Fazli Karabacak

There is a version of Turkey that most visitors never find. It is not hidden, exactly. It is simply off the path that package tours and busy itineraries tend to follow. I have been finding that Turkey for twenty-five years. I'd like to show it to you.

25 Years Across Turkey

Serendipity Tours Turkey is a boutique tour company I founded to share the Turkey most visitors never find. Not the Turkey of package tours and rushed itineraries — but the Turkey of pre-dawn arrivals at archaeological sites before the buses come, of conversations with local experts, of valleys and ruins that have not yet made it onto anyone else's itinerary.

I was one of the first guides in Turkey to bring international groups to Göbekli Tepe, back when Klaus Schmidt's excavations were quietly overturning everything we thought we knew about human civilisation. When Karahan Tepe began revealing its secrets, I was already there. This is what I do: I find the places that matter before the world catches up.

"Every tour I design is built around a simple question: what would make this experience genuinely unforgettable?" — Fazli Karabacak

Small Groups, Big Experiences

Our groups never exceed 8 people. Every meal is at a genuine local restaurant. Every site is explained in its full historical context. Every hotel is chosen for character, not just convenience. You travel with a private-tour feel at a small-group price.

I divide my time between Turkey and Sydney, Australia — which means I understand exactly what English-speaking travellers from Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada and the UK need to make sense of what they are experiencing.

The Training Behind the Guide

I grew up in Turkey with a deep fascination for archaeology, mythology, and the ancient civilisations layered beneath the country's surface. In 1995, I completed an Associate Degree in Travel Management at Bilkent University in Ankara, with a specialist focus in archaeology and mythology.

In 2001, I returned to Turkey and received my professional licence from the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism (TURSAB Licence #7797). Tour guiding in Turkey is a formally regulated career with rigorous state-administered training — and passing the Ministry examination marked the beginning of what has become a twenty-five-year career.

Specialisations

• Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe (Neolithic archaeology)
• Byzantine history and early Christianity
• Ottoman history and architecture
• Ancient Anatolian civilisations
• ANZAC Gallipoli history