Classics of Turkey with Options

Enjoy a relaxing overnight flight to Istanbul.

You are greeted upon arrival and escorted to your hotel. Remainder of the day is at leisure.

Enjoy an optional full-day tour of Istanbul including Topkapi Palace (excluding harem), the Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar. Consider an optional dinner with belly-dancing entertainment. (B)

Consider an optional morning tour the St. Sophia Museum and Bosphorus cruise. In the afternoon depart for Ankara. (B, D)

Visit the Mausoleum of Ataturk, father of modern Turkey, and the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations with its Hittite treasures and artifacts from the world's oldest city. Continue to Cappadocia, famous for it's "moon-like" landscapes. En route visit the 13th century Caravan Inn. (B, D)

Optional Early Morning Hot Air Balloon Tour - experience floating through volcanic valleys, fairy chimneys and caves with the sunrise. After breakfast, embark on an optional tour visiting Goreme with its 6th-10th century rock chapels decorated with Christian frescoes, Pasabagi, Red Valley, and Avanos. Have a brief regional pottery workshop in a cave. (B, D)

Depart for Pamukkale, en route you will see the famous mausoleum of the sufi philosopher Mevlana. (B, D)

Today visit the unique Cotton Fortress, the white calcium cascades formed by mineral springs and the ruins of the Roman health spa of Hierapolis. Continue to Kusadasi. (B, D)

Today depart on an optional tour to the ruins of Ephesus, the Virgin Mary's cottage, the 2,000 year old marble streets, a theater, the library of Celsius, and Hadrian's Temple. Overnight in Kusadasi. (B, D)

Visit the ancient medical center Asklepion in Pergamum. Tour Troy's legendary walls and replica of the famous wooden horse used during the Trojan War. Continue to Canakkale for an overnight. (B, L, D)

Morning departure for Gallipoli. Visit Anzac Cove, the Lone Pine Cemetery and Chunuk Bair battlefield. Cross the Dardanelles to Istanbul. (B, D)

You will be transferred to the airport. (B)