15-Day Turkey Tour Package: Istanbul, Ephesus, Blue Cruise, Cappadocia

Once you have cleared passport control, look for our local team just outside the arrivals gate. They drive you to your hotel, where you can check in, unpack and take your first evening in the city at an easy pace.

Transfer included. Night in Istanbul.

Breakfast is included. You have the whole day to spend as you like before the regional tour starts.

A few suggestions:

• Take a ferry along the Bosphorus
• Visit the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar
• Stroll the streets of Karakoy and Galata

You spend the night in Istanbul.

Meals: breakfast and lunch. Transfers included.

08:30 – Your guide collects you at the hotel and you drive to the historic peninsula.

Hagia Sophia: completed in 537 AD and for a long time the largest domed building on earth. It has been a Byzantine cathedral, an Ottoman mosque and a museum, and today it is a working mosque again. The dome sits on four huge pendentives over a floor of 10,000 square metres, and no monument in Turkey draws more visitors.

Blue Mosque: the only imperial Ottoman mosque in Istanbul with six minarets. Some 20,000 hand-painted Iznik tiles fill the domed hall with the blue light that gave the building its name. Daily prayers still take place here, so the visit is planned around prayer times.

Hippodrome: the great public square of Constantinople, where emperors held chariot races for crowds of up to 100,000. Three ancient monuments still stand along its central line: an Egyptian obelisk dating from 1450 BC, the Serpent Column brought from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, and the Column of Constantine. Together they show how the Byzantine capital gathered treasures from across its world in one place.

Bosphorus Cruise: after a morning of history, the pace changes on the water. You sail along 15 km of the strait with Europe on one side and Asia on the other, passing Ottoman palaces on the shore, medieval fortresses and the modern skyline, all seen from the same deck.

17:30 – The tour finishes and you are driven back to your hotel.

Night in Istanbul.

Meals: breakfast and lunch. Transfers included.

04:00 – Early pick-up at your hotel. The pick-up time and the departure airport can change.

07:20 – Flight from Istanbul to Izmir. The flight time can change.

08:30 – Landing at Izmir airport. The arrival airport and time depend on availability. From there you drive to Ephesus.

Ephesus Ancient City: large fountains once marked the main crossroads of the city. Aqueducts supplied them, and people met around them every day. Several have survived in fine detail, and you can still make out their carved basins and decorated friezes. Next to the grand buildings, these smaller monuments show how refined everyday life was in Roman Ephesus.

House of Virgin Mary: children are often drawn more to the wishing wall than to the chapel. Writing a wish on a scrap of paper and tying it to the wire fence is something everyone understands. For parents, the many wishes left by people from all over the world are a gentle way to talk about faith, hope and what people share. Few holy places speak to young and old in the same way.

Temple of Artemis: in 356 BC a man named Herostratus set fire to the temple on purpose so that his name would never be forgotten. It happened on the same night Alexander the Great was born. His plan worked: historians have recorded his name for more than two thousand years, together with the wonder he burned. Your guide tells the full story of how the temple was destroyed and rebuilt more than once.

16:30 – The Ephesus tour ends and you transfer to your hotel in Kusadasi/Selcuk.

Night in Kusadasi/Selcuk.

Breakfast is included. There is no program today: this open day on the Aegean gives you a pause before the route heads inland again.

Night in Kusadasi/Selcuk.

Meals: breakfast and lunch. Transfers included.

08:00 – Pick-up at your hotel and drive to Pamukkale.

Pamukkale: the white hillside is the result of warm springs working slowly on the rock for two thousand years. Mineral-rich water spills over natural ledges and leaves calcium carbonate behind as it cools. Over time this has built terraces that look like white marble. UNESCO lists Pamukkale and the ancient city of Hierapolis just above it as a World Heritage Site.

White Calcium Terraces: many visitors expect cold water, like at a mountain waterfall, and are surprised to find it warm. The springs stay at the same temperature all year, so walking barefoot over the travertine feels almost like a spa. Warm water, smooth white stone and wide views over Denizli make it a place that is hard to put into words.

Hierapolis Ancient City: tradition holds that Saint Philip the Apostle died in Hierapolis. A martyrium built in his memory still stands on the slope above the main city. This octagonal building is one of the largest early Christian martyria left in Turkey. Its presence adds a surprising religious chapter to a city first known for pagan healing rites.

Cleopatra Antique Thermal Pool: a shaded corner of the ruins, fed by the same underground springs as the white terraces. The water is 36 degrees and flows over Roman columns lying on the bottom, so you swim among ancient stones. Entry is not part of the package; if you want to swim, you pay at the pool.

15:30 – The Pamukkale tour ends.

18:00 – Intercity bus to Fethiye. The departure time can change.

21:00 – You arrive in Fethiye and transfer to your hotel in the town center.

Night in Fethiye.

Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Transfers included.

After breakfast at the hotel, you transfer to the pier in central Fethiye. The gulet sets sail at around 11:00 am, and the slow days at sea begin.

Samanlik Bay: a quiet first stop for a swim, not far from Fethiye. The water is sheltered and the slopes are covered in pine, so the first hours on board feel relaxed.

Butterfly Valley: one of the most striking bays on the Turquoise Coast. Steep cliffs close it in, and the easiest way to get there is by boat. If the sea allows, you can swim, relax on deck or simply look at the valley from the gulet.

St. Nicholas Island: an island with Byzantine ruins, old stone paths and sunset views over the sea. It ends the first cruise day with a calm mix of swimming, scenery and history.

Night in your private cabin on the Blue Cruise.

Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The boat continues east with swimming stops in clear water and time along the coast of Kas and Kekova.

• Aquarium Bay is famous for its see-through water and easy swimming.
• Kas is a small harbor town with whitewashed streets, cafes and a busy marina.
• Toward Kekova, the coast becomes quieter and richer in history, with Lycian remains and rocky coves.

Night in your private cabin on the Blue Cruise.

Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

A full day on the water around Kekova and Simena, where history and coastline meet.

• At the Sunken City, Lycian ruins lie partly under the sea, and you see them from the boat.
• Simena has views of its castle, old stone houses and a village feel that seems untouched by time.
• Gokkaya Bay usually closes the day gently, with calm water and a quiet place to anchor for the night.

Night in your private cabin on the Blue Cruise.

Meals: breakfast. Transfers included.

The last part of the cruise follows the coast past Myra, Demre and Olympos, and then you continue to Antalya by road.

• Myra is linked with Lycian rock tombs and with the memory of St. Nicholas.
• Demre is a short stop in a small coastal town.
• Olympos adds wooded slopes and ancient remains, a final view of the Mediterranean before the drive.

Night in Antalya.

Breakfast is included. The day on the Mediterranean is free, so you can rest or make your own local plans.

Night in Antalya.

Meals: breakfast. Transfers included.

After breakfast you check out of your room. At a time that fits your flight, we drive you to Antalya Airport for the flight to Cappadocia. Depending on availability, the flight is either direct or goes via Istanbul.

When you land in Cappadocia, our team meets you at the exit and takes you to your hotel.

Night in Cappadocia.

Meals: breakfast and lunch. Transfers included.

Optional early-morning add-ons (can be added during booking at the best available price):

• Hot air balloon flight at sunrise, our most booked activity
• Balloon watching tour to the best viewpoints for sunrise photos

09:30 – Pick-up at your hotel.

Devrent Valley (Pink Valley): you could walk in alone, but you would miss a lot. Many of the rocks only look like animals when someone shows you the right angle. With a guide, a walk among odd stones becomes a fun game of spotting shapes.

Pasabag Open Air Museum: in winter the site looks completely different, with snow on the basalt caps and a bare, silent valley floor. Travellers who come in January or February often name Pasabag as a highlight of a very different trip.

Avanos Pottery Workshop: Avanos lies on the Kizilirmak, the longest river in Turkey. Its red clay has shaped the town's craft for thousands of years. You can see the river from the workshop, which explains the craft better than any museum case.

Goreme Panoramic View: a low stone wall runs along the edge of the viewpoint. It keeps you safe and also works as a rest for your phone, so you get sharp photos without a tripod. Your guide shows you the two or three framings that work best here.

Zelve Open Air Museum: no other museum site in Cappadocia feels so close to living memory. People still lived in these caves in the twentieth century and moved out in 1952. Some of those who grew up here are still alive today.

Uchisar Castle (exterior view): one of the few sights in Cappadocia that impresses at any hour, in any weather and from every side. Other places need the right light. Uchisar's size and its carved face work just as well at nine in the morning, at noon or in the long shadows of late afternoon.

17:00 – End of the tour and transfer to your hotel.

Night in Cappadocia.

Meals: breakfast and lunch. Transfers included.

09:30 – Pick-up at your hotel.

Red Valley: the rocks change colour through the day, from pale gold in the morning to deep orange at noon and warm amber later on. Mid-morning gives the strongest colours, before the sun stands high and the light turns flat.

Rose Valley (Gulludere Valley): the rock churches here are painted in many styles, from simple geometric patterns in red lines to full scenes with figures that cover whole vaulted ceilings. Art historians date these frescoes to several periods and see a clear change from early abstract designs to later Byzantine story painting.

Cavusin Village: the old village climbs straight up from the valley floor. From the road below you can see its cliff full of cave openings, carved doorways and empty rooms in rows. As you walk up through the abandoned upper part, you see how carefully the first residents cut stairs, windows and passages into the volcanic rock.

Pigeon Valley: early in the morning, balloons from Goreme often float over this canyon, and walkers on the trail can watch them pass in silence. Carved cliffs, wild pigeons and balloons in the sky make it one of the richest views in Cappadocia.

Underground City: the city goes down through several separate levels. Steep carved stairs and narrow shafts, wide enough for one person at a time, link each floor to the next. Depending on the city, the deepest levels you can reach lie about 40 to 85 meters underground, deep enough to stay cut off from the noise and temperature above.

17:00 – The Cappadocia tour ends.

18:00 – Transfer to Cappadocia airport. This time can change.

21:30 – Evening flight to Istanbul. The flight time can change.

23:00 – Landing in Istanbul. The arrival airport and time depend on availability. You are then driven to your hotel.

Night in Istanbul.

Breakfast is included. We drive you to the airport at a time that suits your international flight.