Glories of Turkey

Enjoy a relaxing overnight flight to Istanbul.

You are greeted upon arrival and escorted to your hotel. Remainder of the day is at leisure before a welcome briefing by your tour director. (Your arrival transfer is included only if you arrive on the actual day the tour commences. For customers arriving earlier an individual transfer can be organized at an additional cost.)

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

En route to Gallipoli, visit Anzac Cove, the Lone Pine Cemetery and Chunuk Bair. Cross the Dardanelles to Canakkale. (B,D)

Visit Troy’s legendary walls this morning before you continue your trip to Pergamum for a visit to the ancient medical center of Asklepion. Enjoy lunch with the locals at a traditional village. Arrive in Izmir in the evening. (B,L,D)

Today tour the ruins of Ephesus and explore the 2,000 year old marble streets, a theater, the Library of Celsius, and Hadrian's Temple. Take a short drive to see the Virgin Mary's cottage. Continue to a regional rug production center to have firsthand experience of this unique art form. In the evening consider having an optional dinner at a local restaurant. (B)

Drive through lush valleys to Pamukkale, which means "Cotton Castle", describing the white lime cascades formed by mineral springs. Visit the ruins of the Roman health spa of Hierapolis. Enjoy a swim in your hotel's thermal pool. (B,D)

Relax during a scenic drive from Pamukkale to Antalya. Pay a visit to the ancient Greek city of Perge, famous for its Temple of Artemis. Enjoy a relaxing afternoon by the Mediterranean Sea, an area known as the Turquoise Coast. (B,D)

Today enjoy a full day at leisure or consider an optional tour to Phaselis, an ancient coastal city, or a lazy yacht cruise along the Turquoise Coast of the Mediterranean. (B,D) Note: You can extend your stay for a week at the Crystal Tat Beach Belek Resort (20 miles east of Antalya).

After breakfast depart for Konya, en route visit Aspendos with its magnificently preserved 15,000-person theater. In Konya visit Mevlana's Mausoleum, founder of the Whirling Dervishes, and the Karatay Koran School, displaying colorful Turkish tiles. (B,D)

Drive to Cappadocia, famous for it's "moon-like" landscapes. En route visit a 13th century caravanserai and the famous underground city of Saratli. Enjoy dinner at a local restaurant and overnight in Cappadocia. You can join an optional Whirling Dervishes performance. (B,D)

Consider an early morning optional balloon tour. Experience floating through the volcanic valleys, fairy chimneys and caves at sunrise. After breakfast, visit Goreme, a historical region of Turkey, located among the rock formations, which was first settled back in the Roman period. Many rock churches can still be seen today, as Christianity was then the prevailing religion in that region. Continue to the town of Avanos renowned for its high quality earthenware. Also visit Pasabagi, the Red Valley and attend a brief regional pottery workshop in a cave. (B,D)

In the morning depart for Ankara. Afternoon tour of the Ataturk Mausoleum, founder of modern Turkey, and the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations with its Hittite treasures and artifacts from the world's oldest city. (B,D)

After breakfast, depart for Istanbul. In the afternoon, consider joining an optional cruise along the Bosphorus, the waterway that separates Europe and Asia. Its shores are lined with fine neighborhoods, Ottoman palace, fortresses, old wooden villas, hotels, parks and gardens, and restaurants and cafes. Make time for last-minute shopping at the Spice Market before a farewell dinner. (B,D)

You will be transferred to the Istanbul airport for your return flight home. (Your departure transfer is included only if you depart on the actual day the tour concludes. For customers departing later an individual transfer can be organized at an additional cost.) (B)