ANZAC Day travel guide

We’ve compiled a list of what is on offer to help you make the most of your ANZAC Day pilgrimage experience as well as discover more Turkish delights.

Every year on the 25th April, thousands of people come from all over the world to Turkey to commemorate the World War I battle of Gallipoli. The battlefields are a chilling reminder of the ultimate sacrifice that our bravest of ancestors made.

Gallipoli is today visited in the spirit of remembrance, and the tragic waste of young lives which helped shape the future of many countries is recalled. Feel the silence and let that be the horrific reminder of the sacrifice our brave forefathers made.

ANZAC Day is an event engrained in the history and culture of Australia, and marking the ocassion in Turkey is a quintessential part of the Australian expat experience, more so this year as it will be the 95th ANZAC Day.

As organising to attend the proceedings can be a complex past-time so many travel companies are offering to help you out with good deals for all budgets, long and short trips and early bird specials.
Here’s a list of what’s on offer:

Topdeck Travel
Topdeck has 30 years of experience in taking Australians and New Zealanders to Gallipoli. Topdeck offers trips from three to 15 days in length so you can do as much or as little as you want.
You’ll have a local guide and a European-trained tour leader on your trip to make sure everything is running smoothly, to answer any questions you may have and to show you all the best places.
You’ll be staying in three and four star hotels in Istanbul which are all within walking distance of the main attractions.

Fez Travel
THIS year’s ANZAC Day tours operated by Fez Travel will take you to the ANZAC Day dawn service at ANZAC cove, as well as the Australia service at Lone Pine memorial and the New Zealand service at Chunuk Bair memorial. Fez Travel have several ANZAC Day tours from two days to 16 days.
If you want to experience Turkey on a budget, Fez offers bus tours.
These fully optional tours follow the same circuit as our hop on hop off ‘Fez Bus’ network, they also help you stretch that budget as much as possible by including hostel accommodation.

On the Go bus tours
Their range of ANZAC Day Tours are designed to suit all budgets and also provide the opportunity to combine an ANZAC Day tour with the very best of ancient Egypt.

On The Go’s range of tours extends from four-day ‘purely ANZAC’ adventures to 17-day trips which also take in Egypt for a discount price.

You can marvel at the Great Pyramids of Giza, sail a felucca down the Nile, visit King Tut’s Tomb, ride a camel and relax beachside in Dahab, then head to ANZAC day to commemorate the Diggers. Or do it the other way around.

Contiki
Travel to the edge of Europe with this Turkish adventure.
Visit the spectacular city of Istanbul with its bustling Grand Bazaar and impressive Blue Mosque, see the sombre memorials of Gallipoli, shop your heart out in the port town of Kusadasi, and take a dip in the famous thermal pools in Pamukkale.

There’s no shortage of memorable moments, from haggling at one of the bazaars, to paying tribute to fallen soldiers at Gallipoli to climbing the Trojan horse at Troy. See why Turkey truly is a delight.

Also while ANZAC Day is a huge event for Australasians- remember we are still there as guests of the Turkish government. Things do and can go wrong so don’t let a cold cup of tea or an extended wait in a queue dampen your ANZAC spirit of commemoration.