Treasures of Turkiye – 9 Days

On arrival, transfer to your hotel and check in. Refresh and explore the city on your own. In the evening enjoy a dinner cruise with delicious food, select drink and entertainment on the Bosphorus Strait. Admire spectacular views of Istanbul’s beautifully illuminated palaces, mosques, and Bosphorus bridges.

Overnight.

Breakfast. Check out. Your private tour includes a visit to the Galata Tower built by the Genoese in 1348. The Old Pera area was given to them by the Ottoman Empire because of their help in defeating a Crusade. Drive to Eyüp Sultan Mosque, take the cable car to Pierre Lotti hill for wonderful views and enjoy Taksim Square. Private transfer to the airport for your Cappadocia flight. Arrive and transfer to your hotel.

Overnight.

Breakfast. Meet with your guide and driver for your private tour. View the rock formations of unique lunar landscape of Cappadocia; visit Devrent Imagination Valley, famous for its natural rock formations, Uçhisar Castle view point, Pigeon Valley, Love Valley, Ortahisar Castle view point, Göreme Valley view point. Stop for lunch in Avanos, a centre of terra cotta work of art since 3000 BC.

This afternoon visit the famous UNESCO World Heritage Site of Goreme Open Air Museum and see the best examples of Byzantine art in Cappadocia in rock-cut churches with frescoes and paintings (10th & 13th century).

Next, see the Whirling Dervishes Ceremony – Sufi whirling is a form of Sama or physically active meditation which originated among Sufis, and which is still practiced by the Sufi Dervishes of the Mevlevi order. Return to hotel.

Overnight.

After breakfast, visit the underground city of Kaymakli discovered by a villager while he was looking for the water disappearing from the irrigation system in his field. Unlike other underground cities, Kaymakli has different ventilation and security system. 3 of the 5 floors are open to visitors and are believed to have sheltered 2,000 people from persecution and looting.

Continue to Ihlara Valley to walk in mysterious Ihlara Canyon, a “mirage” in the Steps of Anatolia up to Belisırma village, along the Melendiz River. View amazing rock-cut churches, housing painted representations from the Bible. Enjoy lunch in Belisirmaat at a local restaurant by the river. Visit Guzelyurt Village old Karballa (8500 BC), and see local village life. Drive to Konya visiting enroute the 13th century Seljuk masterpiece Sultan Han Caravanserai. Arrive in Konya and check in at your hotel. Rest of the evening is at leisure.

Overnight.

Breakfast. Konya, was the last capital of the Seljuk Empire and another of the great treasure houses of Islamic architecture in Central Anatolia. Visit the Mausoleum of Mevlana, the world-wide famous mystic. Proceed to Martyrs Monument of 1919 Independence War and Konya Panorama Museum. Drive to Karatay Theological School in which beautiful tiles are on display and Ince Minaret Madrasah. Walk to visit Alaeddin Keykubat Mosque and Palas of Seljuk Empires. Head to Pamukkale, arrive and check in at your hotel.

Overnight.

Breakfast. Visit magnificent Hierapolis, an ancient city, believed by the Greeks to have been founded by the god Apollo. It was famed for its sacred hot springs, whose vapours were associated with Pluto, God of the underworld. Today, Hierapolis is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can swim in the thermal pools, view ancient artifacts and the spectacular white terraces of the Pamukkale lime cascade, created when water from the hot springs loses carbon dioxide as it flows down, leaving deposits of limestone. The layers of white calcium carbonate, built up in steps on the plateau, gave the site the name Pamukkale (“cotton castle”). Drive to Kuşadası, arrive and check in at your hotel.

Overnight.

After breakfast drive to the ancient city of Ephesus, a trade centre and, later, a religious centre of early Christianity. The city was a major port in the ancient Mediterranean. Stand on the stage of the amphitheatre where John of Ephesus (or of Asia) spoke, walk to the ancient Library of Celsus, built in 125 BC by Julius Aquila, and reconstructed from its original pieces. It held over 12,000 scrolls, making it the largest library in the Mediterranean. Explore the 2000-year-old plumbing system, more sophisticated than that in many parts of the world today. Private airport transfer to the airport for your Istanbul flight, arrive and private transfer to your hotel.

Overnight.

After breakfast enjoy seeing the old city of Constantine. Start with the Hippodrome Square where chariot races were once held in the Roman Age, see the Obelisk from Egypt, the Fountain of Wilhelm II and the Colossus, Serpentine Column from Delphi. Visit St. Sophia, the masterpiece of Byzantine architecture, now a mosque. Its splendid interiors, massive architectural proportions and the height of its central dome are amazing. A short walk away, the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) is the only mosque with six minarets in Istanbul. It is called Blue Mosque because of the dominant colour of more than 20.000 Iznik tiles decorating its spacious interior. Then visit Topkapi Palace the former imperial residence from where the Ottoman Sultans ruled for over 400 years. Visit to the incredible Grand Bazaar. Return to the hotel on your own.

Overnight.

Breakfast. Check out and transfer to airport for your flight home.

End of Tour.