Find Your Anzac at Gallipoli: A Private Family Heritage Tour

The essence

Our private family heritage tour helps you find your Anzac at Gallipoli, for Australian and New Zealand families whose relative served here in 1915. Before you travel, you send us his name, service number and unit, and we find where he lies or where his name is carved. On the day, your guide takes you to that grave or memorial panel, then to the ground where his unit fought, from Anzac Cove to Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair. The Turkish memorials on the same ridge complete the story from both sides.

Highlights

A day built around one soldier from your family
His grave in a Commonwealth war cemetery, or his name on a memorial
Anzac Cove and the stone with the words of 1934
Lone Pine and the New Zealand memorial at Chunuk Bair
The 57th Regiment Memorial, from the other side of the line

Program

6 stops, at your own pace Open the route in Google Maps

Morning

Across the strait

Your guide and driver collect you at your hotel in Çanakkale, and the car ferry takes you to Eceabat.
Late morning

Anzac Cove

The beach of April 25, 1915, and the stone with the words attributed to Atatürk.
Opening hours & dress code
Midday

Your soldier's grave or memorial

Time at the place we found for him, for as long as you need.
Afternoon

Lone Pine

The memorial to the missing of the Anzac area, its names arranged by unit and rank.
Opening hours & dress code
Late afternoon

Chunuk Bair

The New Zealand memorial, the wall of names and the statue of Mustafa Kemal.
Opening hours & dress code
Evening

Back to Çanakkale

The ferry back across the strait to your hotel.

In depth

Below the cliffs of Arıburnu, low headstones stand in rows on the grass above the sea, each with a name, a unit and a date in 1915. Our private family heritage tour helps you find your Anzac at Gallipoli, among those rows or on the memorial walls where the missing are named. You tell us what you know before you travel. Then your own guide and driver spend the day with you on the peninsula, starting where he lies.

How We Find Your Anzac at Gallipoli

Send us his full name, service number and unit, and the date he died if you know it. The Roll of Honour of the Australian War Memorial records these details, and so do New Zealand service records. From them, we find the cemetery and the grave, or the memorial panel that carries his name. Family letters and diaries help too, because they may name the trench or the ridge where he served.

Commonwealth War Graves on the Peninsula

Under the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923, the old Anzac area came into the care of the Imperial War Graves Commission, today the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Sir John Burnet designed its cemeteries on the peninsula, with low headstones set in the grass. Most of the Allied war cemeteries at Gallipoli lie in the Anzac area. If your soldier lies near Cape Helles in the south, we drive there instead.

Your Day: Anzac Cove and Your Soldier

Your guide and driver collect you at your hotel in Çanakkale, and the car ferry carries you across the strait to Eceabat. The first stop is Anzac Cove, the narrow beach where the first boats grounded at dawn on April 25, 1915. Near Arıburnu Cemetery, a stone carries the words of 1934 attributed to Atatürk, written for the mothers of the fallen. One line reads: “There is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours.”

Then we go to the place we found for him. This stop has no clock. You can read his headstone, lay flowers or sit for a while. When you are ready, your guide shows you on the ground what his unit did in the days around his death.

Names on the Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair Memorials

In the afternoon, the road climbs to Lone Pine. On this plateau, the 1st Australian Brigade attacked the roofed Ottoman trenches on August 6, 1915. Today the memorial stands over those trench lines. Its panels name the Australians and New Zealanders of the Anzac area whose graves are not known. Because the names are arranged by unit and rank, your guide takes you straight to the right one.

Further up the same road, the 57th Regiment Memorial honors the Ottoman regiment that met the landing on the first morning. At the summit of Chunuk Bair, the New Zealand memorial stands a few steps from the statue of Mustafa Kemal. Beside it, a low stone wall records New Zealanders with no known grave.

Find Your Anzac at Gallipoli from Çanakkale or Istanbul

In the evening, the ferry takes you back to Çanakkale. Coming from Istanbul? We add the drive, or you can see the main memorials on our Gallipoli day trip from Istanbul. For April 25 itself, our Anzac Day tours for 2027 join the Dawn Service to a day like this one.

Ready to find your Anzac at Gallipoli? Send us his name and unit, and the search begins there.

Before you go

Anzac Cove

Hours: your guide confirms them locally.
Lone Pine Memorial

Hours: your guide confirms them locally.
Chunuk Bair

Hours: your guide confirms them locally.

Hours can change on religious holidays. Your guide confirms them the day before.

What’s included

Included

A professional licensed guide, in the language you ask for
A private vehicle and driver for the day, with pick-up from your hotel in Çanakkale or Eceabat
Ferry crossings of the Dardanelles
The search for your soldier's grave or memorial before you travel
A 10 GB eSIM for one traveler in your group, our gift, valid for 30 days (data only)

Not included

Hotel, unless agreed in your program
Meals and drinks
Tips

From your guide

What to wear

Sturdy shoes and a hat; the paths in the cemeteries run over grass and uneven ground.

Best time

Spring and autumn. Around April 25, the roads on the peninsula run under timed controls, so we plan a family day before or after the services.

Photos

Bring a photo of your soldier, so you can take a picture with it at his headstone or panel.

Practical

Updated: November 8, 2026

Starts: Morning, at a time we confirm
Ends: Your hotel in Çanakkale or Eceabat
Meeting point: Your hotel in Çanakkale or Eceabat; from Istanbul, we add the drive
Walking: Moderate: short walks in each cemetery, on grass and some slopes.
Accessibility: Tell us your needs. At Lone Pine, wheelchair access is possible through the main entrance.

Frequently asked questions

What do you need to find my relative's grave?

His full name, service number and unit, and the date he died if you know it. We look up his records before you travel and tell you where he lies or where his name is carved.

What if he has no known grave?

Then his name is on a memorial. Lone Pine names Australians and New Zealanders of the Anzac area whose graves are not known, and a wall at Chunuk Bair records New Zealanders with no known grave. We take you to the right panel.

Can we start from Istanbul?

Yes. We add the drive of about four and a half hours each way, or a night in Çanakkale before and after the day.

Can we come on Anzac Day?

The services on April 25 need an attendance pass for each person, and the roads run under timed controls around them. So we plan your family day before or after the services, and our Anzac Day tours for 2027 join both.

Do we see Turkish memorials too?

Yes. The 57th Regiment Memorial stands on the same ridge road, and your guide tells the story from both sides of the line.

Is the tour private?

Yes. Your guide, your driver and the vehicle are only for your family.

Where are the service records kept?

Australian records are on the Roll of Honour of the Australian War Memorial, and New Zealand records on the Online Cenotaph of the Auckland War Memorial Museum. We search them for you from the name, service number and unit.

Can children come on the family heritage day?

Yes. Tell us their ages, and we arrange child seats in the car and plan the cemetery visits around them.

Which hotel do we stay in?

We choose a hotel in Çanakkale or Eceabat with you. The hotel is not included unless agreed in your program, and we book the one you pick.