Turkey’s 17 Days

On arrival at the Istanbul airport, you will be received by a local team member or an appointed driver who will take care of your transfer and check-in formality at the hotel.
Post lunch, you shall meet your tour director (for a group) or our local representative, who will share information on Turkey’s life and go through all the essential information you need to know, such as local customs, safety, transport, money exchange… He’ll go through your itinerary for the next seven day and answer the questions you may have. You will learn more about your tour, and if you are with the group, you shall familiarise yourself with your travel companions.
Rest of the day for an orientation walking tour of `Historical Peninsula the region also called Sultanahmet. The area’s main sites include Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Sultanahmet (Blue) Mosque, the Hippodrome and Basilica Cistern. And in the evening you can satiate your hunger with Turkish dinner along with the mystical musical atmosphere.

Stay: Istanbul.

Today is an exciting day after leisure breakfast at the hotel again. We have a pre-visit discussion. After that, we visit the streets of Sultanahmet, followed by a short visit to Basilica Cistern. After that, a visit to the beautiful Hagia Sophia considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture. Constructed as a church on Emperor Justinian’s orders, For nearly 1000 years before it was converted into a mosque the Hagia Sophia was the religious focal point of the Eastern Church
This afternoon after lunch break we visit Topkapi Palace. A short 3-minute walk from Hagia Sophia is the Topkapi Palace (Topkapi Sarayı), which was home to Ottoman sultans from the late 15th century to the early 19th century when the court was moved to Dolmabahçe Palace.
Later in the evening, you have free time to wander around the old city with your friends. 

After breakfast at the hotel, we immerse ourselves in the colour and chaos In the historic Fatih district, the Grand Bazaar (Kapali Çarsi) is one of the world’s largest covered markets, where some 400,000 people stream through the colourful 500-year-old market daily. Today, the vast covered market of over 60 lanes is home to over 4000 vendors employing 26,000 people.
After the lunch break, the afternoon is spent at the Museum of Turkish and Islamic art, an impressive repository of Islamic religious art, illuminated Korans, and calligraphy from Ottoman periods.

Stay: Istanbul.

After an early breakfast at the hotel, we take the first flight to Izmir, leaving Istanbul behind. On arrival in Izmir, we go for Selcuk. Here we visit Ephesus. Comprises successive Hellenistic and Roman settlements founded on new locations followed the coastline as it retreated westward. Excavations have revealed grand monuments of the Roman Imperial period including the Library of Celsius and the Great Theatre. Little remains of the famous Temple of Artemis, one of the “Seven Wonders of the World,” drew pilgrims from all around the Mediterranean. Since the 5th century, the House of the Virgin Mary, a domed cruciform chapel seven kilometres from Ephesus, became a significant Christian pilgrimage place. The Ancient City of Ephesus is an marvellous example of a Roman port city, with harbour basin and sea channel. 

After breakfast, leave for an excursion trip of Aphrodisias. The site consists of two components: the marble quarries northeast of the city and the archaeological site of Aphrodisias. The temple of Aphrodite dates Back to the 3rd century BC and the city was built one century later. The wealth of Aphrodisias came from the art produced by its sculptors and the marble quarries. The city roads are layed around several large civic structures, including temples, a theatre, an agora and two bath complexes.

After a leisure breakfast and lunch at the Selcuk hotel, we drive to the Izmir airport to fly to Sanliurfa. On arrival check-in into the hotel and the rest of the evening at leisure.

Rise and shine at an early hour. After your breakfast at the hotel, we check out of the hotel and first visit the Göbekli Tepe Until the discovery of Göbeklitepe in 1963 Stonehenge (3,000 BC) was believed to be the oldest manmade place of worship on Earth. But at 12,000 years old, Göbeklitepe pre-dates that by about 6,500 years. Göbeklitepe’s Neolithic megaliths are still being excavated (only 5% of the site has so far been unearthed). You can see the archaeologist’s finds—from pillars carved with ancient animal motifs to hieroglyphic inscriptions older even than the Sumerians’—onsite. Later after the lunch break, we drive to Gaziantep to visit the Zeugma Mosaic Museum which is the part of Gaziantep Museum of Archaeology, the Zeugma Mosaic Museum contains a large collection of restored mosaics from the Ancient Roman town of Zeugma, which is about 27 miles away from the city of Gaziantep. Founded in around 300 BC by Alexander the Great’s general Seleucus I Nicator, Zeugma were a strong military and commercial centre with as many as 70,000 residents at its peak until devastating attack under the order of Sassanid king Shapur I in 256 AD led to the town’s decline.

Rise and shine at an early hour. Today will be a long journey after breakfast at the hotel we move to the beautiful town of Cappadocia. Upon arrival, we check-in into the hotel and the evening at leisure.

After a leisure breakfast at the hotel, we visit the Göreme Open Air Museum Cappadocia’s Göreme Open Air Museum with about 30 ancient churches. It’s almost as far from a traditional museum as it’s possible to get. Within the haunting landscape of stone pillars, the roughly cut rock churches—particularly those of the Dark Church and the Church of the Buckle—contain some of the best-preserved frescoes in Cappadocia.
After a lunch break, we may visit Uçhisar Fortress, situated on Göreme National Park’s edge. Uçhisar Fortress is dominated by a 60-metre high castle-mountain, carved in the original rock formation. It is visible from a great distance and has a large cylindrical tower, making it one of the region’s best viewpoints. This massif is crisscrossed by numerous underground passageways and rooms, which are now mostly blocked or impassable.
Optional morning activity:
Hot Air Balloon Ride: Hot Air Balloon Tours are one of the most popular activities in Cappadocia. Typically lifting off at sunset or sunrise, these rides last about an hour in the air and go wherever the wind may blow in the Goreme Valley. It is peaceful and a relaxing ride.

After an early breakfast, you leave for Konya, which is located on the ancient Silk Road. Konya has a rich historical and spiritual heritage to explore. Before reaching Konya, you take a brief halt to see the beautiful 13th-century Seljuk Sultan Hani caravanserai. The best examples of Seljuk architecture in Turkey.
Later drive to an important archaeological site Çatalhöyük. Çatalhöyük was a substantial Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from round about 7100 BC to 5700 BC, and flourished around 7000 BC. In July 2012, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Çatalhöyük is located overlooking the Konya Plain, southeast of the present-day city of Konya in Turkey,
On arrival in Konya, check into the hotel. You visit the Mevlana Museum, one of the main reasons to visit Konya. Mevlana Museum shelters the tomb of Celaleddin Rumî (1207-1273), a poet, a mystic and one of the great spiritual philosophers and teachers of all time. In the evening you can witness Sema (Whirling Dervishes Ceremony), the part of the Turkish culture, trust and history in Konya. It denotes the different meanings of a mystic cycle to perfection. It is revolving around the heart, from right to left. It embraces all of humankind, all the creation with affection and love. After enjoying ‘Serbet’, a religious drink offered after the ceremony, return to your hotel.

After breakfast, we check out of the hotel and move to Antalya. Upon arrival we check-in into the hotel and after lunch break we visit Perge established nearly 1000 BC, the ancient city of Perge, close by Antalya, was seize by the Persians and then, about 333 BC, by the armies of Alexander the Great before becoming part of the Seleucid Kingdom. Then came the Romans in 188 BC. They built most of the sites that we can see today, including a theatre large for 15000 people to fit, a public square, gymnasium, and cemetery. Also found here are Roman baths’ remains the city’s imposing gates and a 2nd-century AD nymphaeum.

Today after leisure breakfast at the hotel, we visit the Alanya Castle; Alanya Castle is a Seljuk ruin sitting atop a high cape overlooking the sea. There are nearly four miles of defensive walls, reinforced by 140 ramparts and 400 cisterns; it was once one of the well-defended cities on the Mediterranean. On a visit to the castle, one can view the palace of Alaaddin Keykubat, several mosques (including the 16th-century Suleymaniye Mosque), and also a church. Post lunch we drive back to Antalya and the evening is at leisure.

After breakfast at the hotel, we visit Aspendos; the Hittites first wrote about the Aspendos Roman Theatre in 800 BC. Able to fit nearly 15,000 people, the theatre was once part of Aspendos, established by old Greeks from Argos. In todays world, it plays host to the annual Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival. After a lunch break, we visit the Olympos and Phaselis Phaselis located near Tahtalı Dağı, which in ancient times was known as Mt. Olympos—was once used as a base by powerful groups of pirates (including the much-feared Zeniketos). The city was deserted compltely by the 15th century AD, but much of the original Lycian site remains intact. Visitors should also check out the natural-gas-fueled dancing flames continually burning on the nearby mountainside of Çakaltepe (above). Spend a leisurely afternoon and evening here and then drive back to Antalya.

After breakfast, we visit the town of Myra. According to the Greek geographer Strabo, in the 1st and 2nd centuries, BC Myra was one of the Lycian League’s most important cities. Myra today is mostly known for its Roman ruins remain, including the acropolis, a theatre, and Roman baths. Among the more impressive structures are two tombs the well known tomb is the Lion’s tomb, in which there are 11 life-sized figures in relief on the wall (that have been carved into cliff faces). Myra is also known for its St. Nicholas Church, (which means St. Nick also means Santa Claus) St.Nick was also the bishop of Myra in the 4th century AD.

After early breakfast, we leave Antalya behind us for Fethiye. En-route you take a halt at Kekova Island. Here we see the remains of ancient Simena, now modern Kaleköy (just inland of Kekova Island), form one of Turkey’s most impressive historical sites. Simena sits below the remains of a Crusader castle. Many of the ruins, some dating as far back as the 4th century BC, have been partly submerged in the Mediterranean since a series of coastal earthquakes 1,800 years ago. It’s also home to a Lycian burial ground, and huge sarcophagi are scattered along the nearby hillside.
Later we proceed to Fethiye.

After a leisurely breakfast we leave for Kayakoy, The abandon town of Kayaköy, located high on a hill, was not taken a notice for most of the 20th century, and has only recently made its mark on the tourist scene thanks to its connection to the novel Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières. The story is set in the fictional village of Eskibahçe, which is based on Kayaköy. The once-bustling settlement is now an open-air museum consisting of almost 500 rundown houses along with the remains of two derelict churches. The atmosphere is surreal. Later the evening is at leisure.

After breakfast leave for Dalaman Airport to leave for your home town.