Tour Duration: 11 days
DAY 1 – THU – DEPART
USA
Overnight flight to Istanbul.
DAY 2 – FRI – ISTANBUL
AT LEISURE
Welcome to Turkey – a land rich in
archeological sites,
spectacular scenery and
warm–hearted people. On
arrival at Istanbul Airport, you
will be met and transferred
to your hotel. This evening, get
together with
your Tour Director and fellow
passengers for a Welcome
Drink. Hotel: Radisson SAS
Bosphorus.
DAY 3 – SAT – ISTANBUL
SIGHTSEEING
Get your cameras ready today.
Embark on a superb
Highlight cruise along the
Bosphorus Waterway.
Travelling towards the Black Sea,
the scenery
complements the grandeur of the
Ottoman palaces, old
mansions and fortresses. Visit the
Blue Mosque with its
beautiful tiles and the Hippodrome
where Roman
chariot races were held, and
visit St Sophia, at one time
a Cathedral and a mosque, and
now a magnificent
museum. Move on to visit the
fabulous Topkapi Palace,
a walled city perched above the
Bosphorous and the
Golden Horn, and then the
famous Grand Bazaar where
– all under cover – there
are more than 4,000 shops,
cafes and tea houses. Consider
sampling some
traditional apple tea, or spending the
evening watching
some belly–dancing. (BB)
DAY 4 – SUN – ISTANBUL
– ÇANAKKALE
Drive along the shores of the Sea of
Marmara to the
peninsula of Gelibolu, better
known in the west as
Gallipoli. Here are the
battlefields where, for nine
disastrous months during the Great
War, Anzac troops
fought unsuccessfully to gain control
of the strategic
Dardanelle Straits. Visit Anzac
Cove and Lone Pine
Cemetery, final resting
place of soldiers who gave their
lives over the entire Gallipoli
campaign. From Eceabat, a
30–minute sea crossing to
Çanakkale takes you from one
continent to another as you leave
Europe for Asia. Stay
in seaside Çanakkale.
Hotel: Kolin.(BB,D)
DAY 5 – MON –
ÇANAKKALE – IZMIR
Drive to Homer’s legendary
city of Troy, where
archeological excavation has
established nine levels
of habitation. See an enormous
reconstruction of the
famous Trojan wooden horse
before continuing to
Pergamon, the seat of an
ancient kingdom. Visit the
Acropolis, the Temple of
Athena and the famous
library, which is said to
have contained 200,000
volumes. View the Red Courtyard
and visit the ruins
of the Asklepieon, one of
the most famous shrines
and therapeutic centres in the ancient
world. Continue
to the pretty port of Izmir on the
Aegean Sea. Hotel: Crowne Plaza.
(BB,D)
DAY 6 – TUE – IZMIR
– KUSADASI
En route to Ephesus, visit the
archeological museum at
Selçuk where many of the
excavated artifacts of
Ephesus are displayed, and
visit the House of the
Virgin Mary, spectacularly
situated above the Ephesus
ruins. Finally, tour Ephesus
itself, one of the world’s
finest archeological sites. Visit
the colonnaded
Arcadian Way, the splendid facade of
the Library of
Celsus and see the Amphitheatre,
the largest and
most impressive structure to survive
from Hellenistic
Ephesus. Head to the lively
coastal town of Kusadasi
for an overnight stay. Your
hotel is one of the
newest and most luxurious in this
resort town – relax
with a cool drink and take advantage
of the hotel’s
indoor pool, Turkish bath and
fitness centre. Hotel:
Charisma. (BB,D)
DAY 7 – WED – KUSADASI
– PAMUKKALE
Drive inland to Pamukkale,
famous for its ‘Cotton
Castle’, a dazzling
chalk–white array of fantastically
shaped limestone terraces. Visit
the ruins of
ancient Hierapolis and the
fairyland terraces and
see the glistening pools and
cascades in scallop–shell
basins. The rest of the
day is yours to relax and enjoythe
blissfully warm thermal pools at the
hotel. Hotel: Colossae Thermal.
(BB,D)
DAY 8 – THU –
PAMUKKALE – CAPPADOCIA
Head to Konya, the old
capital of the Anatolian Seljuk
Empire, now Turkey’s most
religious city and home to
the mystic Whirling Dervish sect.
Visit the Mevlana
Tekke, a museum and
national monument, with its
beautiful fluted turquoise dome,
which contains the
tomb of the Whirling
Dervishes’ founder. See the
Karatay Medrese and Ince Minaret
before driving on to
the historic region of Nevsehir in
Cappadocia. Hotel:
Dedeman. (BB,D)
DAY 9 – FRI –
CAPPADOCIA – FULL DAY EXCURSION
TO GÖREME
Enjoy an excursion to
Göreme, a unique region of
volcanic landscapes and rock–hewn
churches decorated
with ancient wall paintings, some of
which
you can see in the open–air
museum. Continue to
the Zelve Valley where the
scenery is dotted with
churches, caves and troglodyte
dwellings. Tour the
underground city of Kaymakli,
and see the cone
of Uçhisar. Enjoy dinner at
the hotel followed by a
colourful folklore show in an
underground cave,
featuring dances from different regions.
(BB,HD)
DAY 10 – SAT –
CAPPADOCIA – ISTANBUL
Visit Agzikarahan, one
of the best–preserved Seljuk
caravanserais in Anatolia. Continue on
to Ankara to
visit the Hittite Museum and
Anit Kabir, the mausoleum
of Ataturk, Turkey’s
greatest modern leader. Later,
transfer to the airport for an
included scheduled flight
back to Istanbul. Consider celebrating
the tour with a
farewell dinner with your new friends
at a colourful
local restaurant. Hotel:
Movenpick. (BB)
DAY 11 – SUN – RETURN
TO USA
This morning, our tour comes to an
end with a transfer to the
airport. (BB)
