Turkey Holidays from Ireland 2027: Tours, Flights from Dublin and Prices

The Turkey holidays from Ireland that people book with us are touring trips, not beach weeks: Istanbul, Cappadocia and often Ephesus, with the domestic flights, hotel nights with breakfast, guides and entrance tickets arranged for you. Our 8-day Istanbul and Cappadocia package starts from $2,400 per person (about €2,140, at the ECB reference rate of 1.1214 dollars per euro on 10 November 2026), and the shorter 6-day Istanbul and Cappadocia tour from $1,800 per person. The flight from Dublin is separate: Turkish Airlines flies nonstop to Istanbul Airport in about 4.5 hours, and Irish passport holders need no visa for a holiday.

What a Turkey holiday from Ireland looks like

Most Irish operators sell Turkey as a package-holiday country: a week in Antalya, Bodrum or Marmaris with flights from Dublin and an all-inclusive wristband. If that is what you want, you will find it on the usual brochure sites. We are a licensed Istanbul agency (TÜRSAB A-15751, rated 4.9 from 682 reviews) and we run something different: a holiday built around the places that Turkey is known for. Hagia Sophia and Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, the fairy chimneys and cave hotels of Cappadocia, the Library of Celsus at Ephesus, the white terraces of Pamukkale.

The practical difference is that nobody has to work out the logistics. You land at Istanbul Airport, a driver meets you, the hotel is booked in every city, the flight to Cappadocia and back is booked, and a licensed guide takes you through each site with the tickets already bought. Our Turkey tour packages page lists every route; the Istanbul and Cappadocia tour package page compares the lengths in more detail.

A combined route also suits the Irish calendar better than a beach week does. Beach weather in Turkey is a summer matter, and summer flights from Dublin are the dearest of the year. A touring holiday works in October, March and April, and during the February mid-term, when a beach does not.

Flights from Dublin, Cork and Shannon

Dublin is the easy one. Turkish Airlines operates nonstop flights from Dublin Airport to Istanbul Airport (IST); schedule trackers list the outbound flight, TK1976, leaving Dublin at about 10:40 and landing in Istanbul in the early evening, with frequency and aircraft varying by season. The flight takes about 4 hours 30 minutes. Pegasus flies Dublin to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) on the Asian side; trackers list it as flight PC1158, and the weekly count shown by booking sites varies, so look at the airline's own timetable. These details come from airline schedule listings and aggregators checked on 12 November 2026, and summer 2027 timetables are normally published only a few months ahead.

Which airport matters for your hotel. IST is the main airport and sits about 45 to 60 minutes from the Old City by road; SAW is on the Asian shore and the drive to Sultanahmet is usually longer, depending on traffic. Our Istanbul airport arrival guide explains both, and a private VIP airport transfer in a Mercedes Vito costs $60 per vehicle.

Cork and Shannon have no nonstop flight to Istanbul according to the fare aggregators we checked in September 2026. The usual routing is one stop, for example through London or a European hub, with about 6 hours 45 minutes in total as the fastest option shown by Google Flights. Many people from the south and west simply take the Dublin flight, since the nonstop saves more time than the motorway costs. Our packages begin at Istanbul Airport, so whichever way you reach Istanbul, the first day starts the same.

A note on fares: we do not sell the flight, which means you can compare Turkish Airlines, Pegasus and connecting options yourself and use whatever points or vouchers you hold. Fares move a lot around Irish school breaks, so book the flight and then send us your dates.

Packages and prices

All prices below are per person in US dollars from our site; the euro figures are approximate, using 1.1214 dollars per euro (ECB reference rate, 10 November 2026). Your card issuer sets the final conversion.

The 8-day package is the one most Irish families and couples start with. It includes seven hotel nights with breakfast (three in Istanbul, four in Cappadocia, one of them in a cave hotel), the domestic flights, airport transfers, a licensed guide, the Old City tour, a private city tour by car, a Bosphorus dinner cruise with Turkish shows, the Red and Green Tours in Cappadocia, an ATV safari and lunch on tour days. The balloon flight is optional and extra.

The 10-day Grand Turkey package adds Ephesus and Pamukkale and is the better choice if you can take ten days without feeling rushed.

If your dates are short, there are overnight options too: a Cappadocia 2-day flight package from Istanbul with return flights and a cave-hotel night starts at $599 per person. The sunrise balloon flight is the extra most people add, at $199 for the standard flight and $275 for the comfortable one. The UK-focused Turkey tour packages from the UK page has a similar route list if you want to see how other English-speaking travellers plan it.

Which route for your Irish school break

Irish school dates for 2026/27, as set out in the Department of Education circular and repeated by several school-calendar sites (they differ by a day or two, so check your own school):

• October mid-term, 26 to 30 October 2026: one week. The 6-day Istanbul and Cappadocia tour fits with the weekend on either side. Weather is still mild in Istanbul and clear in Cappadocia.
• Christmas, 22 December 2026 to 6 January 2027: enough for 8 or 10 days. Istanbul is cool and often wet, Cappadocia can have snow, and cave hotels are warm. The coast is not beach weather.
• February mid-term, 15 to 19 February 2027 for secondary schools, 18 and 19 February for primary schools (schools may extend it): the 6-day package works, with cold weather and short queues at the main sights.
• Easter, schools close 19 March and reopen 5 April 2027: Easter Sunday is 28 March. Our Easter 2027 Turkey holiday guide covers the weather and what is open; Irish and UK schools share most of the period. Two weeks fits the 10-day package or the 15-day Best of Turkey route.
• Summer 2027: hot in Cappadocia and at Ephesus (above 30°C most afternoons) and the most expensive flights of the year. If you are not tied to school dates, May and late September are better.

For a month-by-month view see our best time to visit Turkey page and the Cappadocia weather by month guide, which also says which months balloons fly most often.

A sample 8-day plan

This is how the 8-day package runs in practice, with the Dublin flight arriving in the evening:

1. Day 1, Istanbul: the flight from Dublin lands in the early evening; a driver takes you to the hotel. Nothing is planned, which is deliberate after a morning departure.
2. Day 2, Old City: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome and the Basilica Cistern with a licensed guide, then Topkapı Palace and the Grand Bazaar.
3. Day 3, free day with a Bosphorus dinner cruise in the evening.
4. Day 4, private city tour by car across to the European and Asian shores, then the flight to Cappadocia.
5. Days 5 to 7, Cappadocia: the Red Tour (Pasabag, Zelve, Avanos) and the Green Tour (Ihlara Valley, Derinkuyu or Kaymaklı underground city, Selime Monastery), an ATV safari and a horse ride in the valleys. Add the balloon at sunrise if the weather allows.
6. Day 8: fly back to Istanbul and on to Dublin.

The 10-day Grand Turkey package keeps this shape and adds a hammam, the Library of Celsus at Ephesus and the travertine terraces at Pamukkale, with nights near Kuşadası. Our 10-day Turkey itinerary shows the same route day by day, and the 7-day Turkey itinerary is the shorter version if you want to build it yourself.

Ephesus and Pamukkale

If you are coming from Ireland for the ancient world rather than the beach, Ephesus and Pamukkale are the other two reasons to go beyond Istanbul. The ruins are on the Aegean coast near Kuşadası, which is why the Grand Turkey package puts you in Kuşadası for the Ephesus days. A private Ephesus tour by itself costs from $300 on our site, and the Ephesus and Kuşadası tours page lists the other options. For the Mediterranean coast see Antalya tours. Our sister site getturkiyetours.com lists tours across the whole country, which is useful if you want to compare the coast with the cities.

For museum and ruin prices in 2027, see our news report on Cappadocia museum ticket prices and the Ephesus ticket prices for 2027.

Entry rules for Irish citizens

Turkey's own rule is that a passport must be valid for at least 60 days beyond your stay, which for a 90-day stay means 150 days after arrival, while the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs advice has quoted a minimum of six months. Sources differ, so the safe course is a passport book with at least six months left. Irish press reports and operators also say that passport cards are not accepted for Türkiye, which matters because many Irish travellers hold only a card for EU trips.

For a tourist stay, Irish citizens do not need a visa: up to 90 days in any 180-day period, which is how tour operators and travel insurers describe it. Check the Department of Foreign Affairs travel advice at ireland.ie shortly before you fly, because rules and security advice are updated from time to time. The advice also warns against travel close to the Syrian border and in some southeastern provinces; none of our routes go there. Our news report on visa rules for 2027 lists the rules by nationality.

Children travelling on an Irish passport follow the same rules. Dual Irish-Turkish citizens should carry both passports.

Why a combined route beats a one-resort week

Time in each region means three different kinds of holiday: a big city with museums, markets and ferries; a landscape you cannot see at home, with cave rooms and valley walks; and an ancient site with proper shade and a good guide. It also means you are not tied to one hotel's food and pool. And Turkey is not a cheap destination if you buy everything separately from Ireland, so the package route works well: with the transfers, domestic flights, tickets and lunches included, the number you see at booking is close to the number you spend.

If you are travelling with a group of friends or an extended family, a private licensed guide is available in English at $199 per day, and in other languages at $199 to $250 per day depending on language and season. For a private afternoon on the water, our sister site takeyacht.com rents Bosphorus yachts by the hour. For an Istanbul-only version of this trip, see Istanbul city break from Dublin and our Istanbul tour packages with hotel.

How we organise it

Send us your Dublin flight dates, the number of travellers and the ages of any children, and tell us whether you want the balloon, a cave hotel or a private guide. We confirm the hotels, the domestic flights and the order of the days in writing, and your guide and driver are in contact on WhatsApp from the moment you land. Everything on the trip is organised by us: hotel, transfers, guide, domestic flights and tickets.

Frequently Asked Questions