Turkey Tour from Izmir – 10 Days: Ephesus, Cappadocia, Istanbul

Transfers: included.

When you land at Izmir Airport, a member of our staff is waiting with a sign showing your name. You are driven to your hotel in Kusadasi/Selcuk to settle in on the Aegean side of Turkey.

We keep this first day light on purpose, so the long route begins without pressure and you have time to recover from your journey. You spend the night in Kusadasi/Selcuk.

Meals: breakfast and lunch. Transfers: included.

After breakfast, at 08:30, you are driven from the hotel to the Ephesus area.

• Ephesus Ancient City: Curetes Street is the city's main avenue, lined with columns, statues and decorative fountains that once greeted Roman citizens and traders. At its far end rises the Library of Celsus, one of the most photographed ancient buildings anywhere, with a restored facade in remarkable shape. With a guide you learn not only what you are looking at, but who built it and why.
• House of Virgin Mary: it sits on Bulbul Mountain in the hills above Selcuk and is reached by road. After the vast excavations of Ephesus it feels very different: a small stone chapel, a few candles and a quiet courtyard that invite stillness rather than sightseeing.
• Temple of Artemis: this stop rewards curiosity more than the eye. There is little to see, just one column, a shallow marshy field and a few storks. Yet the story of what stood here, why it was built and how it was lost is enough for a whole afternoon of talk, and a guide who loves the site makes all the difference.

At 16:00 you return to your hotel and stay another night in Kusadasi/Selcuk.

Meals: breakfast and lunch.

At 08:00, after breakfast, you leave the hotel and head inland to Pamukkale.

• Pamukkale: most visitors stop in their tracks at their first sight of the hillside. The pure white travertine throws back the sunlight so strongly that it can look like snow in mid-summer. This UNESCO World Heritage Site in Denizli province is one of the few places that truly looks better than its photos.
• White Calcium Terraces: the terraces change through the day. Early light tints the stone pale gold, the midday sun turns it almost pure white, and late afternoon brings warm shadows that pick out every mineral layer. At golden hour the pools mirror the sky and the slope becomes a pattern of blue and white.
• Hierapolis Ancient City: unlike most ancient cities, Hierapolis did not slowly fade; it was largely abandoned after a series of severe earthquakes. Those quakes left fallen columns and leaning walls that photographers love, and the dry hilltop climate preserved much of what fell. The Greco-Roman ruins now spread over a huge area above the terraces, and an on-site museum keeps the finest finds from the excavations.
• Cleopatra Antique Thermal Pool: Roman columns lie on the pool floor where an ancient earthquake threw them. Warm mineral water at 36 degrees Celsius fills the pool all year, around column drums and marble pieces, and people have bathed here since antiquity. Swimming among real Roman ruins is unusual; the entry fee is not in the tour price and is paid on site.

At 16:00, when the visit ends, you drive back for a third night in Kusadasi/Selcuk.

Meals: breakfast. Transfers: included. Free time: rest of the day.

A driver takes you from your hotel to Izmir Airport; the pick-up time and the airport can vary. You fly from Izmir via Istanbul to Cappadocia, and the flight time is subject to change. On some dates there is no direct Izmir–Cappadocia flight, so a connection may be used.

You land at Kayseri or Nevsehir Airport and meet our local team; the arrival airport and timing depend on availability. They drive you to your hotel in Cappadocia, and the rest of the day is yours.

This open arrival window is ideal for an optional sunset viewpoint or a quiet evening before the touring days start. Ideas for your free time: a sunset viewpoint above Goreme, Uchisar castle, or an optional Turkish night show. You stay overnight in Cappadocia.

Meals: breakfast and lunch. Transfers: included.

Optional early-morning add-ons: a hot air balloon flight, the most booked activity and rated the top Cappadocia experience for its sunrise views, or a balloon watching tour at the best sunrise photo spots, with the best viewpoints guaranteed. Either can be added at the best available price during booking.

At 09:30, after breakfast, you are driven to the northern touring area.

• Devrent Valley (Pink Valley): the valley formed as layers of compacted volcanic ash from Mount Erciyes and Hasan wore away at different speeds, leaving columns of harder rock in softer ground. Over millions of years these columns took shapes that people have always loved to name.
• Pasabag Open Air Museum: children are usually most excited at this stop, as the size of the fairy chimneys and the idea of people living inside them fire their imagination. Guides often explain monastic life with simple comparisons that younger visitors understand.
• Avanos Pottery Workshop: every demonstration covers how the clay is prepared: mixing, kneading and ageing before any shaping on the wheel. This takes days, and knowing it changes how you see the finished piece on the shop shelf.
• Goreme Panoramic View: the whole fairy chimney valley opens below you in one wide frame, with Uchisar Castle on the horizon and hundreds of rock formations in between. No other point on the Red Tour gives you such a full overview.
• Zelve Open Air Museum: the volcanic tuff walls of the cave rooms stay cool even on the hottest summer days, which explains why cave living made sense in this climate. You feel the change the moment you step from the sunny path into a carved room.
• Uchisar Castle (exterior view): pigeon houses, carved in large numbers and at many heights, are among the clearest features of the castle's outer face. For centuries pigeons mattered to the local economy because their droppings fertilised the poor volcanic farmland, and the many pigeon houses here reflect that.

At 17:00 you return to your hotel for a second night in Cappadocia.

Meals: breakfast and lunch. Transfers: included.

You check out after breakfast, and at 09:30 the vehicle takes you to the southern route.

• Red Valley: it lies near Cavusin village and is best paired with Rose Valley next door, as both use the same network of trails. Together they make one of the most rewarding walks in Cappadocia, with constant scenery and no need to retrace your steps.
• Rose Valley (Gulludere Valley): the rock chapels are strikingly silent, above all on calm mornings with no other visitors and only the wind moving through the carved windows. Standing alone among faded frescoes and worn stone floors gives a sense of deep history that photos rarely capture.
• Cavusin Village: early churches, empty cliff houses and a living modern village sit side by side, making it one of the most layered stops in the region. In a single 20-minute visit you see Byzantine carving from the 5th century, Ottoman-era stone building from the 19th century and present-day village life.
• Pigeon Valley: the valley is named after the thousands of pigeon houses that farmers cut into its cliffs, collecting the droppings to fertilise their vineyards and orchards. Locals still keep pigeons in carved cliff houses today, a farming practice that has lasted here for well over a thousand years.
• Underground City: the air underground stays at almost the same temperature all year, which helped keep food during long stays below the surface. Storage rooms near the lower levels have channels cut to drain liquids, proof of careful planning for keeping perishables underground.

After the tour you transfer to the airport; the pick-up time and the airport can vary. Your flight to Istanbul leaves at 20:40, though the time may be adjusted. You land at 22:20 and meet our airport team; the arrival airport and timing depend on availability. A transfer then takes you to your Istanbul hotel for the night.

Meals: breakfast. Transfers: included.

After the flights and regional transfers of the past days, today is yours to spend in Istanbul as you like. Walk through a few neighbourhoods, try local food, go shopping or simply slow down before the guided city day. You stay overnight in Istanbul.

Meals: breakfast and lunch. Transfers: included. Free time: between the city tour and the cruise.

At 08:30, after breakfast, you are driven to the old city to start the Istanbul highlights tour.

• Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque Area: the two buildings face each other across Sultanahmet Square and together show the move from Byzantine Christian to Ottoman Muslim architecture within a few steps. The dome of Hagia Sophia, built in 537 AD, was the largest in the world for almost a thousand years, while the six minarets of the Blue Mosque were a clear statement of imperial ambition.
• Hippodrome: this arena once held more than one hundred thousand spectators and was the centre of Byzantine public life for over a thousand years. Three ancient monuments still stand here: an Egyptian obelisk, a Greek serpent column brought from Delphi and a column of Constantine, each telling how Constantinople collected the ancient world in one city.
• Free Time Between City Tour and Cruise: the morning part usually finishes around 12:30, leaving roughly 90 minutes free before the cruise pick-up.
• Bosphorus Cruise: pick-up for the cruise is usually around 14:00, and lunch is served on board. From the water you understand the city's geography at once, with the European and Asian shores side by side and palaces, mosques, fortresses and waterside districts passing at a pace no road can match. If your Turkey trip ends here, it is the clearest way to see why Istanbul has held the crossroads of Europe and Asia for over two thousand years.

At 17:00 you transfer back to your hotel and stay overnight in Istanbul.

Meals: breakfast. Free time: all day.

A second free day gives this long trip a better rhythm. Use it for shopping, a museum or simply a slower day in Istanbul. Many travellers go back to areas they only glimpsed on the guided tour, or plan a more personal farewell to the city.

Ideas for your free time: a ferry ride on the Bosphorus, the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar, or the streets of Galata and Karakoy. You spend one more night in Istanbul.

Meals: breakfast. Transfers: included.

Our driver collects you from the hotel at a time based on your outbound flight; the pick-up time and the airport can vary. Your 10-day Turkey discovery tour from Izmir finishes with this transfer to an Istanbul airport.