Your Itinerary
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Treasures of Turkey Your itinerary Start Location Visited Location Plane End Location Cruise Train Over night Ferry Day 1 Learn how the village of Sille was inhabited by Greeks who lived peacefully alongside Arrive Istanbul (2 Nights) the nearby Turks of Konya for over eight centuries. You'll see remnants of their heritage in the landmarks that remain, before heading to Antalya on the Turquoise Cue the exotic music. It's the perfect pairing to your first day in Istanbul, a sprawling Coast. Retreat behind the ancient walls of the Old Town and stroll past the metropolis which has connected Europe and Asia for centuries. The former centre of beautifully restored Ottomanera houses in its historic centre. Visit the Roman the Old World appears cloaked in mystery, but you won't need to dig deep to harbour connected to the city by 44 Venetian stone steps, then spend the rest of the discover its dramatic history and vibrant melting pot of cultures, remnants of which day getting lost in Antalya's labyrinthine cobbled lanes. This evening, you could can be seen throughout the city's wellpreserved façades. On arrival, you'll be choose to sample the local Antalyan dishes at a favourite restaurant. transferred to your hotel and later meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers for a glimpse of what lies ahead. Tonight, seek out the best terrace in town for illuminated Hotel - Holiday Inn Lara views of the city's rooftops right down to the Bosphorus. Included Meals - Breakfast Hotel - Ramada Plaza City Center Day 9 Day 2 Antalya sightseeing and free time Istanbul sightseeing and free time Ease into the laidback seaside vibes of Antalya on this full free day dedicated to The 'Pearl of the Orient' reveals her hidden treasures this morning as you join your soaking up sunkissed Mediterranean shores. If you can drag yourself away from Travel Director for a visit to the Byzantine Hippodrome. Just as it was centuries ago, your sun lounger, we recommend joining an Optional Experience cruise along the today the expansive promenade is a vibrant centre of the city's social life. Standing glittering coast. This afternoon, an optional journey into antiquity could see you visit amidst its obelisks and statues, you can almost imagine the thundering roar of the Aspendos Theatre, built in the second century and dedicated to 'the gods of this chariots cheered on by Emperor Constantine the Great, who is credited with making country and to the Imperial house'. Also included on this optional afternoon Istanbul a glorious replacement for Rome. Visit the 17thcentury Blue Mosque with excursion is a visit to the Roman Aqueduct, the Kursunlu Waterfall and the its beautiful interior of Iznik tiles and Topkapi Palace, the lavish former home of the Aspendos Bridge, spanning the Eurymedon River. Ottoman sultans. Your afternoon and evening are free to explore Istanbul your way, but you won't want to miss an Optional Experience visit to Hagia Sophia, the Included Meals - Breakfast, Dinner Underground Cistern and Grand Bazaar, with its dazzling displays. Day 10 Included Meals - Breakfast Antalya – Pamukkale (1 Night) Day 3 The powdery white sands and crystalclear water of Lake Salda provide a beautiful Istanbul – Safranbolu (1 Night) backdrop for a quick photo stop today. Besides being noteworthy as a popular tourist resort and archaeological site, the lake is one of only two places in the world Follow in the footsteps of medieval traders, taking the same journey they once took said to have similar rock structures to the planet Mars. Contemplate life in outer on the eastwest trade route between the Black Sea and Mediterranean. You'll arrive space before continuing to Kaklik Cave with its sparkling white travertines, before in UNESCOlisted Safranbolu, an important caravan station whose Ottomanstyle heading for the cotton fortress of Pamukkale. wooden houses and narrow streets once witnessed bustling trade. Join your Travel Director this afternoon for a sightseeing tour and insights into its history, starting on Hotel - Richmond Thermal Hidirlik Hill for panoramic views. You'll have time to get lost in its cobbled streets and soak up the colourful sights and sounds at the Eski Carsi and Arasta Bazaar. Try Included Meals - Breakfast, Dinner your hand at haggling as a tribute to the town's trading past. Day 11 Hotel - Hilton Garden Inn Pamukkale – Izmir (2 Nights) The ethereal white pools and terraces that cascade down surrounding cliffs are a Breakfast, Dinner Included Meals - sight to behold this morning as you see the ruins of the ancient Roman health spa of Day 4 Hierapolis. Head west to the Aegean coastline, arriving in Izmir in time to spend Safranbolu – Amasra – Ankara (1 Night) some time exploring this pretty port town, with its lengthy promenade. Learn about its multicultural past, and its history as a Greek city. Consider joining an optional Ease into the laidback vibes of your first stop today, the pretty port town of Amasra seafood dinner at a favourite local restaurant renowned for its stunning views. on the Black Sea. There's no better way to get to grips with its intriguing history than a sightseeing tour which includes a visit to its Castle, whose walls and Hotel - Doubletree by Hilton Alsancak gateways reflect the styles of various occupiers over the centuries Byzantine, Genovese and Ottoman. See Fatih Camii (Conquerer's Mosque) originally built in the Included Meals - Breakfast 9th century as a church by the Byzantines, before enjoying lunch at a favourite local Day 12 hangout. You'll leave the coast behind later and travel south to the Turkish capital, Ankara. Izmir sightseeing and free time Today an Optional Experience could see you visit Ephesus, a 2,000yearold site Hotel - Holiday Inn Kavaklıdere and home to the iconic Library of Celsus and Hadrian's Temple. Included in this experience is a visit to the stone cottage, where the Virgin Mary is said to have Breakfast, Dinner Included Meals - spent her final years, and the enchanting hillside village of Sirince, where guests can Day 5 soak up the historic atmosphere and quaint markettown culture of a traditional Ankara – Cappadocia (2 Nights) Turkish village. Sample some of the delicious local olive oil, take a bite out of a juicy peach and wander through cobbled marketplaces into a world before cars and Visit the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations this morning, exploring this historic supermarkets. caravanserai featuring a valuable collection of artefacts. Your final stop in Ankara is the Mausoleum of Atatürk, the founder and father of the Turkish Republic. Then Included Meals - Breakfast continue to the whimsical landscapes of Cappadocia where you'll visit Saratli Day 13 Underground City. This evening you could choose to witness a real Costsaver highlight by joining an Optional Experience with the Whirling Dervishes. Watch them Izmir – Çanakkale (1 Night) whirl around and around in their trancelike remembrance of God a dizzying Ancient legends and symbols take centre stage today. Your first stop this morning religious custom that represents man's spiritual journey. After this astounding is in Pergamon, famed for its Asclepion Medical Centre, which still bears the image performance dinner is served at a local restaurant. of the snakeentwined staff that remains a symbol of medicine in modern times. Next on today's agenda is a visit to Troy, the ancient city that inspired Homer's tales Hotel - Ramada about the wrath of Achilles and the famous siege, which was broken through the clever construction of a wooden Trojan horse. A replica of the horse can still be seen Breakfast Included Meals - today. Continue to Çanakkale later. Day 6 Cappadocia sightseeing and free time Hotel - Büyük Truva Oteli It's impossible to take a bad picture in Cappadocia. Fairytale rock chimneys rise up Included Meals - Breakfast, Dinner from the ochre and rustcoloured depths of Paşabağı and the Red Valley a Day 14 landscape forged by wind, rain and a volcanic touch. Visit a regional rug production centre where you'll learn how every shape and colour embedded in an intricately Çanakkale – Istanbul (1 Night) woven Turkish carpet tells its own story. Then enjoy an afternoon on your own Pay tribute to the brave soldiers who lost their lives in the World War I battles at amidst the fantasy landscapes left by Mother Nature in the ochre rock. An Optional Gallipoli. You'll visit Anzac Cove, Lone Pine Cemetery and Chunuk Bair, before Experience in Göreme reveals how Christians once worshipped in the many rock returning to Istanbul. As your journey through Turkey draws to a close, you'll want to churches that remain to this day. consider joining your new friends for an optional cruise along the Bosphorus, celebrating the mighty waterway which serves as the boundary between Europe and Breakfast, Dinner Included Meals - Asia. See grand fortresses, palaces and 19thcentury mansions of the Ottoman elite Day 7 that line this busy strait. Cappadocia – Konya (1 Night) Hotel - Ramada Plaza City Center See master craftsmen at work turning their pottery wheels to craft the beautiful terracotta pottery characteristic of this region this morning. Later, on your journey to Included Meals - Breakfast Konya, you'll see a 13thcentury caravanserai. You can almost imagine the jostling Day 15 of camel trains as they stopped to rest and replenish their stocks before continuing east or west along the popular trade route that winds through Cappadocia. Arriving in Depart Istanbul Konya, the home of the mystic Whirling Dervishes, you'll visit the final resting place Your indepth exploration of Turkey with its cultural and historic treasures has come of the Sufi philosopher Mevlana to gain insights into the traditions and rituals of the to an end.