Grand Tour Turkey

After breakfast, start your day with a sightseeing tour of Istanbul, including visits to Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome area, the Egyptian (Spice) Bazaar, and a private cruise on the Bosphorus. Return to your hotel for an overnight stay.

After hotel check-out, take a flight to Trabzon on the Black Sea coast. Upon arrival, visit The Church of Hagia Sophia, Gulbahar Hatun Mosque, Ankara Castle, Ataturk’s Mansion, and The Fatih Mosque, and have lunch at a seaside restaurant in the town of Akcaabat. Drive to Boztepe Hill to enjoy a beautiful panoramic view of the city and then stay overnight in Trabzon.

Check-out of your hotel and embark on a picturesque drive along the former Silk Road to Altindere National Park to visit Sumela Monastery. Dine for lunch before visiting the Karaca Caves near the town of Torul, then drive to Erzurum city for an overnight stay.

Take a scenic drive to Kars city with a visit to Ani, a ruined medieval Armenian city located near the border. Stop for lunch and arrive in Kars for an overnight stay.

Check-out of your hotel and drive to Dogubeyazit, a city located 35 kilometers/21 miles away from the Iranian border. See the 2nd largest meteor crater in the world known as the Crater Hole and view Mount Ararat, then visit Ishak Pasa Palace. Stay overnight in Dogubeyazit.

Check-out of your hotel and proceed to the city of Van located on the eastern shore of Lake Van. Visit Akdamar Island, Hosap Castle, and the Van Citadel, then stay overnight in Van.

Drive to Ahlat, a historical town located near Lake Van, to visit the Seljuk Cemetery, then to the nearby town of Bitlis for lunch and some sightseeing. Next, go to Diyarbakir to visit the ancient castle and stay overnight.

Proceed to Mardin city, situated on top of a hill, and visit Deyr ul-Zafaran Monastery, then drive to Urfa for sightseeing, including a visit to a covered bazaar, a cave known to be the birthplace of the prophet Abraham, the Pool of Sacred Fish, and the ancient city of Harran. Stay overnight in Urfa.

Drive to Sanliurfa, also known as Urfa, to visit a covered bazaar for some shopping. Visit a cave known to be the birthplace of the prophet Abraham and the legendary Pool of Sacred Fish before heading to the remains of the ancient city of Harran. Return to the hotel in Urfa for an overnight stay.

After the hotel checkout we continue with our Turkey adventures from Urfa to the Cappadocia region. Along the way we stop for lunch. And upon arrival we check into a cave hotel in Goreme a town at the center of the region and have a free day. Cappadocia is unique for its strange lunar landscape, fashioned by wild natural upheavals in the earth which makes it a perfect place to go sight-seeing and exploring.

Today, the tour begins at Uchisar the tallest point in the Cappadocia region. Here we enjoy some spectacular panoramic views of this historical area with a visit to the natural rock citadel. We continue onto the Goreme Open Air Museum to view the finest of the rock-cut churches, and the beautifully well preserved wall paintings. Next, we stop for lunch before visiting some of the world renowned fairy chimneys in Urgup. While here we partake in some wine tasting at a local winery and a quick visit of the wishing hill. Then we go to Devrent Valley and then Monk’s Valley to see some more of these fairy chimneys and rock formations in a different form. Next, we visit Rose Valley a lovely valley that gets its name from the rose-colored rock that varies in hue and intensity. During the walk we see visit several cave churches, cave houses and cave tunnels. Finally, we are transferred back to the hotel in Goreme for an overnight stay.

After breakfast we continue our Cappadocia tour with a trek through Ihlara Valley which was known to have more than 4,000 homes and 100 cave churches. Afterwards, we dine for lunch at the banks of the Melendiz River. Next, we go to Selime to see the largest rock monastery in the region. Then we tour the largest excavated underground city in Turkey, Derinkuyu. This ancient underground city has 5 existing floors that go down about 60 meters/196 feet. We continue to a volcanic crater lake, Nar Crater Lake. Finally, we go to Pigeon Valley an area which refers to the thousands of pigeon houses that have been carved into the soft tufa since ancient times. Lastly, we are transferred back to the hotel in Goreme for an overnight stay.

We begin the day with a departure from Goreme to Konya. We break for lunch along the way and upon arrival to Konya we tour the Museum of Mevlana. This museum was constructed in the 16th century in honor of the Sufi or ‘whirling dervishes’ founder, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi. Afterwards, we continue the drive to Antalya for an overnight stay in Antalya.

After breakfast we begin our sight-seeing tour of Antalya by visiting the city of Perge. This ancient city was once the capital of Pamphyia and one of the richest and most beautiful cities of its time. It’s famous for its Artemis temple and was the home of the renowned Greek mathematician Apollonius. We continue the tour to Aspendos. This ancient city has the best preserved theater which provided seating for about 7,000 people. Later we break for lunch by the river. Afterwards we visit Manavgat Waterfalls before proceeding to Side.

After the hotel check out, we continue our Turkey tour and head to the Pamukkale village. Pamukkale, which means “cotton castle” in Turkish, is a site where natural hot springs and travertines resemble frozen waterfalls. The Hierapolis ruins are located right next to Pamukkale and were historically used as spas. The ruins in this ancient city cover more than a mile and are quite impressive, including an amphitheater with seats still in perfect condition and column-lined streets and arches that have stood the test of time. We end the day with a transfer to a hotel in Pamukkale for an overnight stay.

After breakfast, we continue our tour of ancient Aegean and drive to Kusadasi via the Ephesus region. The Ancient City of Ephesus is the best-preserved classical city of the Eastern Mediterranean, and among the best places in the world that allows your imagination to relive the Roman era. We also visit the House of Virgin Mary to view her shrine and small chapel. Lastly, we visit the Artemis Temple, which was one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. We end the day with a transfer to the hotel for an overnight stay in Kusadasi.

After the hotel check out, we proceed to Bergama, a city located in Izmir Province, to tour the Hellenistic and later Roman city of Pergamum. This ancient city is known as one of the 7 churches of Asia and during its heyday was famous for having a large library rivaling that of Alexandria in Egypt. The day ends with a drive to Canakkale for the hotel check-in and an overnight stay.

We continue our tour of Turkey and head to the ancient city of Troy, famous for being the setting of the Trojan War. After touring the site, we can take photos in a giant replica of the Trojan horse which was an integral part of the Trojan War myth. Next, we visit Assos, a small but rich historical town to visit the Temple of Athena ruins. We then head to Eceabat for lunch and tour the historical Gallipoli ANZAC Memorials, where we will relive the war through historical sites such as the Kabatepe War Museum, ANZAC Cove, Lone Pine Australian Memorial, the Turkish and Allied trenches and tunnels (Johnston’s Jolly), and The Nek and Chunuk Bair New Zealand memorial. We end the day with a transfer to Istanbul for an overnight stay.

After the hotel check out, transfers are available for Istanbul’s airport and the return flight.