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Duration
16 days
Max Group Size
30
Departure Type
Scheduled
Guiding Method
Fully guided
Physical level
easy
Operated In
English
Age Requirement
11 - 99 Ages
Tour Overview
Embark on a
remarkable 16-day journey across Turkey, tracing the footsteps of empires,
prophets, and ancient civilizations. From the imperial beauty of Istanbul to
the quaint Ottoman villages of Bursa and Cumalıkızık, this tour offers a deep
dive into Turkish heritage and history.
Explore
Safranbolu’s timeless architecture, the modern capital Ankara, and the sacred
lands of Mount Nemrut. Experience the spiritual atmosphere of Sanliurfa and the
culinary heart of Gaziantep. Continue westward to the stunning natural
formations of Cappadocia and Pamukkale before reaching the classical marvels of
Ephesus, Pergamon, and the legendary battlefields of Troy and Gallipoli.
Attractions
Highlights
Itinerary
After your arrival to Istanbul Airport (IST) or Sabiha Gokcen Airport (SAW) , we will meet you in front of the exit gate at the international terminal ; with a sign bearing your name and transfer you to your hotel .There, you will get a quick briefing from the tour guide about the itinerary. Rest of the day free to start your exploration of this legendary city. Overnight in Istanbul.
(Breakfast and lunch included)
The tour will depart with a meeting at a central point with our tour guide that
we will inform you when you are booking at 9:00am. You will visit The Topkapi
Palace; Ottoman Sultan’s Residance built on the slopes of Sarayburnu. Topkapi
Palace is a combination of different architectural styles. Topkapi Palace is
the most visited museum in Turkey and you will be able to see the Ottoman
Empire treasury, Dynasty clothing and Sacred Relics. Harem Section will not be
included in the itinerary and there will be an extra entrance fee to visit this
section.
The tour will continue with a walking through The
Hippodrome which was once used for chariot races, celebrations, riots,
executions and other important events through Byzantine and Ottoman Empires.
The walk through The Hippodrome will be about 45 minutes. The half day morning
portion will end here.
Our next stop will be in a local restaurant for lunch and
you will have some delicious Turkish cuisine. The afternoon visit will start
around 13:30 and the first stop will be Hagia Sophia (St. Sophia) Museum,
bearing the symbols of Christianity and Islam together. The church was built in
537 AD. by Roman Emperor Justinian and has been converted into a mosque in 15th
century. You will visit the site about 1 hour and see the courtyard, entrance
hall, main gallery and upper gallery.
The next stop will be The Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Mosque) decorated with some of the best examples in Turkish Tile Art History. Built on the 17th century, Blue Mosque is a symbol of Istanbul standing in the heart of the city. Our final stop will be in Grand Bazaar which is one of the biggest trading centers in the world with more than 4000 shops. After this stop, our guide will show you the way to go to your hotel around 17:00. Overnight accommodation in Istanbul
(Breakfast lunch and Dinner included)
Drive to Bursa and visiting the city .Today,
our journey will start with a ferry to Yalova, enjoying the lovely countryside
view. We will then keep driving to Bursa to see the former capital of Ottoman
Empire. We will visit Ulucami (The Grand Mosque) and Kozahan respectively and
then have a break for the lunch. Bursa is very famous with its “kebap of Alexander
The Great“.
After lunch, we will have a short drive to Cumalikizik Village, which was one
of the first Ottoman Villages in Turkey. It is also declared as a UNESCO World
Heritage in 2014. The village is located on the skirts of a mountain and has
very different-colored houses. After seeing the village and a break for coffee,
we will drive back to the hotel.Overnight accommodation in Bursa
(Breakfast lunch and Dinner included)
After having an early breakfast, we will start driving to Safranbolu for about
4 hours and have our lunch after the arrival. We will then begin touring in Old
Safranbolu Town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. The Old Town
preserves many old buildings, with 1008 registered historical artifacts. These
are: 1 private museum, 25 mosques, 5 tombs, 8 historical fountains, 5 Turkish
baths, 3 caravanserais, 1 historical clock tower, 1 sundial and hundreds of
houses and mansions. Also there are mounds of ancient settlements, rock tombs
and historical bridges.
The Old Town is situated in a deep ravine in a fairly dry
area in the rain shadow of the mountains. The name of the town derives from
‘saffron’ and the Greek word ‘polis’ (city), since Safranbolu was a trading
place and a center for growing saffron. After a few hours of walking in the
city, we will check-in to our hotel. Overnight accommodation in Safranbolu.
(Breakfast lunch and Dinner included)
Today, we will drive to Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, to visit Ankara
Anatolian Civilizations Museum and Ataturk’s Mausoleum. The museum is housed in
a 15th-century bedesten (covered market). The central room houses reliefs and
statues, while the surrounding hall displays exhibits from Paleolithic,
Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, Assyrian, Hittite, Phrygian, Urartians and
Lydian periods.
The eternal resting place of the founder of the Republic
of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Mausoleum is at the same time a museum
harboring many towers. It is possible to see and understand the entire process
of founding the republic with the artifacts and written documents in the museum
section. Then, we will drive you to your hotel. Overnight accommodation in
Ankara.
(Breakfast lunch and Dinner included)
After the breakfast at the hotel, we will drive to the Capital City of Ancient
Hittites: Hattusha. This ancient city is dating back to almost 4000 years. The
site, discovered in 1834, was not comprehensively excavated until 1906, which
was the memorable date of the discovery of a copy of a peace treaty between
Hattushili III and the Pharaoh Ramses II, which made possible the
identification of Hattusha. Since then, joint efforts on the part of German and
Turkish archaeologists have made decisive progress in knowledge of the Hittite
capital. In the 13th century, the city was surrounded by a system of double
walls forming a perimeter of roughly 8 km. It was protected at the east end by
the Kayalı Bogaz outpost, 1.5 km from the Royal Gate. To the north, beyond the
walls, were located a necropolis cut into the rock at Osmankayası and the great
rupestral sanctuary of Yazılıkaya, whose walls decorated with bas-reliefs are
the undisputed masterpiece of Hittite art.
We will also visit Yazilikaya Open Air Sanctuary. It was the religious center of the Hittites who were known as ” the country with 1000 gods“. The most remarkable monument is the great temple, dedicated to the god of storms and the goddess of the Sun, Arinna, and surrounded by an array of buildings including stores. Thousands of cuneiform tablets were found in this area. Slightly to the north of the temple is the Assyrian settlement’s karum with its houses built around a central courtyard. Part of it dates back to the pre-Hittite period. After visiting the site, we will drive you to the hotel in Ankara. Hattusha has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. We will then drive to Cappadocia. Overnight accommodation in Cappadocia.
(Breakfast lunch and Dinner included)
Optional Hot Air Balloon Flight in
the early morning can be a good start the day with sunrise.
We will start touring in magical Cappadocia. The tour will begin with a
panoramic view point in Goreme to give you the information about the geography,
formation and history of Cappadocia as well as seeing the most famous valleys
in Cappadocia. You will be able to see The Pigeon Valley, Rose and Red Valleys,
Goreme and Uchisar Villages from this point. After driving about 30 minutes, we
will visit Kaymakli Underground City which is one of the UNESCO World Heritage
Sites in Cappadocia. the most impressive aspect of the Kaymaklı Underground
City is the organised, structured and very well thought nature of the entire
city. It had everything from living quarters, sleeping rooms, stables and
communal kitchens to a church and a graveyard as well as being well fortified
to protect its inhabitants.
After experiencing the life in underground, we will drive
you to Pigeon Valley to see Uchisar Castle and the valley from a panoramic
point. We will have our lunch at a local restaurant in Avanos. We will then see
the kick-wheel pottery demonstration in Avanos which is the oldest art in the
area. We will visit Pasabag (Monks Valley) which is also known as
mushroom-shaped fairy chimneys. The fairy-chimneys in Pasabag are the
best-protected ones in the area and it gives the best idea about the formation
of a fairy-chimney. Finally, we will visit Devrent Valley in which you will see
the camel-shaped fairy chimney and much more different shapes than usual. The
tour will end around 5:00pm and we will drive you back to your hotel.Overnight
accommodation in Cappadocia.
(Breakfast lunch and Dinner included)
After the breakfast, we will start the hike in Red & Rose Valleys in which
you will be able to see lots of pigeon houses and some rock-cut churches. The
hike will take about 1,5 hours. The hike will end in Cavusin Village which is
an abandoned village with amazing view. The village was abandoned because of
the falling rocks in 1950s. After seeing the panoramic view of the village, we
will climb up to Uchisar Castle which is the highest point in Cappadocia. You
will be able to see all the valleys of Cappadocia from one point there.
We will drive to Bizim Ev Restaurant to have our lunch
after this visit. You can get the famous “Pottery Kebab” in this restaurant.
After lunch, we will visit Goreme Open Air Museum hich is listed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site since 1985. You will see the best-preserved rock-cut
churches in Cappadocia area. The Dark Church which has an extra admission fee
will be included at your visit. We will then drive to Mustafapasa (Sinasos)
Village. This village housed both Turkish and Greek people until the population
exchange compulsory has been fulfilled in 1924. Then we will stop in Urgup to
see beautiful examples of fairy chimneys. After this visit, we will drive you
to your hotel around 5:00pm. Overnight accommodation in Cappadocia.
(Breakfast lunch and Dinner included)
We will start driving around 08:00am and drive to our first stop, Karatayhan
Caravanserai from 13th Century. Caravanserais were used for centuries as road
side inns where travelers could restand keep their animals in safe places.
Caravanserais supported commerce, information, and people across the network of
trade routes covering Asia, North Africa, and South-Eastern Europe. We will
then drive to Kahramanmaras to have our lunch and also to taste the world-wide
famous goat milk ice-cream. After about 3 hours of driving, we will check-in to
our hotel in Kahta or Adiyaman. The dinner will be served at the hotel.
Overnight accommodation in Kahta or Adiyaman.
(Breakfast lunch and Dinner included)
We will wake-up quite early this morning around 03:30am to climb up to the
summit of Mount Nemrut. Mount Nemrut has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site in 1987. We will hike up to summit about 30 minutes after arriving to the
entrance of the national park. After seeing one of the best sunrise in the
world, statues of gods and kings, we will drive down from the mount to see
Arsemia Ancient city, Cendere Bridge and Karakus Tumulus. After having the
breakfast at the hotel, we will keep driving to Sanliurfa. We will first visit
Gobeklitepe in Urfa. Gobeklitepe has been proved by the scientists that it is
the oldest temple in the world from 11,500 years ago. Gobeklitepe has been
listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018.
Having lunch in Sanliurfa, we will see Prophet Abraham’s Cave and the Pools of
Holy Carp. We will then drive about 1 hour to Harran to see the mud-brick
beehive houses which are at the Tentative World Heritage List of UNESCO since
2000. We will also visit the first Islamic University building in the world
there and then drive back to check-in our hotel in Sanliurfa. We will have the
dinner at the hotel. Overnight accommodation in Sanliurfa
(Breakfast lunch and Dinner included)
We will start the day around 08:30am and then drive about 2 hours to Gaziantep
to visit Zeugma Mosaic Museum there. >The Gaziantep Mosaic Museum has
Turkey's finest fully protected mosaics. The museum has beautiful mosaics from
Zeugma Ancient City. Zeugma is in the Tentative List of UNESCO since 2021.
These mosaics are a 2000 years old and unique in design, colour and perfection.
Besides this 1450 m² of mosaics, there are also 140 m² of frescoes, 4 Roman
fountains, 20 columns, 4 limestone sculptures, bronze statue of Mars, grave steles,
and sarcophagi. After visiting the museum, we will drive you to Gaziantep
Airport to fly to Izmir airport. After landing at the airport, our driver will
meet you in front of the exit gate at the domestic terminal; with a sign
bearing your name and transfer you to your hotel. Overnight accommodation in Kusadasi.
(Breakfast lunch and Dinner included)
We will start the day around 09:30am and drive to Ephesus Ancient City, one of
the biggest excavations in the world. We will visit the Odeon, The Fountain of
Trajan, the stream baths of Scholastica, Hadrian and Domitian Temples,
impressive library of Celsius. We will then visit The Grand Theatre, where
Saint Paul preached. The theatre was the largest one in ancient times with
capacity of 24.000 seats.
The walk in the Ephesus ruins will be around 2 hours and then we will have the
lunch. After lunch, we will visit The Artemis Temple which is one the Seven
Wonders of the World in Ancient World. We wil drive to The Virgin Mary House
which is believed that she lived there for a while with St. John the
Evangalist. The tour will end around 4:30pm and we will drive you back to your
hotel. Ephesus is in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list since 2015. Overnight
accommodation in Kusadasi.
(Breakfast lunch and Dinner included)
After the breakfast, we will start driving around 07:30am to Hierapolis Ancient
City. We will visit the biggest Necropolis (cemetery) in Turkey, The Domitian
and Byzantium Gates, Main Street and The theatre, which has a capacity of
20.000 seats. After visiting the theatrei, you will have some free time to
enjoy a possible swim in Cleopatra Pool. There is an extra 10 Euro entrance fee
for this pool. The walk in the Hierapolis ruins will end with the arrival to
Travertine terraces.The travertine pools are very strange formations caused by
thermal springs which contains huge amount of calcium bicarbonate , chalk and
limestone. The travertines cascade down the hills naturally and very much
resemble a frozen waterfall. The tour will end around 4:00pm and then we will
drive back to the hotel. The travertine terraces and Hierapolis Ancient city
has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.
After lunch, we will visit probably the most beautiful ancient city in Turkey:
Aphrodisias. The city was very famous with its' sculptures back in the history
and they did amazing items in the ancient city as well. We will visit
Sebasteion, Theater, Agora, Tiberius Portico, Hadrian Baths, Bishop Palace,
Aphrodite Temple, Odeon, Stadium, Tetraphylon and Aphrodisias Museum.
Aphrodisias has been listesd as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2017. We
will then drive back to Kusadasi. Overnight accommodation in Kusadasi.
(Breakfast lunch and Dinner included)
The breakfast will be served at the hotel and then we will drive about 2
hours to get to Pergamon Ancient City, which is listed as a UNESCO World
Heritage Site in 2014. . Acropolis is located on top of a hill and it is
reached by a cable-car. By walking down from the Acropolis, you can visit The
Gymnasium, The Temple of Athena, The Library of Pergamon which once had more
than 200.000 books, The Temple of Trajan, The Zeus Altar and The Temple of
Dionysos. You will also visit The Theatre which is one of the steepest theatres
in the world which a capacity of 10.000 people. We will also visit The Asclepion Health Center. It is believed
that Asclepion, built in the name of Aesculapius, the god of Health and
Medicine, has existed since the 4th century BC. In Asclepion Health Center, the
dreams of the patients were analyzed by their doctors (priests) about 2000
years before Sigmund Freud did and the ancient city became very important. You
will be able to see the Roman Theatre, the North Stoa, the South Stoa, the
Temple of Asclepius and a circular treatment center, the healing spring, an
underground passageway and a library. After visiting Asclepion, we will drive
to Canakkale. Overnight accommodation in Canakkale
(Breakfast lunch and Dinner included)
Our day will start with the famous archaeological and mythological site of
Troy, home of the “Trojan Horse” and”Helen of Troy“. you will start touring in
the famous Troy Ancient City and you will get information about The Trojan
Horse, Helen of Troy, The Trojan Wars, The battle between Achilles and Paris,
Sacrificial Altars, The 3700 year old city walls, Houses of Troy I, 3000 B.C. –
2500 B.C, The Bouleterium (Senate Building), The Odeon (Concert Hall), Current
excavations in progress and remains of the various cities from Troy I through
to Troy IX. After this visit, will start touring in Gallipoli area and you will
visit Brighton Beach, Beach Cemetery, ANZAC Cove, Ariburnu Cemetery, ANZAC
Commemoration Site, Respect to Mehmetcik Statue, Lone Pine Australian Memorial,
Johnston’s Jolly (Turkish & Allied trenches & tunnels), 57th Regiment
Turkish Memorial, The Nek and Chunuk Bair New Zealand Memorial. Then we will
have the drive to Istanbul. Overnight accommodation in Istanbul.
(Breakfast included)
After breakfast, we will transfer you to the Airport for your return trip back
home. We hope your tour was a memorable one and we would like to see you in the
future in one of our tours again. Have a nice trip back home and thanks for choise us .
Trip includes
Included
3 Night Accommodation in
Istanbul - Central Palace Hotel
1 Night Accommodation in Bursa - Tiara Termal Hotel
1 Night Accommodation in Safranbolu - Imren Butik Hotel or Cincihan Hotel
1 Night Accommodation in Ankara - Angora House Hotel or Gordion Hotel
3 Night Accommodation in Cappadocia - Elpuente Cave Hotel
1 Night Accommodation in Adıyaman or Kahta - Park Dedeman or Ramadan Adiyaman Hotel
1 Night Accommodation in Sanliurfa - El-Ruha Hotel or Hanehan
3 Night Accommodation in Kusadasi - Odelia Resort Hotel
1 Night Accommodation in Canakkale - Troia Tusan Hotel
PS: If
This hotel list not available at the time of your booking then we will arrange
another similar hotel for your group. If you prefer a Different category hotel,
there might be an additional cost
Professional English - speaking tour guides
Guiding Method
Fully guided
Meal plan as mentioned in the itinerary



Arrival airport transfer from Istanbul airport
Transportation in a fully air - conditioned, non -
smoking coach
Return airport transfer
Guided Istanbul Old City Tour
Guided Bursa & Cumalikizik Village Tour
Guided Safranbolu Tour
Guided Ankara Tour
Guided Corum Tour
Guided Full day Cappadocia Green Tour
Guided Full day Cappadocia Red Tour
Guided Kahta Tour
Guided Mount Nemrut Tour
Guided Sanliurfa Tour
Guided Gaziantep Tour
Guided Full day Ephesus Tour
Guided Full day Pamukkale Tour
Guided Full day Pergamon Tour
Guided Full day Gallipoli and Troy Tour
All entrance fees mentioned in the itinerary
Hotel
room taxes
City Tax
Parking fees
Service Charges and taxes
Duration: 16 Days / 15 Nights
Accommodation: Carefully selected 4-star and
boutique hotels
Meals: Daily breakfast, selected
lunches and dinners (according to itinerary)
Transport: Comfortable air-conditioned
vehicles; domestic flight(s) may be included
Group Size: Small group (maximum 18
travelers) or available as private tour
Physical Level: Moderate – includes walking on
uneven terrain
Language: English-speaking licensed
guide throughout the tour
Best Time to Travel: Spring (April–June) and Autumn
(September–October) for mild weather and fewer crowds
Excluded
International flight tickets
Domestic flight ticket from Gaziantep to Izmir
Insurance: All types
Tipping
Turkey
entry visa
Items of a
personal nature such as alcoholic drinks, cold drinks, laundry
Any others expenses which are not mentioned at the included section
Availability
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