a great guy, very friendly and kind (and cute, too :-)).
I am looking forward to use your service again, the next time I visit Istanbul.
thanks and regards,
Pance.

 

DATE : July 25 2009
SERVICE : Private Gay Bar & Club Tour for 1 pax
CLIENT : Mr. Michael (Canada)
Testimonial: Dear Ms. Derya, I would lıke to thank you. Selcuk was a charming young man and I enjoyed his tour very much. You offer a great service and you employ excellent guides. This evening I will try to find the places he showed me last night. Again, thank you..

 

DATE : May 31 2009
SERVICE : Private Gay Bar & Club Tour for 2 pax
CLIENT : Mr. Matti and his friend from Finland
Testimonial: Dear Mustafa, I would like to thank our guide for an excellent city tour on 1.5. You were too modest, when telling me, that the guide is average. He was extremely good and fulfilled our wishes perfectly. If it is possible, I would like to have the name of our guide, because we would like to tell to our friends coming to Istanbul about your office and him. We would like definitely to ask our friends to have him as their tour guide.
Best regards

Matti

 

DATE : December 24 2008
SERVICE : Private Gay Bar & Club Tour for 1 pax
CLIENT : Mr. Daniel C., USA
Testimonial: Dear Mustafa
Mustafa,
Now that I am home and getting all settled back in, I wanted to thank you for sending Ismael to tour around with me. He was very sweet and a great help and I just wanted you to know how appreciative I am. Thanks again. I had an amazing time in Istanbul and can't wait to come back!!!!

Daniel

 

DATE : October 03 2008
SERVICE : Private Gay Bar & Club Tour for 1 pax
CLIENT : Mr. Francis M.
Testimonial: Dear Mustafa
Thanks for arranging my guide last niıght. I had a great time and explored many places I would have missed if I were on my own. The guide was great and very helpful and friendly. Thanks again - I will say hi to you if I see you again - I will recommend this service to other people I meet who intend to go to Istanbul. Cheers;  Francis

 

DATE : September 20 2008
SERVICE : Private Guided Istanbul City Tour for 2 guests
CLIENT : Mr. Robert S (USA)
Testimonial: Dear Pride Tours
I have just returned to San Francisco and wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the Pride Travel private tour of Istanbul. Our guide and driver were excellent and the tour gave us an experience of the city that we never would have been able to achieve on our own. Thank you for making the trip to Turkey so enjoyable.
Best regards

Robert S.; San Francisco, CA USA

 

DATE : September 08 2008
SERVICE : Private Gay Bar & Club Tour for 1 pax
CLIENT : Mr. P. Bray (USA)
Testimonial: Hello. I just wanted to drop a note of thanks to your office and to Ismael. Ismael took me on an early evening walk in early September. His promptness, insights, and optimism all made for a wonderful view of my time in Istanbul. Thank you. Peter

 

DATE : September 06-26 2008
SERVICE : Customized Turkey tour covering Istanbul and Cappadocia for 2 pax
CLIENT : Dr. J-P. Christopher Jackson and Mr. Ray Robertson.
Dr Jackson and his partner Mr. Robertson are both Turkey lovers & supporters. Although they were not fully satisfied with some of the hotels they stayed, they seem to have enjoyed their trip a lot and have reflected their impressions and published
the photos they have shot during their Turkey tour on Flickr's Photo set pages. Please click here to see these great photos and their additional comments. (Slide Show option recommended)

Testimonial: Dear Derya,
Thanks to you and all of your staff for making our trip a special holiday. You deserve a great deal of praise for establishing the first gay-oriented travel agency in Turkey. I am sure it was not an easy task. And although my partner and I did not avail ourselves of the "gay" specific tours and club guides, choosing instead for you to help us with a more traditional, but customized tour of two specific areas of Turkey, namely Istanbul and Cappadocia, we can say that your agency performed in a very responsive manner.  Your internet manager is the most responsive communicator I have encountered in the Internet world, and your sister and other staff addressed the problems that arose promptly and without complaint. You have an excellent team, and the problems that did arise were not of their making.....

 

DATE : July 25-August 16 2008
SERVICE :
Ccustomized Turkey tour for 1 pax, a complete package covering Istanbul, Fethiye, Boat cruise Cappadocia tours etc
CLIENT : Ms. Donna M. (USA)
Testimonial: Dear Derya,
I just wanted to say thank you so very much for an unbelievable tour that you arranged for me. Everything was arranged so beautifully! I really enjoyed touring Turkey, and I would like to return to visit other parts, including areas around the Black Sea and eastern Turkey. I will definitely get in touch with you when I return.
Again, thanks for making my vacation one that I will always remember.
Regards, Donna M.

 

DATE : June 10-16-2008
SERVICE :
Customized Turkey tour package for 2 pax, covering Istanbul and Bodrum
CLIENT : Mr. Michael Conway
Testimonial: I wish to extend a big thank you to all at Pride Travel for helping make our tip to Istanbul and Bodrum a great success. Everything went as planned. We loved the trip, the people and the experiences we had. I will most certainly recommend you as the travel company of choice. Turkey is a beautiful country filled with wonderful, interesting people. I look forward to returning someday.

All the best,
Michael Conway

 

DATE : October 23-30-2007
SERVICE :
Customized Istanbul Package including tours, hotels dinners
CLIENT : Mr. Scott B, USA
Testimonial: Derya: I got back to Chicago safe and sound last evening. All went well. I had an excellent, excellent time in Istanbul. Thank you very much for all of your help. (And Sedat and I had several very nice evenings together before I left ). Best regards from Chicago. Scott Baransk

 

DATE : September 02-2007
SERVICE :
Customized Istanbul and Turkey Travel Package for 4 pax
CLIENT : Mr. Lois and his friends, USA
Testimonial: Derya & Company:
I arrived home in New York on Sunday afternoon, 09/16, leaving Louis, Robert and John still touring in Turkey (those lucky people).

I just wanted to drop this note to say a very heartfelt "Thank You" to you and your staff for the excellent accommodations and tour plan you put together for us. There were many variables in our itinerary and everything was executed flawlessly.

My first visit to Turkey was fantastic and memorable and I will certainly recommend your agency to any friends of mine who might be considering travel to Turkey. I wish you every success in your business.

Thanks again.

Steve

 

DATE : July 06-2007
SERVICE : Private Gay Bar & Club Tour
CLIENT : Mr. Jeffrey Trent-1 pax USA
Testimonial:  Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed my City Tour on July 6th. It was the best part of my visit to Istanbul. My guide was prompt, professional and lots of fun. He made me very comfortable and introduced me to many friends. As it was late when we finished, I forgot to get my guide's e-mail in order to correspond and thank him. If appropriate, can you forward me that info?

Once again, I appreciate you and your staff and the excellent service you provide. I will definitely be coming back and working with you and your staff again in the near future.

Thanks,

Jeffrey P. Trent
Attorney at Law

 

DATE : June 03-2007
SERVICE :
Istanbul and Ephesus Daily Tours for 1 pax
CLIENT : Mr. Todd Austin-2 pax USA
Testimonial:
Hello there,
I wanted to write and thank you for arranging our great Istanbul and Izmir trips. They were the highlight of our holiday. We so enjoyed touring Istanbul we our nice lesbian friend. When I hear of friends heading to Turkey I will certainly give them your email. Thanks again and it was a pleasure meeting you!
Todd Austin

 

DATE : April 29-2007
SERVICE : Private Gay Bar & Club Tour
CLIENT : Mr. Christophe Durand,  France, who is a well known artistic director, event organizer, and studio make-up artist
http://www.christophedurand.com
Picture: Ms. Derya, our guide Kenan, Mr. Durand, Kenan's boy-friend and our another guest.
Testimonial: Hello the nice family,
I just want to tell you that I spent a magic night with your very good guide. he is good in English, cool nice to talk with and I hop I will do it again. please let him know it. he is so professional
he even came to pick me up late at night to be sure every thing was ok. Please say hello to his friend to, and give to Kenan, my contact, so I can guide him once in Paris. it was one of the best night in Istanbul. I hope to do it again sooooon! so we keep in touch, and if I come back to Istanbul I ll let you know.

I left on Monday to Rio for more sun and heat at the beach.... I will com in turkey in July for a cruise with some friend. magic country
Tesekkur ederim (thank you)
Gorusuruz (see you again)

 

DATE : April 25-24 2007
SERVICE :
Customized Tour of Turkey + Athens
CLIENT : Mr. Ian Campbell and his friend Max, Australia
Testimonial: Dear Derya & Mr. Korkmaz.
We would like you to know that we were pleased with the itinerary and that we saw the parts of Turkey we hoped to.

We were pleased with the quality of hotels during our tour. The Hotel Helen, Atinc, Pearle Mare were satisfactory and their menu and service was adequate to our needs. The Gordion in Ankara is a good hotel we would happily recommend.

Our travels to the various itinerary locations was satisfactory, we were well looked after by the various bus companies we encountered and our journeys ended satisfactorily. The bus station pickups were very very good and were pleasing to meet. Many had waited patiently for late buses. They should be thanked.

We both are very happy with our travels in Turkey. Your organization of our itinerary proved most successful.

Thank You for your help.

Our only crisis, the departure time on our itinerary for first tour day.

We heard no more from Gurkan?

The Hotel Amaryllis in Athens – it’s a dump. However it does have reasonable location. The room standard is very low, (not even a small fridge in the room). The breakfasts were limited in size and range. Athens is a filthy dirty city. If it was not for the antiquities, you would not go there.

I hope everything works out with the elections for President.

Ian Campbell & Max

 

DATE : December 27-Jan 01 2007
SERVICE : Hotel reservation and Private Gay Tours
CLIENT : Mr. Derrick Leon, Singapore citizen working in U.A.Emirates
Testimonial: Hi Derya & Mustafa,
Dear Derya (& sis) & Mustafa,

Thank u so very much for the arrangement of the tour guide Emir. I had a wonderful time in Istanbul and will always keep the fond memories of my short stay there.

Derya, it was nice to have lunch with u and your sis (sorry I can't remember her name) and the nice chat over the wonderful lunch.

Emir & I spent the New Year Eve together till 7 a.m. the next day. The dinner & show at TT'S were good & met lots of nice people around. Thereafter we went to one of the clubs & danced throughout the night. It was so packed inside that we could hardly find place to stand.

After the club we walked along the streets & met the people who had just finished their party & we exchanged New Year greetings.

I really enjoyed my time there in Istanbul. THANKS. And I will be looking forward to my next visit - hopefully to spend a bit more time in Turkey.

Please covey my thanks to Emir ... and tell him I really enjoyed his company. (heehheeee.... actually I kinda fancied him)

Happy New Year.

Regards,

Derrick

 

DATE : August 13-19 2006
SERVICE : Customized private charter cruise from Bodrum for 19 guests
CLIENT : Mr. Stavros, New York- USA:
Testimonial: Hi Derya & Mustafa,
Firstly, THANK YOU so much for your patience in helping me coordinate this trip. All of our friends had a wonderful time. The crew on the boat went above and beyond to make it a fun time. When we do it again in a few years, we hope to get the same crew: Taner, Unal and Murat. They were amazing.
Thank you for confirming those last-minute items for our final day on the boat. The boat owner had a different timeline then what was agreed upon.
........
With all of that said, we all had an amazing time: the boat was impressive, clean and well-maintained; the crew (again) were just fabulous -and worked very hard the entire time. The food was fantastic - and the cook was very helpful in changing some menu items when we requested. We changed captains after 3 days (the owner of the boat took over) so we really didn't get to know either of them well.
Even our wine and cake arrived on time!
We thank you again for arranging the private tour of Istanbul - Gokhan was excellent. You should use him more often!
If anyone you are dealing with asks for a recommendation, please feel free to contact me.
We look forward to working with you again!
Warm Regards,
Stavros

 

DATE : July 20-25 2006
SERVICE : Customized Turkey Tour covering
Istanbul Bodrum and Cappadocia
CLIENT : Mr. Max Snow and Frank J.Ellison. Log Angeles - USA:
We had very important guests from Hollywood in July 2006. Frank and Max are important figures in American film industry and they have been in charge as financial controller, production accountant and producers in very famous films such as Swordfish, Lake Placid, Father of the Bride, Mississippi Burning etc. Frank was about to start a film with Angelina Jolly soon after. They surprised us with their modesty and treated us as friends.
Testimonial:
 Hello Derya- Just a quick note to say hello and thank you again for everything. We hope that you are well. We arrived home safely 12 days ago and started back in to our routine. We hope that you will be able to make it to Los Angeles one day soon. Please send our best wishes to everyone. I am attaching the picture of me, you and Max.
  Hugs,  ......... Frank and Max

 

DATE : July 22-August 01 2006
SERVICE : Customized Turkey Tour covering Istanbul and Antalya for 2 guests.
CLIENT : Mr. Peter Mauceri, USA:
Testimonial: Dear Mustafa—just wanted to send you a note of thanks for your excellent work in setting up our trip to Turkey. Both hotels were terrific….the one in Antalya a real mind blower!! (I didn’t know daily dinner was included as well so that was a very pleasant surprise)….Your personal tour was also very helpful and a nice way to orient ourselves to the city….though we really didn’t have much time to go back to most of those places!! We’re already thinking about our next trip….hopefully sometime toward the end of the year…this time in addition to Istanbul we’d do five nights in Bodrum…what hotels do you recommend there??

Again thanks…you and Derya were terrific. We are telling all our friends to talk to you before they plan a trip to Turkey

Peter

 

DATE : July 22-July 26 2006
SERVICE : Customized Turkey Tour covering Istanbul, Cappadocia, Pamukkale, Bodrum, Fethiye, Kas, Antalya for 6 guests
CLIENT : Geoff Kerins, Lancefield-Australia and friends
Testimonial : Hi there Derya
Helen, Brian and I are back home while the others go onwards with the rest of the tour. I’d like to thank you for everything you arranged for us all. It all went absolutely according to plan and we’re all very grateful for your extreme efficiency.
So hoping to be in touch with you again next time – Helen and I are definitely coming back soon. We loved it.

Many thanks again
Penelope

 

DATE : July 19-20 2006
SERVICE : Birthday Party: Bosphorus cruise on boat and tea party at Binbirdirek Cistern for 150 guests
 

CLIENT : Henk Eijsbouts & Dono Hardjowisastro, a 16 years gay couple from Netherlands chose our company for Henk's 60th birthday celebration, when they had to be in Istanbul according the their scheduled rally of classic cars starting from Amsterdam, ending in Beijing. We organized every detail for them and their gay and family friends over 150 people. Henk (who is a  dentist & implantologist) and Dono came to Istanbul driving a Citroen DS from 1975.

 

DATE : June 05-07 2006
SERVICE : Customized Istanbul Package for Mr Marcos, who is a travel agent himself.
CLIENT : Mr. Marcos Da Silva-BFirst Travel Australia
Testimonial :  Dear Derya.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for arranging my short break in the beautiful Istanbul.
Everything was perfect and my stay was a memorable one.
I don't have Ozzy's email address (the tour guide who did my private day tour in Istanbul). Could you please forward the attached picture to him for me, thank you.
Kind regards,
Marcos

 

DATE : May 06-07 2006
SERVICE : Customized Private Guided Istanbul Tour for 34 guests
CLIENT : 34 Guests calling themselves "Mature Friends" leaded by Mr. Jerry Jordheim, Seattle-USA, who came to Istanbul with Perla Cruise-ship of Louis Cruise Lines 
Testimonial:  Back in Seattle last night with no problems. Mustafa, you appeared and disappeared so never did talk with you. Now Derya, you were right there beginning and end. Good to have met you and will keep my eye out for your magic lipstick princess. Enjoyed working with you all. Jerry

 

DATE : May 06-07 2006
SERVICE : Customized Private Guided Istanbul Tour for 34 guests
CLIENT : 34 Guests calling themselves "Mature Friends" leaded by Mr. Jerry Jordheim, Seattle-USA, who came to Istanbul with Perla Cruise-ship of Louis Cruise Lines 
Testimonial:  Back in Seattle last night with no problems. Mustafa, you appeared and disappeared so never did talk with you. Now Derya, you were right there beginning and end. Good to have met you and will keep my eye out for your magic lipstick princess. Enjoyed working with you all. Jerry

 

DATE : August 05 2005
SERVICE : Customized Private Guided Istanbul Tour for 32 guests
CLIENT : 32 Guests visiting Istanbul with a gay cruise of Celebrity Millenium leaded Mark Lehman from West Hollywood - CA- USA
Testimonial: .... we thank you again for a marvelous introduction to your fantastic city. We all enjoyed it thoroughly.
Mark