Trafalgar Tours, Turkey: How a bus tour won me over

Peddlers are boisterously singing out from every direction, their voices getting louder and louder. "Do you want a carpet?" "Would you like handmade boots? These are the best in Turkey!" "What are you looking for? Lady! I have everything you want, just take a look in my store."

I'm lost in Istanbul's colourful and chaotic Grand Bazaar and it's exactly where I want to be. I lost sight of my colleagues maybe 15 minutes ago. We strolled into a non-descript looking eatery chock-full of laughing locals and shared a delicious meal of succulent lamb kebabs, freshly baked flatbread topped with spicy minced beef and swathes of creamy hummus that we mopped up with more bread until it was as if it was never there. It wasn't quite what we ordered… but that's half the fun.

I'm travelling with Trafalgar, traversing intoxicating Turkey by coach, but I quickly learn the coach is just a means of transportation, albeit a rather comfortable variety.

To be honest I've never considered coach travel before, picturing long days spent on an uncomfortable bus, perhaps sitting beside a hardcore knitter – or even worse – a hardcore knitter who won't shut up. But I was a coach travel neophyte.

We spend around two hours on the coach most days, and it's very comfortable. The seats have serious extending capabilities, there is plenty of legroom, there's a toilet on board, and there's even wifi when driving through large cities. There are no knitters on the coach (although I am travelling with other media). When I do meet members from another Trafalgar group and quiz them about knitting they look at me as if I'm nuts and go back to discussing the day's events over another wine. They stay out longer than me too.

A few days prior to getting lost in the bazaar we had a completely different dining experience. Arriving into the picturesque mountain-side village of Demircidere, we were welcomed by wide-smiling locals clad in colourful, patterned traditional dress, and after sampling home-made wine and freshly baked bread we formed groups of four and went our separate ways to the various homes peppered around the town.

We laughed while attempting to communicate with each other over a delicious meal of olives, soup, yoghurt, crisp-fried börek and dolma, all chased down with more gutsy wine. Trafalgar call this local dining experience Be My Guest and it's a popular component of many of their itineraries (they have over 100 Be My Guest experiences available across their various tours). I sure felt welcomed as a guest in a small tourist-free village (we were the only tourists there) I would probably not have been able to find on my own.

Sometimes we ate at low-key local eateries staring out to the sea, dipping doughy just-baked bread into the best olive oil I've ever tasted. Other times we went to flash restaurants with stunning city skyline views and feasted on fancy, regional delicacies washed down with more local wines and cocktails.

A global enterprise can't always know where the best places to eat are everywhere around the world, so what Trafalgar does is work closely with local companies to create itineraries and experiences that offer insider experiences. Guests use their hashtag, #trafalgarinsider, across social media platforms to share their insider experiences with the world. Thank God for the wifi on the coaches.