Turkey & Cappadocia Special Tour (9 days)

Tour Turkey in 9 Days
Group Tour With Daily Arrival in Istanbul

Göreme valley open air museum; Cappadocia, Turkey.
Photo by Georges Jansoone JoJan, via Wikimedia Commons.

Come with us for a 9-day adventure to the top sights of Istanbul, Central Turkey, Ancient Cappadocia, Pamukkale and legendary Ephesus. Flying within Turkey. The tour is available with a daily departure April through October. This is a group tour itinerary. The city tours run daily in each city.

DAY 1: ISTANBUL – Daily Arrival
Choose your own arrival date – April through October
After you clear passports and customs formalities, please proceed to board the shuttle coach (always included in our rate) and off to your hotel. Set out to explore this great historic city as you like. This is a group tour itinerary.

Day 2: Istanbul City Tour (BL)
Breakfast is included at the hotel. Pick up at 08.30 am in the morning for a guided walking tour with a small group within the old city. You will visit: The Topkapi Palace (the Harem Pavilion Tour is optional to visit with an extra entrance fee paid locally), Basilica Cistern and Roman Hippodrome in the morning. After lunch (included), you will visit St Sophia Museum, Blue Mosque and Grand Bazaar. The tour ends with free time at the bazaar. If you wish to walk back to the hotel nearby, the guide will be happy to escort you at that time. Please note that Hagia Sophia closed on Monday and Topkapi Palace on Tuesday; thus replaced with Kariye (St. Savior in Chora) Museum. Grand Covered Bazaar is also closed on Sunday. (lunch is included today while on the tour).

Smooth Tricks of a Turkish Ice Cream Parlor. Video by Tom Henry.

Day 3: Bosphorus Cruise – Flight to – Cappadocia (BD)
Breakfast is included at the hotel. Pick up time from your hotel is 08:15 AM. We will drive by the Golden Horn before boarding the cruise.

Istanbul’s history was formed by the Bosphorus, the winding strait that separates Europe and Asia, connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. Now, as in ancient times, it is a maritime vital link between the countries bordering the Black Sea and those in the rest of the world. Today we take a leisurely cruise northward along this historic waterway. Along its shores are ranged palaces great and small — Topkapi, Dolmabahçe, Beylerbeyi, Küçüksu, Hünkar Iskelesi. Four great fortresses rise on the hills, reminding us that to control the Bosphorus was to control the destinies of nations. After we disembark we will enjoy a visit to the aromatic Egyptian (Spice) Bazaar on the Golden Horn and Rustem Pacha Mosque.

Istanbul, Croisière sur le Bosphore. Video by Le Monde en Vidéo.

The drop off time back to the hotel is about 13.00. Your afternoon is free to explore Istanbul on your own. Transfer to the airport for an evening flight to Cappadocia (air fare is included in economy class). Upon arrival, our local rep. will assist with your transfer to your hotel in Cappadocia where dinner is included.

While this is a daily tour — for Istanbul sites and tours — please note that the Spice (Egyptian) Bazaar is closed on Sunday, and thus will be replaced with Authentic Shops. Accommodation and dinner at the hotel in Cappadocia.

Day 4: Cappadocia (BLD)
Breakfast is included at the hotel. The tour starts about 09.30 am from your hotel in the morning. You’ll drive to Devrent Valley where the geographical formations will remind you of another planet. Then in Pasabagi, you’ll take a stroll among the amazing fairy chimneys of Cappadocia. From there drive to Avanos to have lunch. After having lunch you will leave from Avanos to see the most beautiful examples of Byzantine art in Göreme Open Air Museum. Then you’ll drive to Uçhisar Castle, the highest point of the region, where you will have a fabulous panoramic view over Cappadocia. Then return to the hotel about 17.30. (lunch is included today while on the tour). Accommodation in Cappadocia. Traditional Turkish and Dinner in Cappadocia is included tonight at Yasar Baba Restaurant.

Day 5: Cappadocia (BLD)
Breakfast is included daily at the hotel. Depart from your hotel at 09.30 am for a 4 kilometers hike through the Rose Valley visiting the churches. Afterwards visit the old christian village of Cavusin. Stop for lunch in Pigeons Valley and then continue on to see the marvel of construction that is the Kaymakli Underground City. You will also visit the Ortahisar Natural Rock Castle. (lunch is included today while on the tour). Remainder of the day is your own to explore as you wish.

Complimentary Dinner is included at a local home
Meet the locals. This evening we’ll venture where few ordinary visitors ever tread… right into the homes of some of the people of Anatolia! You’ll be invited to a family dinner and while you enjoy wholesome home-cooked specialties, you’ll learn about and appreciate the outlook, aspirations, and way of life of your hosts. Be assured, as curious as you may be about your new friends, they’re sure to have questions about your own background. Once the ice is broken, you’ll enjoy a lively evening and find that you have more in common than you ever suspected. Of course, if you prefer, you may enjoy a quiet evening with your travel companions. Just let us know your preferences. Prefer to add a hot air balloon over Cappadocia? please click here.

Day 6: Cappadocia – FLY to Izmir – Kusadasi (BD)
Flight to Izmir, air fare is included in economy class, (via Istanbul) and on to Kusadasi. The remainder of the day is at leisure, on your own. You will be picked up from your hotel at 11.00 for the transfer to the airport for your flight to Izmir, where you will be met by our local rep. who will escort you to your hotel in the Kusadasi /Ephesus region (breakfast and dinner at the hotel).

Day 7: Pamukkale Travertines and Hierapolis Ancient City (BLD)
Breakfast is included at the hotel. Tour starts around 8:30 AM to Pamukkale to tour this center of natural thermal spring waters with healing properties. Due to the chemical properties in the water, pure white colored travertines and stepped water terraces have been created on the mountain slope. It is because of its resemblance to cotton piles that it is called ´Cotton Castle´ in Turkish. Visit the travertines and the ancient city of Hierapolis which has the biggest Necropolis with 1200 gravestones in Anatolia.

The sacred pool also is one of the highlights of the site. There is a fee to be paid locally ONLY if you would like to swim in the Sacred Pool. There shallow thermal waters ripple over a wonderful scattering of ancient roman ruins that lie beneath. (lunch is included today while on the tour). After the tour, we head back to Ephesus which is about 3 hours of journey. Accommodation in Ephesus, dinner is included at the hotel.

“Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan and cream-colored varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot spring or in a limestone cave. In the latter it can form stalactites, stalagmites and other speleothems. It is frequently used in Italy and elsewhere as a building material.

Travertine is a terrestrial sedimentary rock, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from solution in ground and surface waters, and/or geothermal heated hot-springs. Similar (but softer and extremely porous) deposits formed from ambient-temperature water are known as tufa.”

Day 8: Ephesus and Virgin Mary’s House Tour – The Terrace Houses Of Ephesus – Istanbul (BL)
Breakfast is included at the hotel. The pick up time is 09.00 am from the hotel for full day at the ancient city of Ephesus and the Virgin Mary’s House Tour. You will visit Ephesus which is known to be the Commercial, Religious and Social Center of Antiquity, and one of the highlights of any visit in Turkey – the Marble Street and the Great Theatre with a seating capacity of 25,000 people. After the lunch, you will drive to Temple of Artemis (Diana), the site of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world; House of Virgin Mary, probably where she spent recent years of her life; Isa Bey Mosque, this impressive mosque from XIV. Century A.D. is unlike any other you will see in this country. Return to the hotel about 17.30. You will have some free time after the tour (lunch is included today while on the tour). After the tour we head for the airport and fly back to Istanbul. Air fare is included in economy class. Transfer is included to your hotel.

DAY 9: Departure Istanbul (B)
After breakfast, board the shuttle coach that will take you to the airport. Bon Voyage!

Inclusions:

• Accommodations in comfortable 3 stars boutique style tourist class hotels with tax, service charges and breakfast daily. Sample hotels (Always subject to change):
  • Istanbul (sea view): www.denizhouses.com
  • Cappadocia: Cappadocia Palace Hotel (cave rooms, if you prefer non-cave room please let’s know in advance)
  • Kusadasi (sea view room): www.hotelilayda.com
• Or Accommodations in comfortable 4 stars hotels based on your choice of hotel category:
  • Istanbul: Golden Horn Sultanahmet Hotel in Istanbul
  • Cappadocia: MDC Hotel in Ürgüp – Cappadocia
  • Ilayda Avantgarde Hotel Kusadasi
• Air fare within Turkey, in economy class with tax included.
• Set-menu meals as indicated: B = Breakfast daily at the hotel , L = Lunch, when listed during a tour, always pre-set menu , one pre-set menu D = Dinner is included in Cappadocia.
• All airport / hotel transfers.
• Group sightseeing as listed with a licensed native local guide, including all admissions fees. The local tours may include a shopping stop time permitting.

Rate doesn’t include:

• Visa Fee: (procure yours online in advance of travel at www.evisa.gov.tr/en/)
• Air fare from/to your home country.
• Trip/travel insurance
• Tips to drivers and guides etc.
• Any expense of personal nature

More Choices:

• Add a Gulet Yacht Sailing

Additional Notes:

• Please note that the check out time is 10.30 am at all hotels.
• Your pick up times for the tours and transfers in Istanbul are definite, whereas the ones for the other sites will be confirmed by our local agent when you arrive there.
• Please be ready on time at the hotel lobbies for your tours and transfers.
• The tour guides may change the daily tour itineraries if required due to the local weather, traffic or security conditions.
• The tours may include a shopping stop time permitting.
• Our local rep. will provide a 24 hrs phone number, for any question you may have locally.
• Our local rep. will keep contact with you throughout your stay in Turkey by phone to ensure that all is meeting your satisfaction.

A Turkish Hamam Sauna is a tradition that is not to be missed
Available upon request