So, you have decided to go on a vacation but you don't want it to be like all others you already had. You have searched for all Turkey tours and still you haven't found the right one. There are many different trips offered, and you simply don't know what to choose. Maybe it's time for you to try something new and unusual, maybe you should have a helicopter tour.
If you know what to seek and if you look closer, you will see that there are lots of Turkey guided tours offering only sightseeing with helicopter. You can choose between one day tour and 14 days tour, where you go all over the country and visit many great and interesting places. Of course usually you will have a view from above.
The most common helicopter tour is Istanbul tour. It's offered by many Istanbul tour operators. This is a great opportunity to see, feel and explore Istanbul in a way you haven't before. This tour last around 15-25 minutes, depends on which tour operator you have chosen. There is minimum and maximum number of people needed for this tour to be realized, and it goes from two to four people, without counting helicopter crew. In every helicopter there is professional guide who will lead you through that mini-trip. You can choose between two languages - Turkish and English. Standard helicopter tours in Istanbul include fabulous view from the sky of Anatolian castle, the Blue mosque, the Serpentine Column and of course, the Bosphorus. Some Istanbul package tours include helicopter tour sightseeing, and a helicopter comes to the hotel to pick you up (of course, if hotel has a heliport, otherwise there is organized transfer to it). Also, if this is not arranged, agencies that provide you this kind of satisfaction can organize really cheap transport to heliport.
If you want to take helicopter tour outside of Istanbul, that also won't be a problem. You can choose tour that matches your wishes. For example, you can take tour from Antalya. It will take you from there to Belek, Kemer, Side, Alanya, Marmaris, Bodrum, Kusadasi, Fethiye and finish in Istanbul. You will be able to see great landscape of all these places, go and see mountains and Mediterranenan Sea during the same day. Places have been chosen carefully, because every place from this tour has something specific and unique to offer. First of all - Antalya. Before everything else, there are really stunning beaches to see. Most famous of all are Lara and Konyaalti beach. There is also enormous tower that will amaze you from the sky. Belek is small place with rich nature. Kemer is very important place for Turkish tourism. It has beautiful beaches with lots of plants there. Side has this beautiful Temple of Apollo located just near the water. Alanya is very popular Turkish resort, just like Marmaris, Bodrum and Kusadasi. There is a castle in Marmaris, and from the sky you can see every part of its complex. In Bodrum is located one of the seven world wonders of the ancient world - Mausoleum of Mausolus. Can you imagine seeing that from the sky? Kusadasi has really beautiful and unique marina. Fethiye is a city with crystal clear sand beaches. And after all of them - Istanbul. Istanbul is a magnificent city and words are simply redundant. From the ground Istanbul has a lot to offer, there are so many places to visit and see, and it can happen that you simply don't have time to visit them all. From the sky you can see all those places in a different way without even missing one.
There are other types of helicopter tours offered. If you are professional photographer or you simply need helicopter for some filming or shooting, you can also rent one for that. Helicopter for this purpose are modified, without one or two doors. If you want to take photos by yourself, you need to have special license for that, for safety reasons. You can tell pilot where you want to go, and he will take you there. Or if you are recreational photographer, pilot will bring you to specially designed tour for this kind of an experience.
Just to be clear, helicopter tours have their costs. They are not cheap, but they also don't have to be very expensive especially if you're taking them with someone else. These tours can be charged individually or for a group of people. Many Turkey tour operators offer possibility of private helicopter sightseeing. By that they mean that you can rent the whole helicopter just for you and your friends and family, there will be no strangers and other tourist at all. It's always better to use helicopters full capacity. It's cheaper if that trip is taking six people instead of two. So be careful about that too.
Helicopter tours are actually small trips, they all last less than half an hour, but it's highly recommended to take some snack, bottle of water or something else to eat and drink, just in case you get hungry, thirsty or you suddenly get sick.
All helicopter tours need to be booked at least a day or two before the tours is planned for realizing. If you cancel your tour, probably you won't get the whole amount of money back. So pay attention there too.
Most of the helicopter tours take their place in the afternoon hours, somewhere between 17 and 19 by local time. You have to be careful and pay attention to time zones when you book your ride. Turkey is a big country and there is only one time zone, but if you're from another state, this is a fact worth mentioning.
For the end, here is just a little reminder for people who come outside of Turkey. Official currency in Turkey is Turkish lira, and you can buy approximately 2.7 Turkish liras with one euro. Of course, this varies depending on that day official course or exchange office you visit.