How a journey is designed
From a few lines about who is travelling to a dossier with your name on it, and one person who answers from the first call to the flight home.
The first conversation
It begins with a few lines: who is travelling, roughly when, and anything you already know you want or do not want. A travel designer in Istanbul reads it and replies personally, within twenty-four hours on any day but Sunday. The first reply is usually questions, because the shape of a journey depends on answers nobody thinks to volunteer: the flight you land on, who gets seasick, who would happily never see another ruin.
The dossier
Every journey leaves here as a written dossier: the brief as we heard it, the route, the days, the houses and why each was chosen, and what changed after our calls. The sample on the homepage shows the pages. Nothing in it is final until it feels like yours; drafts are redrawn as often as they need to be.
The dossier is also where the price is written. It depends on the season, the hotels and the number of people travelling, so it is not printed on this site.
While you travel
The designer who wrote your journey is the person you message while you are on it, and someone in Türkiye answers at any hour. Your own car and driver in each place; guides chosen for your interests and, where there are children, for them; tables held, tickets timed, flights watched.
Questions people ask first
- How far ahead should we get in touch?
- As far ahead as twelve months. For spring and autumn, when the best houses fill first, earlier is better. Later than you would like, tell us anyway: we will say honestly what is still possible.
- How quickly do you reply?
- A designer replies within twenty-four hours, every day except Sunday. A WhatsApp message to +90 544 118 18 27 reaches the same people.
- What does a journey include?
- Whatever the dossier says it does, written plainly: the hotels, the private car and driver, the guides and experiences, the internal flights where we book them, and the support while you travel. International flights are not included; we arrange them on request.
- How do we pay, and in which currency?
- In US dollars, euros or pounds sterling, by bank transfer or credit card. A deposit of twenty per cent confirms the journey; the balance is due up to seven days before your first check-in. The terms are written into your dossier before you confirm anything.
- What if we have to cancel or change dates?
- The cancellation terms follow those of the hotels and operators booked for you, and are set out in the dossier before you confirm. We recommend travel insurance taken out in your own country.
- Is Mervin Travel licensed?
- Yes. Travel companies in Türkiye are licensed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and registered with TÜRSAB, the sector's national association. Mervin Travel's licence number is 7790, and any company can be looked up on TÜRSAB's verification service. About us.
- Do you work with our own travel advisor?
- Yes. We work alongside a client's advisor, and just as happily from an itinerary you have already drafted: we add what we know, suggest what we would change, and run the journey on the ground.
- Is everything private?
- Yes. No shared transfers, no meeting points, no groups. A guide is with you only on the mornings you want one; a boat is yours alone; a balloon, where we arrange one, carries only you.
Tell us who is travelling.
We will design the rest around you. A travel designer reads every message and replies personally.