Classic Turkey

Our guide will meet you at Istanbul Airport and transfer you to your chosen accommodation. Today is free for you to settle into your new surroundings and begin exploring Turkey’s former capital – Istanbul.

Overnight:

White House Hotel

Meals included:

None

After breakfast we spend a full day visiting the most important historical sites in Istanbul. We start from the ‘Sultanahmet Centre’, which is the heart of the old city. First we visit St. Sophia, which was built as a church in Byzantine times, then converted into a mosque during the Ottoman rule, and then finally turned into a museum by Ataturk after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. After this amazing building we visit the Blue Mosque, which is famous for its blue Iznik tiles and unique six minarets. After seeing the Hippodrome, centre of sportive (chariot races and athletics) events and political activities, and monuments decorating the Hippodrome (Serpentine Column, Obelisk of Theodosius, and German Fountain of Wilhelm II) we head to Grand Bazaar, the most attractive shopping centre and the biggest ‘souk’ in the world - with nearly 4000 shops selling antiques, jewellery, gold, carpets, leather ware and souvenirs.
In the afternoon we start by visiting Topkapi Palace, the imperial residence of the Ottoman Sultans. Exhibits include sacred Islamic relics, kitchen, Chinese porcelain, weapons, calligraphy section and many others. After visiting this massive palace, our next stop is Suleymaniye Mosque, which is considered as the best amongst the imperial mosques. The Architect Sinan, chief architect of the Ottoman Empire, built it in the name of Suleyman The Magnificent during 16th Century.
For this, and all of our sightseeing tours, an English-speaking guide will accompany us. From here we head back to the hotel where you will have a free evening and a chance to try one of the cities many excellent restaurants.

Overnight:

White House Hotel

Meals included:

Breakfast

Departing Istanbul, we follow the northern edge of the Sea of Marmara, heading for the Aegean coast and Gallipoli. One of the most emotionally and touching places in Turkey, today we drive to the WWI battlefields and cemeteries of Gallipoli where we take in the landing area of Anzac Cove, Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair Memorials, Johnston's Jolly, the Nek and the Gallipoli War Museum. To this day, these historical battlefields remain an annual antipodean pilgrimage to a site where ANZAC and British forces fought Turkish troops in WW1. The whole area is now a national park dedicated to those who fought and died here during the allied landings of 1915.
We then drive along the Dardanelles’s Coast to Eceabat, where we catch our ferry across to Canakkale where we will spend this evening.

Overnight:

Kervansaray Hotel

Meals included:

Breakfast

Today we set out early to the ancient ruins of Troy, famous for the mythology surrounding the Trojan horse and Helen of Troy. Troy was settled as early as around 3600 BC with Troy I, and was then followed by several similar settlements. We depart from Troy and take a scenic drive along the Aegean Coast, before heading inland to Bergama where we will find the remains of the Greek colonial city of Pergamum.
Pergamum is one of the best ancient sites in Turkey, with the acropolis of Eumenes II dominating from on high. The magnificent acropolis is still very well preserved and was designed and decorated based on the acropolis of Athens. We visit the 3rd century B.C., Theatre of Pergamum, one of the steepest amphitheatres in the world, with a capacity of over 10.000 people. Athena and Trojan Temples, the altars of Zeus, library, Odeon, Agora and Roman baths are among many other noted structures. Its impressive temples, library and medical facilities made it a renowned cultural and political centre in its time. Then we set off for our overnight stop in cosmopolitan Kusadasi, where you can delight yourself in its fabulous bars and restaurants.

Overnight:

Charisma Hotel

Meals included:

Breakfast

Absorb yourself in history today with a guided tour of Ephesus. Walk down Marble Road towards the Celsus Library and Grand Theatre and immerse yourself into the mystical atmosphere of the city halls and stadium where chariot and horse races were once held. We also visit the site of the former wonder of the ancient world, the Temple of Artemis. Ephesus is the largest and best-preserved classical city in Turkey, and was once situated on the coast and enjoyed a well-protected harbour, which, by the 6th century B.C. had developed into a major trading port. Today this vast site has many structures of great interest, the Library of Celsus, erected by the consul Gaius Julius Aquila between 110 and 135 AD. The Temple of Hadrian donated in 118 AD in honour of Hadrian, Artemis and the city in general. The theatre of Ephesus is one of the largest of its kind, holding almost 25,000 spectators. The Scholastic Baths, the Marble Road is just a few of the other noted monuments at this ancient site we have chance to see. We also visit the House where it is claimed the Virgin Mary lived and the Cave of the Seven Sleepers, where according to legend, seven young Christians slept for 200 years.

Overnight:

Charisma Hotel

Meals included:

Breakfast

You head inland this morning and drive to Pamukkale, which literally means ‘Cotton Castle’. Here you can wonder at the splendour of the famous calcium terraces of Pamukkale and the hillside soda pools. Mistakenly described as a 'frozen waterfall, these pools appears as a series of white terraces, which as you get closer, evolve into petrified waterfalls, which cascade brightly into basins, with small pools filled with mineral rich water, supported by stalactites. Pamukkale is the accumulated result of millions of years of calcium deposits from mineral rich hot spring water. The water has been used therapeutically since Roman times.
Above the calcium terraces we visit the Roman city of Hierapolis.
The Ancient Greeks believed that the city was built by the god Apollo and the vapours of the waters were associated with Pluto, the god of the underworld. Whilst at Hierapolis we will visit the Temple of Apollo, the breathtaking Theatre, Necropolis and the Great Baths.

Overnight:

Colossae Thermal Spa Hotel

Meals included:

Breakfast

Today we travel the ancient Silk Road to Konya and visit the Mevlana Museum, where we learn about the Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes, a mystic troup whose members are followers of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi – a great Turkish poet and mystic. The brotherhood is based in Konya, where its founder is buried. We will also stop at an ancient Silk Road Caravanserai, before arriving in the beautiful region of Capadoccia.

Overnight:

Katpatuka Cave Hotel

Meals included:

Breakfast

Cappadocia is an area of outstanding scenic beauty and this, combined with some weird natural landscapes, makes this area truly unique. The landscape was formed as a result of volcanic eruptions that covered the Nevsehir plateau with volcanic tufa, ash and mud. Over time this rock has been eroded to create incredible and improbable shapes, including cones, needles of stone and rock pinnacles known as ‘fairy chimneys’. Dwellings have been hewn into the rocks since 4000 B.C., and from Byzantine times churches and monasteries were hollowed out of the rock, along with whole underground cities, fortresses and smaller dwellings.
We spend today touring the region, including visits to Goreme Valley, Uchisar castle, the fairy chimneys and more. Time permitting; we may go to Zelve open-air museum, which was inhabited until the 1950's. With its impressive churches and dwellings it’s great to explore these honey combed houses and monastic retreats.

Overnight:

Katpatuka Cave Hotel

Meals included:

Breakfast

You leave after breakfast for the drive of around 4 hours to the nation's capital, Ankara where you visit Anitkabir, mausoleum of the famed Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and also the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations before continuing your journey to Istanbul. Upon arriving in Istanbul transfer to hotel.
Note – this is a long drive today, and we can offer flight upgrades back from Ankara to Istanbul, or look at flying you straight home from Ankara (probably with a short stop-off in Istanbul en-route)

Overnight:

White House Hotel

Meals included:

Breakfast

Your time in Turkey comes to an end today. You have some free time in Istanbul today before our guide transfers you to the airport for departure.

Meals included:

Breakfast