Western Turkey 101
Arrive in Istanbul and transfer to Hotel Ayasofya. The tour members will
be given individual transfers to the hotel from the airport. Please check the arrival info for the details in the tour hand book . Hotel Ayasofya isin a neighborhood which is almost as it was 200 years ago and is situated
within walking distance of all the see-must sites of Istanbul. The tour
starts at 5.00 pm. After a short tour introduction at the lobby of the hotel.
We will visit the Blue Mosque and have dinner Dinner is included
Start the day with a short walk to the Basilica Cistern. The next visit will
be to the Turkish Islamic Art Museum. After lunch visit Aya Sophia, and Topkapi Palace.
The visit to the Turkish Islamic Museum, especially the ethnographic
section, makes a perfect introduction to what we will see in the countryside. Dinner will be at a seafood restaurant much favored by the locals, Kumkapi.
Breakfast Lunch Dinner included
Our first visit will be to the Grand Bazaar. We will visit the Chora Church to see the exquisite Byzantine mosaics from the 12th century. If you are interested in early Christian art and Christian dogma, you will be overwhelmed by this museum. Visit Suleymaniye Mosque . Lunch will be at a small side walk restaurant which is famous for home made food. We will end the day with a cruise on the Bosphoros aboard our own private boat. The views of the city at dusk with its 600 mosques are unforgettable. Train to Ankara. In Turkey, trains are regarded as the most civilized mean of transportation. Your luggage will be with you in your compartments. Unless you chose to be single 2 people to a compartment. The train leaves at 10.30 Pm and arrives Ankara the next morning at 08.00 AM. Breakfast Lunch and Dinner included
In Ankara, visit the most beautiful museum of Turkey, the Anatolian Civilization Museum. This is a one of a kind museum, displaying 26 different civilizations. It was given the "Best Museum of Europe " award.
Seeing it will give us a better understanding of the cultural and historic layers of Turkey. After lunch we visit the mausoleum of Ataturk, the father of the Turks, then take a bus to Cappadocia over a beautiful country road for a taste of lovely Turkish landscapes and farms.
Overnight at Lale Saray Hotel at heart of Cappadocia. Waking up in the morning to magnificent sights is one of the unique aspects of this fabulous hotel.
Breakfast Lunch Dinner included
Cappadocia is a land where nature and man have competed with each other to create the most unusual and the most beautiful. We will hike to 10th and 11th century churches, monasteries, and houses carved in the rocks, We will visit a family living in one of these rock dwellings. The moonlike terrain of Cappadocia with its endless artwork is a photographer's delight.
Since Cappadocia is the carpet center of Turkey, we will schedule a demonstration at a factory where the art of carpet weaving by hand and dying with natural dies is being kept alive. We will see Turkish folk dancing this evening at dinner. Overnight in Cappadocia
Breakfast Lunch Dinner included
People have been making pottery here since the time of the Hittites (3rd century BC). We will visit a local potter who is keeping this art alive.We will also learn about kilims. After visiting the underground city of the early Christians, we will drive to Guzelyurt. The hotel that was built in 1853 as a Christian girls school. You will be given the option of home stay at this small town,
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included
Breakfast at a village house. Visit a church which is now a mosque built in 385 AD The oldest monastery of Christendom We then depart for Konya, stopping en route at a 12th century Caravanserai. Konya is the first capital of the Selcuks, the oldest Turkish Empire in Anatolia. It is also known for being the homeland of Rumi, a 13th century poet-philosopher and one of the earliest humanists. The ambiance of the city has not changed much for the past 800 years. Overnight at a hotel in the center of Konya.
Breakfast Lunch Dinner included
Rumi and his philosophy will be the topic of our morning lecture. We'll then visit the Mevlana Museum, which is dedicated to him. Next comes the most scenic drive of our trip -- five hours to Antalya. You will be able to see how the flora changes as we drive over the grand Taurus Mountains. Poised between these jagged mountains and the shimmering sea, Antalya is the principal city on Turkey's central Mediterranean coast. In this beautiful city we will stay at a 200-year-old stone house that has been renovated as a pension. You'll be "on your own" for dinner.
Breakfast Lunch included . Dinner not included
Weather permitting, we will take a five-hour cruise on the Mediterranean to the ancient site of Phaselis, located on a peninsula with ancient harbors on both sides. This will be our first Roman site. The ancient stones are scattered among the reed pine trees, which grow right out from the sea in an incomparably romantic setting. Tonight you'll have the option of going to a Turkish bath (included in the trip cost). We'll overnight in Antalya, with dinner on your own.
Breakfast Lunch included . Dinner not included
Via a wonderful lake drive to Pamukkale .
Today we visit Pamukkale (ancient Hierapolis), the most unusual natural phenomenon of Turkey. The Turkish name literally "cotton castle" - refers to the extraordinary surface of the snow-white cliffs, shaped over millennia by the accumulation of calcium deposited by mineral springs. Visit the hot springs and swim in a spa amid Roman columns. We will have dinner and overnight in Pamukkale
Breakfast Lunch Dinner included
Selcuk (Ephesus) Drive through the valley of Meander Valley . Visit the temple of Appollo ,the oracle center and Visit Miletus the last stop of St Paul in him home country Enjoy the pleasure of hiking in an ancient city. Overnight at Kusadasi
Brekfast Lunch Dinner included
Selcuk (Ephesus) This will be our big day in Ephesus, the best-preserved classical city on the eastern Mediterranean and among the best places in the world to get a feel for what life was like in Roman times. Certainly, the climax of the trip will be at the city of Ephesus, sitting in the theater visualizing 35,000 Ephesians following the silversmith Demetrius shouting "...great is Artemis of Ephesians..." in reaction to St. Paul's preaching "there should be no man-made gods." Overnight in Kusadasi
Lunch at Meli's farm
Brekfast Lunch Dinner included
DAY
13 END OF THE TOUR Thursday
The trip ends after breakfast, and transfer to Izmir Air port