Turkey & Athens

Welcome to Istanbul! 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 travellers.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Sightseeing tour. Topkapi Palace. Night transfer to Taksim.A sightseeing tour of the city. We find ourselves in a city built in two continents. On our tour, we will enter the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent (the largest in Istanbul). We will see the walls, the Golden Horn, the fishing district, and we will admire the exterior of Hagia Sofia. After the visit, we will offer tickets and a visit to the Top Kapi Palace, which was the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire, with its magnificent courtyards and its pavilions. At the end of the afternoon we will provide a transfer to the Taksim neighborhood, the most commercialized and lively area of the city. There will be time to dine in one of its many restaurants, and you can also take the old tram that crosses the area or go to see the nearby Galata Tower.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Boat trip on the Bosphorus.Today we include a boat trip on the Bosphorus that will last about two hours. We will undertake the trip on a boat exclusively for Europamundo travellers. The Bosphorus is a strait that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, which separates Istanbul into two parts: the European part and the Asian one. We will enjoy seeing the liveliness of the strait with its multitude of boats. We will pass under the two bridges that unite Europe and Asia and we will admire the palaces of the sultans, the typical wooden houses and the Ottoman villas. Return to the center of Istanbul. Free time .

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Ephesus, St. John´s Basilica, Virgin Mary´s house. Dinner included.We leave early from Istanbul. We continue the route through Turkey. Around lunch time, we arrive at EPHESUS, the best preserved ancient city of Asia Minor; 2000 years ago it had a quarter of a million inhabitants. We will visit Saint John´s Basilica, and afterwards, the house of the Virgin Mary and the archaeological site (tickets included). We then continue to KUSADASI, a popular coastal town with a lot of atmosphere, commercial life and a small castle. Dinner and accommodation.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Views over the Aegean. Beautiful Bodrum. Dinner included.We leave for one of the natural wonders of Turkey, Lake BAFA. We continue to BODRUM, a very beautiful fortified city of Greek origin. You can visit its castle, stroll through its streets full of life and tourism or go around its sports marina. After lunch, we go on our way to MARMARIS, another very beautiful coastal tourist enclave with its castle, its marina and its fountains. Dinner and accommodation.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Ferry to Rhodes (Greece)- City tour of Rhodes- We will embark toward Greece first thing in the morning. Express ferry, the journey will last about an hour. Immigration checks. Arrival in Rhodes. City tour of this incredible walled city and the old quarter, which bears the imprints of the different cultures that shaped it (Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Knights of Saint John, Ottoman, Italian..). Free time during the afternoon.- IMPORTANT NOTICE: The timetable for the ferry between Rhodes and Marmaris is frequently modified and doesn’t operate every day (except in the Summer months), this part of the trip’s itinerary may have to be modified accordingly.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Excursion in Rhodes. Night ferry-boat to Athens. Today, an excursion around the island of Rhodes is included. We will travel to FILERIMOS up on a hill where you will be able to visit its small monastery sitting amid amazing landscapes. Afterwards, we will travel to LINDOS where its medieval fort and Greek Acropolis own the sea. You will be able to take a stroll along the whitewashed and commercial downtown streets, rest up at one of its beaches or walk up (on a donkey if desired) to the Acropolis. Afterwards, we will meet up at the port of Rhodes and embark on the ferry to Athens.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: City tour in Athens.Arrival first thing in the morning where a panoramic visit of Athens is included to visit the Presidential Palace, the Panathenaic Stadium (where the first modern day Olympic games were held), the national library, the busy downtown plazas, as well as the new suburbs which appeared at the time of the 2004 Olympic Games. We will wrap up the tour at the Acropolis (entrance not included). Free afternoon.

After Breakfast transfer to the airport.