Turkey Special

Upon arriving at the airport, we will be waiting to transfer you to your hotel. Check the information boards in the hotel reception area for details of the welcome meeting with your guide and fellow travelers.

Early in the morning we will include the entrance and visit to the Topkapi Palace, which was the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire with its magnificent courtyards and pavilions. After that, you will take a private boat trip on the Bosporus of about two hours. The Bosporus is a strait that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara separating Istanbul into two parts: European and Asian. You will enjoy watching the animation of the strait with all its boats, you will pass under the two bridges that connect Europe and Asia and you will admire the palaces of the sultans, the typical wooden houses, the Ottoman villas. You will disembark on the Asian side and you will have time to walk through the neighborhood of Uskudar, with its large mosques, where Yemi Valide, the maiden´s tower and its quiet streets are a stand out. Time for lunch. In the afternoon you continue your route to the Anatolian peninsula. Arrival in ANKARA, dinner included.

After breakfast we include a visit to Ankara, the cosmopolitan capital of Turkey, with more than 5 million inhabitants and a lot of cultural life with its performing arts center, which houses the State Ballet and Opera, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra and many national theater companies. You will visit the impressive Mausoleum of Ataturk, the powerful castle of Ankara, whose first construction was 8 centuries before Christ. We also include the entrance to the Museum of Anatolian civilizations that allows you to understand the different cultures that left their mark on Turkey. At the end of the morning, you will stop at a large shopping mall, with different choices of food in its food court. After lunch you will continue to the region of Cappadocia. On route, you will stop next to the SALT LAKE, with its incredible landscapes and visit HACIBEKTAS, with the utmost respect to the pilgrims (appropriate clothing and silence suggested during the visit). This sanctuary houses the tomb of Hacibecktas, a Sufi mystic of the thirteenth century. Continuation to NEVSHEIR -dinner included

Full day in the fantastic region of Cappadocia, with its lunar landscapes, its churches and troglodyte villages. You will discover the Goreme Valley with its open air museum and its churches carved into the rocks, entry tickets included. You will visit Uchisar, a natural fortress. In Kaimacli you will visit the underground city that could house 30,000 people. Returning to Avanos you will stop at Pasabag, the valley of the fairies, you will walk in this spectacular natural area. Free time and dinner included.

At the far end of Cappadocia, you will visit the Ihlara Valley; known for the freshness of its waters, its churches and villages excavated in the rock. Then you will continue your route, with a stop in an old Caravanserai from the 13th Century before arriving in Konya where you will visit the Mausoleum of Mevlana (Rumi). Here you will learn about the sect of the Dervishes (entrance included). Dinner included. At night, we suggest that you attend the dance performance of the whirling dervishes in the cultural centre.

You leave in the direction of Ephesus, the best-preserved ancient city of Asia Minor; 2000 years ago it had a quarter of a million inhabitants. You will discover the house of the Virgin Mary, the Basilica of Saint John and the impressive ruins at Ephesus (entrance included). You then go on to Kusadasi, a popular coastal town with a lot of atmosphere, commercial life and a small castle. Dinner included.

You leave for the city with the fourth largest population in Turkey: Izmir. You make a brief visit with your guide to this city considered the most westernized and modern city in the country in terms of values, ideology, and lifestyle. You then return to inland Turkey. Stop en route for lunch before reaching Bursa, the fourth largest city in Turkey, whose historic centre has been declared UNESCO World Heritage, with its traditional commercial districts, mosques, religious schools, public baths … The Green Mosque stands out. Arrival in Istanbul at the end of the day. End of our services. Please, check the time of your flight in case you might need an additional night.