Turkey A Glimpse of the East and Mt Nemrut

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 covering the 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, we will visit the Anzac Cove, the Lone Pine Cemetery, and Chunuk Bair. The cross the Dardanelles to Canakkale. (B,D)

In the morning visit Troy’s legendary walls 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 you will 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 taking 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 you will depart for Konya, en route, we will 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)

Morning departure from Goreme. Stop by the 13th century Seljukian caravansarai Karatayhan. After lunch drive to Kahramanmaras and stop there to have the worldwide famous ice-cream in a nice cafe. Arrive to Kahta and check into your hotel. (B,D) ***Hotels in Eastern Turkey will be Standard Tourist Class.

Early morning (3:00 am) drive up to the mountain. Climb to the mountain to watch the sunrise between the colossal statues of the king and gods. After sunrise, visit the ruins of Mt Nemrut and enjoy some free time to walk around. Drive back to Kahta. Arsemia and a Roman bridge of Cendere and tumulus blackbird (Karakus) are also included. Arrive back to Kahta to have a breakfast and relax. Drive to Sanliurfa city, Prophet Abraham’s cave and the pools of holy carp surrounding it. Head to Harran, a village of spellbinding mud-brick beehive houses, where Abraham spent last years of his life mentioned in the book of Genesis. (B,L,D) ***Hotels in Eastern Turkey will be Standard Tourist Class.

You will be transferred to Sanliurfa or Gaziantep airport. (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)