TURKEY TOURS FROM SOUTH AFRICA 2025

LUXURY TOURS OF TURKEY

As pioneers of Turkey Tours from South Africa (Asia Minor), we are passionate about Bible tours in this beautiful country. Turkey tours from South Africa offers travelers excellent value for money and exquisite scenery. Ancient ruins, cosmopolitan cities, scrumptious food and Biblical history all combine to form a memorable Christian tour of Turkey! These Bible tours of Turkey are the perfect choice if you have been on a Holy Land Tour of Israel and are looking for a new pilgrimage experience – specifically of New Testament destinations. In Turkey we visit the 7 Churches of Revelation and trace the Footsteps of Apostle Paul and the disciples. 

The seven churches of Revelation are addressed in the book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, in the New Testament. These churches were located in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and were real, historical Christian communities during the late 1st century. Each church receives a specific message from Jesus Christ through John the Apostle.

Ephesus (Revelation 2:1–7)
Smyrna (Revelation 2:8–11)
Pergamum (Revelation 2:12–17)
Thyatira (Revelation 2:18–29)
Sardis (Revelation 3:1–6)
Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7–13)
Laodicea (Revelation 3:14–22)

TURKEY TOURS 2026

Watch this space for 2026 tours – updated monthly

All our Turkey Christian Tours explore the End Times and teachings of Jesus; we visit all the Biblical sites of the 7 Churches of Revelation and trace the ministry of the Disciples in Asia Minor. As we follow the journeys of the Apostle Paul, we uncover the New Testament roots of our faith in Turkey. 

Travel Icon 1 - Compact 2
Our Compact Tours to Turkey offer 2 meals a day and 3* superior hotels. These petite saver tours offer you a good experience in off-peak tourist times and slightly colder weather.
Travel Icon 2 - Comfort 3
Our Comfort Tours to Turkey offer 2 meals a day, 4* hotels and include a hot-air ballooning experience (optional). These tours are hosted in pleasant weather times.
Travel Icon 3 - Luxury 2
Our Luxury Tours to Turkey offer 3 meals a day, 4 and 5* hotels, more free time and include a hot-air ballooning experience (optional). All our Luxury Tours include a Turkish Gulet boat ride; some itineraries offer Cappadocia as well. We recommend this tour for all travellers!
Travel Icon 4 - Deluxe 2
Our Deluxe Tours to Turkey offer a smaller group size, boutique 4 and 5* hotels, flexible meal options, a Turkish Gulet boat ride, and include a hot-air ballooning experience (optional) over Cappadocia and all internal flights (cutting out driving time).

WHY TRAVEL TO TURKEY WITH JOY!

  • We offer the best accommodation and meal packages on our Turkey tours. Other “cheaper” tours use old or inferior hotels (as most tourist class or 3 star hotels are actually 2 star in South African standards).
  • On our Israel and Turkey tours in 2024 & 2025, we use modern luxury airlines and  include internal domestic flights – making your drive times shorter. We use modern buses with wifi. Cheaper tours do not have wifi and their itineraries have very long bus rides (up to 8 hours a day of driving!) 
  • On our Turkey tours, we include places and experiences that other tours and Turkey tour packages do not. (These “extra special” additions make your trip so much better and amount to R3000 more FREE value).
  • We include all “hidden costs” (tipping, min 2 meals a day, etc. Always check this with other tours, as some leave tipping out and you have to add an extra R2000 to the price).
  • We price our Turkey tours on a higher exchange rate so that you (hopefully) will not need to pay in extra. Many tours advertise at a cheaper rate, but will require you to pay in extra at the last minute. Always check the exchange rate they have priced it on.
  • Our tours are chaperoned by a tour pastor and a local guide, making your experience more authentic and meaningful (many cheaper tours on the market only have a local guide).
  • We give you professional, personalised service. Many of our travellers return two or three times on other tours with JOY! Travel.

Here are the full Bible passages for each of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation. English Standard Version (ESV)

Ephesus (Revelation 2:1–7)

1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.
3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.
4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’”

Smyrna (Revelation 2:8–11)

8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.
9 “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’”

Pergamum (Revelation 2:12–17)

12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
13 “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.
15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’”

Thyatira (Revelation 2:18–29)

18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
19 “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.
20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.
22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works,
23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.
24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden.
25 Only hold fast what you have until I come.
26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,
27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.
28 And I will give him the morning star.
29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Sardis (Revelation 3:1–6)

1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write:
‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.
3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.
4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7–13)

7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet and they will learn that I have loved you.
10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.
11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.
12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Laodicea (Revelation 3:14–22)

14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!
16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”