Turkey, Gallipoli and the Ottomans 15 Fascinating Days – Istanbul to Istanbul
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Turkey, Gallipoli and The Ottomans 15 Fascinating Days – Istanbul to Istanbul Hot Air Ballooning over Cappadocia Discover more with Albatross… So many special experiences...follow the steps of the ANZACs at Gallipoli, rise high above Cappadocia’s fairy • Spend 3 nights in Istanbul and visit the Blue Mosque, Sultanahmet Square, the Underground Cisterns and Topkapi chimneys in a hot air balloon, see Istanbul’s mosques Palace, enjoy Turkish tea in a historic Medrese and minarets silhouetted at dusk and explore the • Spend 3 nights in the Gallipoli region and explore all the relevant battlefields, memorials and cemeteries on the amazing ruins of Ephesus…what a unique tour! Gallipoli Peninsula • Gain insights into the life of the diggers from our specialist DAY 1 ISTANBUL Turkish Battlefield Tour Guide, and the Turkish story in an You will be met at Istanbul Ataturk airport and transferred to your hotel. evening presentation by a Turkish Historian This evening join your fellow travelling companions and Turkish Guide for • Pay your respects as part of a private morning a traditional Turkish kebab dinner in a local restaurant. (D) commemoration at ANZAC Cove Your Istanbul Hotel – Hotel Dosso Dossi • Visit ancient Troy • Stay 3 nights on the Turquoise Coast at Kusadasi, visit ancient DAY 2 ISTANBUL Pergamum, the Temple of Trajan, visit the amazing ruins of Straddling 2 continents – Europe and Asia – Istanbul dates back Ephesus, the Virgin Mary’s House and Aphrodisias thousands of years and its grand monuments bear testament to ancient • Relax over 2 nights in Pamukkale and visit the famous empires and the Byzantine and Ottoman eras. First stop of the day will be limestone cascades and the tombs of the ancient Necropolis at the Byzantine Hippodrome, now known as Sultanahmet Square, to visit • Savour 3 nights in a stunning cave hotel amongst the rock one of the world’s great religious sites - the magnificent Blue Mosque. The chapels and ‘fairy chimneys’ of Cappadocia, visit a highlight of your day will be a tour of Topkapi Palace (formerly the Sultan’s caravanserai, a pottery village and the ‘underground city’ Palace), home to the treasures of the Ottoman Empire and visiting the of Kaymakli fourth century, Yerabatan underground cisterns which riddle the • Fly high over the lunar like landscape in a hot air balloon ride foundations of the city. 79 Lone Pine, Gallipoli Blue Mosque, Istanbul Your tour of Istanbul would not be complete without the exotic experience of having Turkish tea at a historic Medrese (16th & 17th ISTANBUL 2 1 century Ottoman and Islamic Schools). Here you will be able to sample varieties of Turkish coffee, traditional apple tea and, if you wish, try a Gallipoli battlefields Q ANZAC Cove ‘Shisha’ (waterpipe). Your evening is at leisure. (B) 3 CANAKKALE TURKEY DAY 3 GALLIPOLI Troy Pergamum Departing Istanbul we drive to the Gallipoli Peninsula, where our ‘Gallipoli CAPPADOCIA Aegean Sea 3 Campaign’ begins. After time at leisure for lunch in Gelibolu (Gallipoli town) we journey to Cape Helles on the remote tip of the Gallipoli peninsula. Here, Ephesus at the most south-westerly corner of Europe, is the British Commonwealth’s KUSADASI 3 2 PAMUKKALE main monument to the whole Gallipoli campaign – the Helles Memorial. Aphrodisias All Australian & New Zealand units which fought on the peninsula between AVERAGE KMS PER DAY: 136 April and December 1915 are commemorated here. Tour commences On the outside walls of the memorial, along with thousands of other Allied Overnight stays servicemen, are the names of hundreds of Australian and New Zealand Included excursions infantrymen who died in battle on this, the Helles Front, and ‘have no known grave’. Theirs is a forgotten story of the ANZAC struggle at Gallipoli. From the heights of the spectacular Turkish Memorial – the Canakkale Martyrs Memorial – we view the mouth of the Straits of the Dardanelles, that great waterway which was the primary Allied objective of the Gallipoli campaign. Later we cross the Dardanelles to Canakkale town where we stay for the next three nights, allowing us to properly immerse ourselves into the conflict and tragedy that evolved almost 100 years ago. This evening we have invited a local historian to join us and give an interesting overview of the Gallipoli Campaign from the Turkish perspective. (B, D) Your Canakkale Hotel – Truva Hotel DAY 4 GALLIPOLI Our Gallipoli Campaign continues today. The peninsula is filled with cemeteries, a war museum and many memorials to the tragic events of 1915. As you enter this almost barren land, you can still sense the war and heartache that once dominated the landscape, breaking the silent air. Our expert guides have handled numerous special ANZAC Day commemorative tours and worked closely with our team of War Historians. Their intimate background knowledge separates fact from fiction and provides numerous s u fascinating insights into the lifestyle and living conditions of the legendary s e h p ‘ANZAC Diggers’. Our first visits will be to Anzac Cove and Beach Cemetery E , y r – now home to one of Australia's most legendary soldiers, Private John a r b i L Simpson. We will then trace the steps of the ANZACs up into the rugged s u c l hills to visit the ANZAC Memorials at Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair. Amongst e C the numerous sights also visited will be Shrapnel Valley, Walker’s Ridge, the 80 GENUINELY INCLUSIVE • UNIQUE EXPERIENCES Lets talk Turkey When talking with fellow Australians travellers in mind, it was obvious to spend three nights in the Gallipoli region and New Zealanders who are to allow time to sensitively explore all the relevant sites and properly reflect planning a Turkish trip, it was quite on the sorrow and heartache at Gallipoli. It allows us to include extra visits clear that as well as Istanbul, the two specific areas that really appealed and to places like Cape Helles, and return to ANZAC Cove early one morning for fascinated them were Gallipoli and Cappadocia. our own moving, private commemoration. We did not forget how fantastic Most mainstream, scheduled Turkey tours are sold worldwide to people the caves and fairy chimneys of Cappadocia are. We know that staying 3 from many nations who often have little or no understanding of the nights in an authentic cave hotel, including an amazing hot air balloon ride ANZACs and the significance of the Gallipoli campaign. As such, ‘those’ tours and allowing enough time to properly explore this unique area will be a allow maybe an hour or two of sightseeing on the Gallipoli Peninsula. ‘turkish delight’. Turkey is a very big country. Including three night stops at So what is so different about this Turkey tour? Since we design and control three vital stages of the tour makes absolute sense to allow time to properly all aspects of our tours with the needs of Australian and New Zealand enjoy this intriguing country. Nek and the surrounding trenches. Our last stop on the Gallipoli Peninsula DAY 7 KUSADASI will be the Kabatepe War Museum with its absorbing collection of war relics The highlight of today will be a visit to one of the ancient wonders of the and memorabilia. We have included lunch at a nearby hotel. (B, L, D) world, the inspiring ruins of Ephesus. Rated one of the world’s best archaeological sites, you will walk along the 2,000 year old marble streets, DAY 5 GALLIPOLI visit the Temple of Hadrian and the famous Library of Celsus. We also visit A special day has been planned. Departing early we will cross the the nearby House of the Virgin Mary, nestled high in the hills overlooking Dardanelles and gather under the early morning sun for a private wreath the city of Ephesus. (B, D) laying ceremony to commemorate the tragic events of 25th April 1915. Each member of our small group will be welcome to say a few words and express DAY 8 KUSADASI their thoughts. It will be your own personal tribute. Maybe a simple ‘thanks’, A wonderful day left at leisure! Your day is completely free to enjoy the a personal poem or a minute of silence. The choice is entirely yours. Mid sights and shopping in this attractive and bustling resort town. (B, D) morning we will return to our hotel for a late breakfast and then visit the DAY 9 PAMUKKALE nearby ruins of the ancient city of Troy, the site of the mythological battle Heading past Mugla we reach Aphrodisias, one of Turkey's most important Homer immortalised in his Illiad. Archaeologists have proved that there had archaeological discoveries of recent decades. These marvellous ruins rival been nine separate periods of settlement here dating back to 3,000 BC. Your Ephesus and include the Temple of Aphrodite with its dazzling white marble afternoon is at leisure in Canakkale. (B, D) and a vast, virtually intact amphitheatre. Later we drive to Pamukkale where DAY 6 KUSADASI we stay two nights. (B, D) Travelling south down the mountainous coastline of Turkey, our first Your Pamukkale hotel – Hotel Pam Thermal stop will be at the ancient Acropolis of Pergamum which is famous for its DAY 10 PAMUKKALE wealth of archaeological ruins. From the Temple of Trajan you will admire Today we visit the petrified white lime cascades of Pamukkale. At the nearby the stunning views of the surrounding countryside. We then continue down Hierapolis we will see the stadium and take a fascinating stroll through the the west coast to the popular port of Kusadasi - a resort town for the wealthy tombs of the Necropolis. Your afternoon is at leisure to relax in the thermal citizens of Ephesus in ancient times.