6-Day Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus & Pamukkale Tour with 3 Flights

Transfers: included. Free time. Overnight: Istanbul.

Our team is waiting for you when you land at Istanbul Airport or Sabiha Gokcen Airport. The landing airport and time may differ depending on availability.

We drive you to your hotel in central Istanbul, and the rest of the day is free.

Ideas for the day: a ferry ride on the Bosphorus, shopping in the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar, or a stroll around Karakoy and Galata.

Meals: breakfast. Transfers: included. Overnight: Cappadocia.

08:30 – We collect you at your hotel and drive you to the historic peninsula.

• Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque – for close to 900 years it was the largest cathedral on earth, then it became a mosque under the Ottomans and afterwards a museum. All of these chapters show at the same time in its mosaics, its calligraphy and its patchwork of building styles. No other interior in Istanbul gathers Byzantine and Ottoman power so fully under one roof.
• Blue Mosque – the only Istanbul mosque with six minarets. When it was finished in 1616, that number caused a stir, because it equalled the Grand Mosque in Mecca. It is named after the blue Iznik tiles, more than 20,000 of them, that cover its ceiling and inner walls.
• Hippodrome of Constantinople – for more than a thousand years Byzantine emperors used this arena to show their power, marking victories with chariot racing, executions in public and political rituals in front of 100,000 spectators. Three monuments survive along its central spine, among them a bronze serpent column brought from Delphi and an Egyptian obelisk from Karnak.
• Grand Bazaar – since the 1460s, when Mehmed II had the first covered hall built following the Ottoman conquest, this has been the trading heart of the city. Today 4,000 shops line its 61 connected streets, offering gold jewellery, handwoven carpets, spices, leather goods and much more, and it remains one of the busiest shopping areas on earth.

Around 12:30 – The tour ends at the Grand Bazaar. Take a stroll, have lunch and head back to your hotel in your own time, then relax.

14:30 – Transfer to Istanbul Airport. The pick-up time and airport can change.

19:15 – Flight from Istanbul to Cappadocia. The flight time can change.

20:45 – Landing in Cappadocia, then a drive to your hotel. The landing airport and time may differ depending on availability.

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

Optional early-morning add-ons:

• Hot Air Balloon Flight – rated the number one Cappadocia experience, with sunrise views over the valleys; our most booked activity.
• Balloon Watching Tour – sunrise photos from the top viewpoints in Cappadocia, with the best spots guaranteed.

You can add either one when you book, at the best prices available.

09:30 – After breakfast and check-out, we pick you up at your hotel and drive you to the start of the North Cappadocia tour.

• Devrent Valley (Pink Valley) – it earns its second name from the rosy glow of the stone whenever the sun sits low. People who come in the morning or late afternoon see colours that midday visitors miss, which is useful to know when you plan your day.
• Pasabag Open Air Museum – looking at the fairy chimneys from several points inside the site shows their full three-dimensional shape in a way no photo can. A tip for first-timers: circle the tallest chimney on foot instead of only photographing its front.
• Avanos Pottery Workshop – a master potter shows the whole process in one live session, from a lump of raw clay to a finished vessel. Then it is your turn at the wheel, and the feel of wet red clay turning under your fingers is a highlight of the Red Tour.
• Goreme Panoramic View – Cappadocia looks entirely different from above than from inside the valleys, and nowhere on the Red Tour makes that clearer. After walking through the valleys earlier, the view from this height gives you a second, complementary way to understand the same place.
• Zelve Open Air Museum – calmer than the other open-air museums nearby, for a simple reason: no famous fresco churches and no signature image to draw crowds from travel media. For travellers who value depth over fame, that is a real plus.
• Uchisar Castle (exterior view) – at this stop your guide pulls together the geology and history of the day, showing how the very volcanic ash behind the animal-like rocks of Devrent Valley ended up as the huge rock fortress in front of you. It gives the tour a satisfying sense of completion.

17:00 – After the tour we drive you to the airport. The pick-up time and airport can change.

There are not direct flights from Cappadocia to Izmir on every date, so a connection may be booked when needed.

19:35 – Flight from Cappadocia to Izmir. The flight time can change.

23:15 – Landing in Izmir, then a drive to your hotel in Kusadasi/Selcuk. The landing airport and time may differ depending on availability.

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

08:00 – Pick-up at your hotel in Kusadasi/Selcuk and drive to Pamukkale.

• Pamukkale – the story here is simple: warm water, white stone and two millennia of patient geology. Mineral-laden hot springs spill over natural ledges and, as they cool, leave calcium carbonate behind, forming terraces that resemble carved white marble. Together with Hierapolis, the ancient city just above, the site is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
• White Calcium Terraces – the water reaches the surface warm and full of dissolved minerals after thousands of years underground. As it runs across the broad ledges and cools, calcium carbonate settles and gradually forms the white travertine. You walk on the same terraces the Romans knew, now covered by two further millennia of deposits.
• Hierapolis Ancient City – the walk through its necropolis passes graves from many periods: plain pit burials from Hellenistic times, ornate Roman sarcophagi bearing inscriptions, and barrel-vaulted Byzantine tombs from later still. Spread over two kilometres of hillside, this mix of burial styles tells of a community that lived, evolved and buried its dead above Pamukkale for more than a thousand years.
• Cleopatra Antique Thermal Pool – a rare swim in warm mineral water once enjoyed by the Romans, with fallen ruins still resting on the pool floor. Fed by the underground thermal system of Pamukkale, the temperature holds at 36 degrees all year. Pool entry is an optional extra, paid at the gate and is separate from your package, so set some money aside if you like thermal bathing. Swimming is not part of the tour price and is paid on site.

16:00 – After the tour we drive you back to your hotel in Kusadasi/Selcuk.

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

08:30 – We collect you at your hotel and drive you to Ephesus for the tour.

• Ephesus Ancient City – an ancient city mapped in full, so you can follow on foot how the buildings relate: how the theatre leads to the market and the market to the library. Most archaeological sites show ruins as separate monuments. Ephesus shows a complete urban system, and that is what sets it apart from every other ruin in Turkey.
• House of Virgin Mary – set more than 400 metres up, it looks across the valley where the ancient harbour of Ephesus once lay. From outside the chapel you can start to imagine the landscape that made this whole region so important in antiquity. The view by itself makes the mountain drive worthwhile.
• Temple of Artemis – in the town close to the temple site, the Selcuk Museum keeps several large column pieces and sculptures recovered from the ruins of the ancient wonder. Seeing them up close gives meaning to the single column outside: you can study the quality of the carving, the size of each drum and the fine craftsmanship that led ancient visitors to name it the finest building on earth. Together, museum and site give a far richer picture.

17:00 – After the Ephesus route we take you to Izmir Airport. The pick-up time can change.

19:30 – Flight from Izmir to Istanbul. The flight time can change.

20:30 – Landing in Istanbul, then a drive to your hotel. The landing airport and time may differ depending on availability.

Meals: breakfast. Transfers: included.

Depending on your international flight, we drive you to Istanbul Airport or Sabiha Gokcen Airport. The pick-up time and airport can change.

This last airport transfer brings your six-day tour of Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus and Pamukkale to a close.