Private Gallipoli Battlefield Tour from Çanakkale

Gallipoli Battlefields from Çanakkale via Eceabat

Your driver picks you up from your hotel in Çanakkale and runs you the short distance down to the ferry terminal. The crossing of the Dardanelles to Eceabat takes about twenty-five minutes, and it’s a fine way to open the day — the water is usually flat, and the peninsula you’re about to walk sits there in front of you the whole way across. Your English-speaking guide is waiting on the Eceabat side. From that point the day belongs to you alone: your own vehicle, your own guide, nobody else to wait for.

You start down on the coast at Brighton Beach, the broad, gently shelving stretch where the ANZAC landing was actually supposed to take place, then stop at Beach Cemetery, where Simpson of the donkey lies buried. A few minutes further on is ANZAC Cove itself — much smaller and far steeper than most people picture it — followed by Arıburnu Cemetery and the ANZAC Commemorative Site, where the Dawn Service is held every 25 April. Close by, the Respect to Mehmetçik Monument tells the Turkish side of the story, and it’s worth a quiet few minutes there before you head up onto the ridges.

Higher up, the ground does most of the explaining. At the Lone Pine Australian Memorial your guide shows you just how little space separated the opposing lines, then you walk the preserved Turkish and Allied trenches and tunnels at Johnston’s Jolly, in places only a few metres apart. You’ll also visit the Turkish 57th Infantry Regiment Cemetery, the small and sobering ground at The Nek, and finally the Chunuk Bair New Zealand Memorial on the summit, where the view runs right across the peninsula to the straits. Afterwards you drop back down to Eceabat for lunch at a local restaurant, then take the ferry back over to Çanakkale, where the tour ends.

• Included Meal(s): Lunch

Inclusions

• Private air-conditioned, non-smoking vehicle
• Professional licensed English-speaking guide
• Hotel pickup in Çanakkale
• Round-trip Çanakkale–Eceabat ferry tickets
• Fully guided private Gallipoli battlefield tour
• Lunch at a local restaurant in Eceabat

Exclusions

• Drinks at lunch
• Personal expenses
• Tips and gratuities
• Travel insurance
• Hotel accommodation