10-Day Taste of Turkey Culinary Tour: Istanbul, Cappadocia, Gaziantep & Şanlıurfa

After breakfast, explore Istanbul’s historic peninsula with your guide. Walk through Sultanahmet Square and the former Hippodrome, and visit the Blue Mosque, subject to prayer times and visitor access.

Continue towards the Eminönü area for a guided street-food walk. Sample a selection of local favourites, such as simit, börek, seasonal snacks and a freshly prepared fish sandwich or a suitable alternative. These tastings form your lunch.

Visit the Spice Bazaar, where stalls display teas, spices, dried fruit and Turkish delight. Learn how these ingredients appear in everyday cooking before enjoying Turkish coffee and an introduction to its preparation and serving traditions.

The evening is free for your own restaurant discoveries.

Meals: Breakfast and tasting lunch
Overnight: Istanbul

Start the day with breakfast before crossing to Istanbul’s Asian side by ferry. Explore Kadıköy’s market streets, where bakeries, delicatessens, produce stalls and neighbourhood restaurants offer a different view of the city’s food culture.

Enjoy a guided tasting lunch featuring a selection of market specialities and seasonal dishes. Your guide will explain the ingredients and help you discover flavours you might otherwise overlook.

Return to the European side and join a shared Bosphorus sightseeing cruise. Admire waterfront mansions, palaces and neighbourhoods from the water.

Spend your final evening in Istanbul at leisure.

Meals: Breakfast and tasting lunch
Overnight: Istanbul

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your flight to Kayseri or Nevşehir. The domestic flight ticket is excluded from the tour price.

Meet your local representative on arrival and transfer to Cappadocia. Depending on the flight schedule, stop at a scenic viewpoint for your first look at the region’s rock formations before checking in.

In the evening, enjoy a pottery kebab dinner. Traditionally cooked slowly in a sealed clay vessel, testi kebabı combines meat, vegetables and fragrant juices. Watch the serving presentation before sitting down to this regional favourite.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Overnight: Cappadocia

An optional hot-air balloon experience may be available early this morning, subject to weather and operating conditions.

After breakfast, discover Cappadocia’s landscapes and rock-cut heritage. Visit Göreme Open-Air Museum, enjoy panoramic views near Uçhisar and take a gentle walk through a suitable valley.

Later, join a hands-on cooking session led by a local host or chef. Depending on the season and the kitchen, prepare dishes such as stuffed vegetables, lentil soup, regional pastries or a traditional dessert.

Share the meal you have helped prepare and learn about the recipes, ingredients and customs behind it.

Meals: Breakfast and cooking-session lunch
Overnight: Cappadocia

After breakfast, visit Avanos to discover its pottery tradition. Watch a craft demonstration and learn about the clay vessels used for cooking, serving and storage. There may also be an opportunity to try shaping clay.

Continue to one of Cappadocia’s underground cities. Explore accessible sections with your guide and learn how these spaces supported daily life.

Enjoy a regional lunch at a local restaurant, followed by a village stop and time to appreciate Cappadocia’s quieter surroundings. Return to your hotel in the afternoon, with the evening free.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch
Overnight: Cappadocia

After breakfast, travel by road to Gaziantep. This is a substantial transfer day, with comfort stops along the way. Lunch is at your own expense en route.

Arrive in Gaziantep and check into your hotel. If time permits, take a short orientation walk before dinner.

Your first Gaziantep meal introduces the city’s rich culinary traditions through a selection of regional dishes. The menu may include seasonal kebabs, vegetable dishes and local accompaniments, followed by a pistachio-based sweet.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Overnight: Gaziantep

After breakfast, visit the Zeugma Mosaic Museum, where detailed mosaics offer a glimpse into the region’s ancient history.

Continue through Gaziantep’s old bazaar streets. Explore the Copper Bazaar and food stalls selling spices, dried vegetables, nuts and other regional ingredients. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant, with dishes selected to introduce more of the city’s flavours.

In the afternoon, join a baklava workshop. Watch the preparation of delicate pastry layers, learn about the role of pistachios and syrup, and take part in selected preparation steps under the host’s guidance. Finish with a freshly prepared tasting.

The evening is free to revisit the bazaars or choose another local restaurant.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and baklava tasting
Overnight: Gaziantep

After breakfast, depart for Şanlıurfa. Visit Göbeklitepe with your guide before continuing into the city.

Enjoy a regional lunch introducing Urfa’s distinctive cooking, with dishes such as Urfa kebab, aubergine specialities or seasonal home-style recipes.

Explore Balıklıgöl and the surrounding historic streets, then browse the traditional bazaar before checking into your hotel.

In the evening, attend a sıra gecesi dinner. Enjoy traditional live music and a shared meal in an atmospheric setting. The menu may include meze, a çiğ köfte presentation, a regional main course and dessert. Arrangements and performance styles vary by venue.

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Overnight: Şanlıurfa

Enjoy breakfast at your hotel. Depending on your departure time, you may have a little free time for a final walk or shopping.

Transfer to Şanlıurfa GAP Airport for your onward flight, taking home new recipes, memorable flavours and a deeper connection to Turkey’s regional food traditions.

Meals: Breakfast