Meet Your Private Istanbul Tour Guides and Turkey Travel Team

Furkan Gokcel

Lead Travel Advisor and Professional Tour Guide | 20+ Years

Furkan helps shape our private tours and tailor-made Turkey itineraries.

With more than 20 years of experience guiding English-speaking guests and helping plan custom travel experiences, he has learned that a good itinerary usually begins with listening. Before suggesting a route, he takes time to understand what brings each guest to Turkey, what matters most to them, how they prefer their days to unfold, and how much structure or flexibility feels right.

Much of Furkan’s work has been with travelers and travel advisors from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. This experience has helped him understand different expectations, communication styles, and approaches to travel. It has also taught him that a passport may tell you where someone comes from, but very little about how that person actually likes to travel.

These individual details help him consider how the guiding, pace, transportation, accommodations, and local experiences can work together naturally rather than feeling like separate arrangements.

When working directly with a guest or alongside a travel advisor, Furkan tries to understand the intention behind the journey and respect it throughout the planning and delivery. He values clear communication, thoughtful collaboration, and the opportunity to learn what will make the experience feel right for each traveler.

Remaining active as a professional guide, he understands the difference between an itinerary that looks attractive on paper and one that works well in practice. He has also learned that adding another stop does not automatically add more value; sometimes the smartest part of planning is knowing what to leave out.

A day may need more room, a route may flow more comfortably in a different order, or a small adjustment may make the experience feel easier. His goal is not to fill every hour, but to help guests feel comfortable, interested, and well looked after throughout their time in Turkey.

Furkan also contributes to the visual side of our brand. Many of the photographs on our website and social media were taken by him. He rarely visits a place without noticing the light, the angle, and where the good food is hiding.

When he is not guiding, he is usually traveling, exploring new places, discovering quality restaurants, or thinking about a detail that may be useful for a future journey.

Quick Facts:

• 20+ years of guiding and itinerary planning experience

• Works primarily with English-speaking travelers and travel advisors from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada

• Traveled across Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa

• Enjoys photography, quality food, and Turkish tea

• Favorite cities: Istanbul, Siem Reap, Washington DC, and Saint Petersburg

• Favorite authors: Dan Brown and George Orwell

• Non-smoker

Derya Artan
Licensed Tour Guide, Bazaar Expert, and Shopping Specialist | 15+ Years

Derya brings warmth, energy, and confidence to every private tour.

With more than 15 years of guiding experience, she is especially loved by guests who want a relaxed, thoughtful, and easy-going day with someone who knows Istanbul deeply. She is excellent at helping travelers explore markets, bazaars, and local shopping areas in a clear and pressure-free way.

Derya’s style is personal, curious, and full of good timing. She knows when to explain, when to slow down, when to give space, and when a proper tea break is clearly the smartest decision of the day.

She also leads female-only tours for travelers who prefer that option. She studied tourism guidance, Greek language, and history, and brings a warm, intelligent, and human perspective to private Istanbul tours.

Quick Facts:

• 15+ years of guiding experience

• Tea lover, very seriously

• Great photographer and shopping guide

• Interested in astrology and Turkish coffee reading

• Rock music fan

• Non-smoker

Mestan
Chief Quality Control Officer | Office Cat

Mestan is 7 years old and, frankly, takes her role very seriously.

She is fully convinced she was a dog in a past life because she genuinely enjoys car rides for about 30 minutes, which is impressive for a cat and possibly better than some humans in Istanbul traffic.

In the office, Mestan is our unofficial detail inspector. She keeps a close eye on itinerary planning, website updates, emails, and any important task that clearly requires feline supervision. If you are working on something important, she will stand next to you until it is done properly.

She does not guide tours, answer emails, or prepare itineraries. She simply supervises the people who do. Naturally, she considers this the more senior position.