17-Day Turkey Tour Package: Nemrut, Gobeklitepe, Cappadocia & Aegean

Overnight: Istanbul. Included: transfers. Free time.

When you arrive in Istanbul, our team is at the airport to meet you and take you to the hotel. You can spend the remaining hours resting after the trip.

If you still feel energetic, take a Bosphorus ferry, stroll through the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar, or spend the evening around Galata and Karakoy.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch. Overnight: Istanbul. Transfers included.

08:30 – Hotel pick-up and drive to Sultanahmet, the historic heart of the city.

Blue Mosque – No other imperial mosque in Istanbul has six minarets. When the Sultan Ahmed Mosque went up in 1616, that number caused a diplomatic row, because it equalled the count at Mecca. Its popular name comes from the interior, covered in more than 20,000 hand-painted Iznik tiles with blue and white floral designs.

Hagia Sophia – Finished in 537 AD, Hagia Sophia was the largest cathedral on earth for almost a thousand years, and for centuries no dome matched its span. Byzantine mosaics and later Ottoman calligraphy medallions now share the same interior, so both Christian and Islamic history are visible in one room.

Hippodrome – This was the public centre of Constantinople, where chariot races, imperial ceremonies and riots pulled in the whole city. The Egyptian Obelisk, shipped from Luxor in 390 AD, still stands on its first site and ranks among the oldest monuments in any European city.

Topkapi Palace and Harem – For close to four centuries, Ottoman sultans governed an empire reaching from Vienna to the Persian Gulf from this complex. You can visit the treasury, the sacred relics and the harem rooms. The terrace of the fourth courtyard looks over the Golden Horn and gives one of the finest views in Istanbul.

Grand Bazaar – Opened in 1461 and trading ever since, the Grand Bazaar is among the oldest and largest covered markets in the world, with 61 connected streets and more than 4,000 shops. Vaulted ceilings, the scent of spice and leather, and haggling in half a dozen languages make it worth a walk even if you buy nothing.

17:00 – Return transfer to your hotel. Overnight in Istanbul.

Meals: Breakfast. Overnight: Istanbul.

A free day lets you explore the city at your own speed before the longer eastern part of the trip starts.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch. Overnight: Diyarbakir. Transfers included.

• 05:00 – Early pick-up at your hotel and transfer to the airport for the Adiyaman flight. The pick-up time and departure airport can change.
• 09:35 – Flight from Istanbul to Adiyaman. The schedule can change.
• 11:30 – Landing in Adiyaman and start of the Commagene route. The arrival time depends on availability.

Karakus Tumulus – This burial mound of the Commagene royal family is a huge heap of earth crowned with eagle, bull and lion statues set on columns. It introduces the symbols of Commagene, a kingdom that blended Hellenistic and Persian culture, before you reach the bigger summit at Nemrut.

Arsameia and Cendere Bridge – Arsameia served as the summer capital of Commagene. A Greek inscription cut into the rock sets out King Antiochus's beliefs about the afterlife. Close by, the single-arch Cendere Bridge has carried people over the Kahta River since Roman times, for more than 1,800 years, and it is still in use.

Mount Nemrut – In the first century BC, King Antiochus I of Commagene placed his tomb and sanctuary on the highest summit of the Anti-Taurus range and ringed it with giant stone statues of the gods, with himself seated among them. On the east and west terraces, 2,150 metres above sea level, rows of heads still stand or lie where they fell. Few monumental sites in the Mediterranean world are as striking, or as remote.

Evening – Drive from the Nemrut area to Diyarbakir, about 2.5 hours. Overnight in Diyarbakir.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch. Overnight: Diyarbakir. Transfers included.

09:00 – Hotel pick-up for the day in Diyarbakir.

Four-Legged Minaret, Hazrat Suleiman Mosque and Great Mosque – The Four-Legged Minaret is a wonderfully odd structure: a slim tower standing on four basalt columns above a narrow street. With the Hazrat Suleiman complex and the Ulu Camii, built in 639 AD and the oldest mosque in Anatolia, it traces thirteen centuries of the city's Islamic past.

Archaeological Museum and Ickale – The museum spans the Neolithic to the Byzantine era and is especially strong on Hurrian and Assyrian finds from the Tigris basin. The Ickale citadel crowns the old town and looks down over the bend of the river.

Surp Giragos Church, Telegraph Street, Hasan Pasha Caravanserai and Suluklu Inn – Before it was destroyed, Surp Giragos was the largest Armenian church in the Middle East. Its restoration and reopening in 2011 marked an important moment for the city. Telegraph Street, the Hasan Pasha Caravanserai and the Suluklu Inn complete a walk through the trading and civic layers of old Diyarbakir.

10 Arches Bridge – South of the city walls, this bridge has spanned the Tigris since at least the tenth century, which places it among the oldest Anatolian bridges still standing. Looking back from it at the black basalt walls above the river is one of the strongest images of the whole southeast.

17:00 – End of the tour and drive back to your hotel. Overnight in Diyarbakir.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch. Overnight: Sanliurfa. Transfers included.

09:00 – Hotel pick-up and departure from Diyarbakir toward Mardin, a drive of around 1.5 hours.

Midyat Old Town – Midyat is a centre of Turkey's Syriac Christian community. Its old quarter is full of limestone houses with finely carved fronts, the work of an Assyrian stone-carving tradition going back centuries. People really live and trade in these lanes, nothing is staged for visitors, and that honesty sets the tone for the day.

Mardin Castle (exterior view) – The castle sits at the top of the limestone ridge, and the whole town spills down below it in tight terraces of honey-coloured stone toward the Mesopotamian plain. From the outside walls you can look back over the town and out across the plain along the Syrian border at the same time, a view unlike any other in Turkey.

Deyrulzafaran Monastery and Great Mosque of Mardin – The Saffron Monastery takes its name from the saffron-coloured material used to build it. It is among the oldest working monasteries anywhere and has served the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate since the fifth century. The Ulu Camii in the town centre gives the Islamic side of the story, and together the two show how Mardin has kept several faiths side by side for more than fifteen centuries.

Local Bazaar and Abbara passages – Covered passages and arcaded market streets link old han buildings, copper workshops and spice stalls, a network that has served Mardin's traders since medieval times. A slow stroll here ends the visit on a human scale.

Afterwards, continue by road from Mardin to Sanliurfa, about 2.5 hours. Overnight in Sanliurfa.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch. Overnight: Sanliurfa. Transfers included.

09:00 – Hotel pick-up for a day of prehistoric and sacred sites.

Gobeklitepe – Raised around 10,000 BC, Gobeklitepe is older than farming, pottery and writing. The people who carved its T-shaped pillars built on a monumental scale without any of the skills once thought essential for it. On this hilltop near Sanliurfa you stand inside the earliest known religious architecture in human history, by a wide margin, and the word 'ancient' takes on a new meaning.

Sanliurfa Archaeology Museum and Haleplibahce Mosaic Museum – The museum complex holds the most important collection linked to Gobeklitepe, including original carved pillars and the Urfa Man, the oldest known life-size human statue in the world. In a separate building, the Haleplibahce Mosaic Museum displays Roman-era floor mosaics, mainly mythological scenes, of a quality that stands comparison with Zeugma.

Balikligol (Pool of Abraham) – This sacred pool and its mosques form the spiritual centre of Sanliurfa and attract pilgrims from all over the Islamic world. The carp in the water are held sacred and must not be harmed, a custom so old that nobody knows when it started. Shady walkways, courtyards and running water give the place the most devotional mood of the entire southeastern route.

17:00 – Return to your hotel. Overnight in Sanliurfa.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch. Overnight: Gaziantep. Transfers included.

09:00 – Hotel pick-up and drive to Halfeti for the boat trip on the Euphrates.

Halfeti Boat Tour – When the Birecik Dam filled its reservoir on the Euphrates in the early 2000s, the old village of Halfeti went under. Boats now glide over its drowned streets, past minarets half sunk in the water and along sandstone cliffs that rise straight from the river. The black tulip, which grows nowhere else, has become Halfeti's emblem. Rock, water and flooded ruins make this one of the most atmospheric stops on the 17-day route.

Zeugma Mosaic Museum – Once you reach Gaziantep, the day ends at one of Turkey's great museums. Its mosaics were saved from a Roman-era city flooded by the same dam system. Their gods, myths and portraits, rendered in remarkable detail, now fill a museum built for them and known well beyond Turkey. The 'Gypsy Girl' mosaic is one of the best-known ancient artworks in the country.

After the visit, transfer to your hotel in Gaziantep and enjoy a free evening. Overnight in Gaziantep.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch. Overnight: Cappadocia. Transfers included.

Gaziantep is more than a stopover today. The morning leaves room for the city centre and the bustle of its bazaar, with time for some local shopping.

Then the road leads to Cappadocia. It is a long drive of around 6 hours. Overnight in Cappadocia.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch. Overnight: Cappadocia. Transfers included.

Optional early-morning add-ons

• Hot Air Balloon Flight – the top-rated Cappadocia experience, with the classic sunrise views, and our most booked activity.
• Balloon Watching Tour – a guaranteed spot at the best Cappadocia viewpoints for sunrise photos.

You can add either one at the best available price while booking.

09:00 – Hotel pick-up. If you want a balloon flight, this morning is the best slot for it, before the tour starts.

Red Valley – Red Valley lies a little above the valley floor around Goreme, so it gives a raised view over the wider Cappadocia landscape. That extra height is why balloon watchers like it: flights launched from Goreme often float low over this valley.

Rose Valley (Gulludere Valley) – At sunset the pale cliffs of Rose Valley turn pink, peach and coral, and the colours deepen as the sun sinks below the rim. Most tour schedules leave out an evening visit to Gulludere, but travellers who stay on see tones that a morning visit cannot match.

Cavusin Village – Cavusin stands on the road between Goreme and Avanos. From its raised cliff, early residents could watch travellers approaching from every side, and that defensive edge probably explains why people settled on this rock more than a thousand years ago.

Pigeon Valley – Lying between Uchisar and Goreme, in the middle of Cappadocia's busiest area, Pigeon Valley is a natural route between the two towns. Because of that position, nearly every visitor sees it from one angle or another, even without stopping.

Underground City – Local people always knew about Cappadocia's underground cities and used the rooms they could reach for storage, but the cities were mostly rediscovered and mapped in the 20th century. Excavation and recording are still going on, and new sections open to the public once their stability has been checked.

17:00 – Return to your hotel. Overnight in Cappadocia.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch. Overnight: Cappadocia. Transfers included. Free time.

09:00 – Hotel pick-up for your second day in Cappadocia, following the classic northern route.

Devrent Valley (Pink Valley) – In Turkish travel photography Devrent often goes by the name Imagination Valley, a label that says more than any geological description. Walk among the rock shapes and you see why imagination and geology belong together here.

Pasabag Open Air Museum – Your guide usually spends fifteen to twenty minutes on the geology and the monks who lived here, then leaves you free to wander and take pictures. That mix of explanation and time alone is the best way to take in what makes Pasabag special.

Avanos Pottery Workshop – Prices at the Avanos workshops reflect the true cost of making pieces by hand, not a tourist mark-up. Bowls, cups and decorative plates pack well, and the staff wrap your purchases carefully for the trip home.

Goreme Panoramic View – From this lookout you can follow the route your vehicle took through the valley below and place earlier stops on the landscape. Seeing it laid out this way is more satisfying than any map.

Zelve Open Air Museum – Zelve lies near Avanos, so on the Red Tour it follows the pottery workshop. Moving from a living craft to an archaeological site changes the pace, and the quieter exploring gives the afternoon a different feel from the morning.

Uchisar Castle (exterior view) – The stop at Uchisar is from the outside, on the terrace with the fullest front view of the castle rock. For photos this is honestly the better angle: you get the whole height, every carved opening and the village below in a single frame.

17:00 – Return to your hotel. Overnight in Cappadocia.

Meals: Breakfast. Overnight: Kusadasi/Selcuk. Transfers included.

After breakfast, check out of your hotel. Depending on your flight time, we drive you to Kayseri or Nevsehir Airport. The flight may be direct or routed through Istanbul, depending on what is available on your travel date.

At Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport our team waits for you at the exit and takes you to your hotel in Kusadasi/Selcuk.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch. Overnight: Kusadasi/Selcuk. Transfers included.

07:30 – Hotel pick-up for a full day in Pamukkale.

Pamukkale – You spot Pamukkale sooner than you expect: a white hillside that appears from the road into Denizli. Close by, warm mineral water runs over terraces of bright travertine and collects in turquoise pools. UNESCO World Heritage status covers both the natural formation and the ancient city of Hierapolis on top.

White Calcium Terraces – From the valley road the terraces really do look like white paint poured down the slope. Up close, each one is a broad, shallow pool edged with calcium carbonate laid down over centuries as the mineral water spilled over. The water is warm and clear, and the calcium dissolved in it keeps the rock so white.

Hierapolis Ancient City – The necropolis of Hierapolis produces some of Turkey's most memorable images, with hundreds of ancient sarcophagi spread over the hillside as if time had frozen. Many still carry inscriptions giving names, trades and family warnings not to disturb the dead. It is the largest ancient necropolis in Anatolia, and walking through it beside the ruins of the city itself leaves a deep impression.

Cleopatra Antique Thermal Pool – Fed by Pamukkale's hot springs, this pool stays at a constant 36 degrees, which makes it one of the more unusual places to swim in Turkey. Pieces of Roman marble, brought down by earthquakes centuries ago, lie on its floor. The stop is optional and not covered by the tour; if you want to swim among the ruins, you pay the entry on site.

16:00 – Drive back to your hotel in Kusadasi/Selcuk. Overnight in Kusadasi/Selcuk.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch. Overnight: Istanbul. Transfers included.

09:00 – Hotel pick-up for the morning in Ephesus.

Ephesus Ancient City – Ephesus pays back those who walk slowly: the closer you look, the more it reveals. Water channels set into the marble pavements show how advanced Roman engineering was in this region, and between the grand facades and the carved street details there is something to photograph every few steps.

House of Virgin Mary – Bulbul Mountain rises above the whole Ephesus valley, and the way to the House of the Virgin Mary climbs through thick forest that feels old in its own right. The chapel is small and plain and stands on the remains of an even older building. That simplicity is its strength, since nothing distracts from the spiritual purpose of the place.

Temple of Artemis – Near Selcuk, storks build their nests on the one column left standing at the Temple of Artemis, a fitting detail for a monument to one of history's great lost buildings. Visitors photograph the birds again and again: nature taking back a site that people built, lost, rebuilt and lost once more. It is a quiet, poetic end for one of the Wonders of the Ancient World.

16:00 – The tour finishes and you are taken to Izmir Airport.

Flight from Izmir to Istanbul; the schedule can change. On landing, transfer to your hotel; the arrival time depends on availability. Overnight in Istanbul.

Meals: Breakfast. Overnight: Istanbul.

Another free day in Istanbul gives you time to slow down after crossing the country.

Meals: Breakfast. Overnight: Istanbul. Transfers included.

Enjoy a slow morning in the city before the cruise in the afternoon.

13:30 – Hotel pick-up and transfer to the pier.

Bosphorus Cruise – Setting out from the European shore, the boat covers roughly fifteen kilometres of the strait, sailing beneath the suspension bridges and along the wooded upper Bosphorus before it turns around. Seeing Istanbul from the water fills in what days of street-level sightseeing cannot show.

Dolmabahce Palace – From the boat you see the full 600-metre waterfront of Dolmabahce, the longest palace facade on the water anywhere in Europe. Built in 1856, it was the Ottoman answer to the grand palaces of Europe, and its sea gates and fountains are easy to make out from the deck.

Ortakoy Mosque and Bridge – With the first Bosphorus suspension bridge right behind it, the Baroque mosque at Ortakoy has become one of the most copied images of Istanbul, and the cruise boat gives you the ideal frame.

Rumeli Fortress – Mehmed II had Rumeli Fortress built in only four months in 1452 to control shipping on the Bosphorus ahead of his siege of Constantinople. It survives almost intact, and from the water its position at the narrowest point of the strait makes its purpose obvious.

16:00 – Transfer back to your hotel. Overnight in Istanbul.

Meals: Breakfast. Transfers are included.

A transfer takes you from the hotel to the airport for your international flight, leaving enough time. Your 17-day trip around Turkey ends here.