“In the summer of 2021, I went to Turkey for the first time with my two other friends. For a period of that trip, we spent time in Ephesus. One of my friends had Omer as one of her tour guides through Harding University’s study abroad programs. She mentioned we would be in Ephesus, and Omer openly invited all three of us into his home. Not only that, but he provided us with transportation and gave us great recommendations on what to do and where to go while in Ephesus. Omer treated me like his family, and made our trip to Turkey very enjoyable! If given the opportunity again, I would go on another one of Omer’s cultural tours with any hesitation. He is so personable, and I would recommend him as a professional tour guide to everyone! Thank you again for your great hospitality, GuideOmer.”
“Mr. Omer Elkay is real professional excellent English-speaking government licensed tour guide that I had the honor and privilege to meet and be guided when I was touring in Turkey. He has a wide range of knowledgeable in history, archaeology, civilization, and culture. He wants to share all that about his country. He is very kind open-minded, and friendly gentleman with his warm smile. His sense of humor is unique one! He’s the best touristic advertisement for Turkey. I will definitely come back to this friendly country because I love my Turkish friends and dear Mr. Omer has been very helpful in every way during the tour. Efcharisto poli or Cok tesekkur ederim!”
“I have been fortunate to tour with Omer on several occasions in Turkey. Omer is extremely knowledgeable, flexible, funny, and kind. Omer adjusts his presentation based on the nature or makeup of the group. He caters each day to the desires of the group. It is fine to have an itinerary and follow that itinerary, and it is fine to adjust the itinerary based on weather, crowds, unique situations, etc. I would not travel to Turkey without Omer as our guide! He is the best and I can not wait to go back to Turkey!”
“I can not overstate this when I say that Omer is an amazing tour guide! He goes to great lengths to make sure your stay is one to remember. I will forever remember the nights we spent dancing with Omer in local Turkish cafes. If you are looking at another guide for your stay then you are looking in the wrong place! Omer is a friend I will have for a lifetime!”
“Turkey is a wonderful country, filled with significant and beautiful places. Our university groups have enjoyed getting to know these special places with Omer Elkay. Omer is such an engaging, enjoyable, and knowledgeable guide. We have grown to consider Omer as part of our family when we have the opportunity to visit Turkey.”
“I can not overstate this when I say that Omer is an amazing tour guide! He goes to great lengths to make sure your stay is one to remember. I will forever remember the nights we spent dancing with Omer in local Turkish cafes. If you are looking at another guide for your stay then you are looking in the wrong place! Omer is a friend I will have for a lifetime!”
“Our guide Omer Elkay is made of a combination of qualities related to personality traits and professional skills.
He delights his guests as he is enthusiastic, sharing his knowledge in an engaging, interactive and entertainment way. He is communicative, has an outgoing friendly personality, a subtle sense of humor cracking a joke in any crisis. He is a decisive tour leader in a group. He is able to translate experience and common sense into firm quick actions whenever needed. Among his many qualities are: organization, punctuality, capacity to handle various situations, patience, positive thinking and energy, empathy, passion for his work, high sensitivity…
He is always willing to learn and improve. Omer speaks fluently and coherently. He is very good with “difficult people”, too demanding guests. His behavior on and off duty has always been excellent and I can recommend him in every respect without any hesitation.”
“Dear Omer, I have travelled a lot in all 5 continents and I can say that there are average tour guides, and then there are the ones people remember forever. You’re the one on the top among them. You’re deeply knowledgeable, and can answer any questions. You are confident with the details of your difficult job. You make people laugh with your jokes and bright sense of humor. You listen to your guests’ needs and go the extra mile always. I have appreciated your professionalism. You’re a true friend and you’re most welcome to come to Greece and you have a house to stay. I highly recommend you as a fine experienced tour guide and a very trustworthy friend.
Sincerely,
George F. Manetas”
“I have known Omer since 2011. He is passionate and knowledgeable, a professional in every sense. You will not find a better guide in Turkey. I always seek his services when I go to Turkey, whether I am leading students on travel study or when I am visiting more isolated regions as part of my research.” –Nathan Howard, Professor of History, University of Tennessee at Martin, author of Christianity and the Contest for Manhood in Late Antiquity: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Rhetoric of Masculinity (Cambridge University Press, 2022).
“Your country is wonderful! Istanbul is exotic! The Blue Mosque is breathtaking! Hagia Sophia is absolutely superb! Topkapi is so interesting! But the most memorable part of our Turkish journey is our charming, delightful, kind, knowledgeable, helpful, and great sense of humor guide. How fortunate our group was to have had such good luck in obtaining the best guide in all Turkey!! Omer, you made our stay wonderful, and we shall always have fond memories of you & Turkey. I hope our paths will cross again one day.”
“I absolutely loved having Omer as our fabulous tour guide. He is knowledgeable, funny, and so friendly! It’s great to say that even though I live in the States, I have a reliable friend in Turkey that I can visit when I go back. If you are touring Turkey, you must tour with GuideOmer!!!”
“Omer is an amazing guide. My family and I have done many tours with many guides and he could be the best guide we have ever had. He is knowledgeable, prompt, and organized and has a wonderful sense of humor.”
“GuideOmer is the best of the best! My first trip to Turkey in Istanbul he was my guide. My time in Istanbul was amazing and he took care of everyone in the group and shared very knowledgeable information and showed us the best things in Istanbul. From this trip, I always wanted to go back to Turkey and explore other areas outside of Istanbul. My second trip to Turkey, Omer invited me and my friends to his home in Ephesus like family and royalty. We stayed in his beautiful home in Ephesus-Selcuk. He made us the most beautiful program during our stay in Ephesus. Sad to leave to our next destination in Turkey, he drove us 3 hours to the next city instead of us taking the bus. Very thoughtful, welcoming, and importantly very fun! We laughed and had a very memorable trip thanks to Omer. He’s not a boring guide, very fun and treats all guest like family.”
“Omer made our trip to Cappadocia, Ephesus and Istanbul so very special! He seems to know everybody there, and we were able to meet people, go places and do things that other guides cannot offer. He knows Turkish history, politics, and all the best places to visit, eat and shop. He even gave us great information and even contacts about other remote areas in Turkey that we visited after 10 days in Cappadocia, Pamukkale and Ephesus! He is the best and most memorable guide that I have ever had in any country. You can’t go wrong with Omer the Magnificent.”
“To our new friend, Omer. We are looking forward to your visit to the U.S. with great anticipation. Thank you so much for making our vacation so special. You are definitely a world class guide. Please keep in touch with us.”
“Omer was a great joy as our guide. He has a great personality – bright, cheerful and fun. He has also a fountain of knowledge about Turkey, Istanbul, Cappadocia and Ephesus. We do recommend him very highly.”
“I wanted to express to you how grateful and thankful Nada and I (Bob), were to have had the pleasure of meeting you, on our recent trip to Turkey. You made our time in Turkey very meaningful with your vast and SUPREME knowledge of your country’s history and it’s heritage. I would certainly recommend Omer, to anyone touring Istanbul and surrounding area, with the ‘highest’ level of confidence! On a personal basis, I hope that you are doing well, and that you have a very successful 2017! Sincerely, Bob.”
“Omer – THE BEST TOUR GUIDE EVER!
Omer was dignified and educated. Proud of his country and its history. Well connected. Speaks English very well. Gave us a good tour of Ephesus. Took us to a genuine Turkish restaurant and then to a rug merchant which included showing us how the rugs are made starting with the silkworm! He answered all of our questions and had a great knowledge of his country’s long history. He is a very happy person and was a pleasure to spend the day with him.”
“Talking about an unbelievable coincidence: Meeting Omer at a local event (he was visiting friends here in the US) just a few months before we were departing with friends on a cruise to Greece and Turkey. After hearing about our travel plans/itinerary, he immediate offered to be our private tour guide in his home country. I was delighted to accept his offer as I found him immediately to be very respectful, charming and most of all – his English language skills to be outstanding. Our travelling companions agreed with our choice; thus the four of us met Omer at the pier in Ephesus where our cruise ship was anchored. We spend the day with him (and the van driver) touring this incredible place. We were very much impressed by Omer’s knowledge of the history – facts and figures – and his professionalism. Enjoyed the entire day trip – in spite of being dredged by an unexpected rain shower. We highly recommend Omer; he truly was a fine tour guide, wished more of them were like him.”
“Our guide Omer was exceptional. He has a remarkable command of English particularly idiomatic speech and exceptional in-depth knowledge of classical history and the historic sites we visited. He was a very considerate, kind and caring man, concerned to fulfill his obligations to us to our the letter. He was also unselfish with his time, making sure that we were all happy and doing everything we wanted to do. I think all 7 of us in the group were in agreement that Omer made the holiday.”
“To whom it may concern :I met Omer while having a trip to Turkey this year in April/May 2026. He was my guide. I highly recommend him to anyone who wants to go to Turkey. He is warm hearted , knowledgeable, caring, accommodative, kind, considerate person with a great sense of humour, very approachable with strong organizing skills, flexible. From the bottom of my heart I will always remember this wonderful experience due to him personally. He represents the best of Turkish people and culture. I love Turkish language and he even found time to correct and teach me new words and it made me very happy. I feel like I found a life time friend.”
“Not too long ago, I had such a wonderful holiday time in Türkiye. This was partly due to the guide I had been touring with who made the time so memorable. Omer Elkay had been the guide I had on the trip from Istanbul to Cappadocia.
At the end of the tour, I cried because I did not want the adventure to end!!!! Living in Australia, I had no idea of how interesting the history and geography of Türkiye was and nor did I know how beautiful the people were that I met along the way.
I am so pleased to have had the tour guide of Omer who was a most knowledgeable and professional ambassador of his country with a deep love of his homeland and with a respect for visitors who wanted to know more about Türkiye's people, places and culture. Omer treated our little tour group of people all like family! He made sure he accommodated us with flexibility and in pleasing us with the places and particular experiences we wanted to see and have. Along the way, any travel problems were solved for us all to have a splendid time.
Imagine the thrill of how we spent time visiting palaces, mosques and museums. We went shopping in the bazaar and ate Baklava and other delights. Then there was sailing the Bosphorus and buying handmade carpets at Izmir. Time was spent remembering the solemn sacrifices made at Gallipoli. We were being guided through ancient ruins and seeing underground ancient cities. Many of the group flew high in a hot air balloon over the moonscape landforms of Cappadocia. Our group did this and more with the help of Omer!
Even after coming back to Australia, our little tour group are still in contact with one another and remembering our lovely time we had in Türkiye with Omer. From my Turkish adventure story, my sister became so envious of not having come with me to experience what I had seen and done with Omer.
I am already looking forward to seeing some more of Türkiye in the future! And I guess my sister will be wanting to jump on the plane too, hoping that Omer will be the guide on our new Turkish adventure!
I have no hesitation in highly recommending Omer as both a great guide and caring Turkish brother.”
“ Our most recent trip to Türkiye, was one of the best trips we have ever had so far, all because of our amazing tour guide, Ömer.
Ömer, is an exceptional tour guide who really knows what he is doing, he was amazing with my 2 kids constantly keeping them well informed about all the main tourists attractions in Istanbul, and Cappadocia during our trip. We learned so much about Türkiye in that trip, and were truly fascinated by Ömer’s knowledge about the beautiful country. Not only was if fascinating for kids, but me and my husband were so fascinated by Cappadocia and it’s rich history all thanks to Ömer. Our experience was so great that I also recommended my parents to visit Türkiye with Ömer, and their experience was nothing less than amazing. Till this day me and my family talk about our visit to Türkiye, and Ömer. If you are ever going to Türkiye and want to really visit all of the beautiful attractions the country holds, and experience real authenticity Ömer is kind, compassionate, and an amazing tour guide, who checks all the boxes. Highly Recommend Tour Guide Ömer.