Cappadocia, Pamukkale & Antalya Tour from Istanbul – 7 Days, Flights

Meals: lunch. Overnight: Cappadocia. Transfers included.

Today's stops: Devrent Valley (Pink Valley), Pasabag Open Air Museum, Avanos Pottery Workshop, Goreme Panoramic View, Zelve Open Air Museum and Uchisar Castle (exterior view).

04:00 – We pick you up from your Istanbul hotel and drive you to one of the city's airports.

06:40 – Flight from Istanbul to Cappadocia. The flight time may change.

08:00 – Landing at Kayseri or Nevsehir Airport. The arrival airport and time may change depending on availability.

From the airport you go straight to the North Cappadocia touring area.

Devrent Valley (Pink Valley): You could walk through on your own, but much of the fun would be lost: many rocks only look like animals once someone shows you where to stand. With a guide, a stroll among odd stones becomes a playful game of spotting shapes.

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

Avanos Pottery Workshop: Avanos lies on the longest river in Turkey, the Kizilirmak, whose red clay has shaped the town's identity for thousands of years. The river is visible from the workshop, placing the craft in its landscape in a way a museum case never could.

Goreme Panoramic View: A low stone wall along the edge works as a safety rail and a camera rest, so you can steady your phone for sharper photos without a tripod. Your guide will show you the two or three framings that work best here.

Zelve Open Air Museum: Social history feels closer at Zelve than at any other museum site in Cappadocia, because people lived here until recently. Its residents were alive at the time of the 1952 move, and some who grew up in these caves are still living today.

Uchisar Castle (exterior view): This is one of the few landmarks in the region that impresses at any hour, in any weather and from every side. Most sights need the right conditions, but the sheer size and detailed carving of Uchisar work at nine in the morning, at midday and in the long late-afternoon shadows.

17:00 – The North Cappadocia tour ends and you are driven to your hotel.

Night in Cappadocia.

Meals: breakfast and lunch. Transfers included.

Today's stops: Red Valley, Rose Valley (Gulludere Valley), Cavusin Village, Pigeon Valley and Underground City.

Optional early-morning add-ons: a Hot Air Balloon Flight, the top-rated Cappadocia experience and our most booked activity, with sunrise views over the valleys; or a Balloon Watching Tour that takes you to the best sunrise photo viewpoints. Either can be added at the best available price while booking.

09:30 – Breakfast and hotel check-out, then you head off on the South Cappadocia tour.

Red Valley: Compared with some of the busier, more commercial viewpoints, Red Valley still feels wild and untouched, well away from the usual trail. It sees fewer visitors than Goreme Open Air Museum, so it is quieter and easy to enjoy at your own speed.

Rose Valley (Gulludere Valley): Its northern end joins Cavusin village, so the walk can finish at the oldest cliff settlement in Cappadocia just minutes from the path. Linking Gulludere Valley with old Cavusin makes a natural half-day loop that mixes scenery and deep cultural heritage with no doubling back.

Cavusin Village: Cavusin is one of the longest-inhabited places in Cappadocia. Greek-speaking Christian communities carved homes and churches into its cliff from at least the 5th century. The population exchange between Greece and Turkey in the 1920s ended centuries of life in the upper cliff houses, leaving the carved fronts whole but empty.

Pigeon Valley: The canyon was cut by the same erosion that made the fairy chimneys, as a seasonal stream wore down through soft volcanic tuff over thousands of years. Its walls show distinct horizontal bands of rock, each laid down by a separate eruption and each wearing away at its own pace.

Underground City: Niches for oil lamps are cut into the walls at regular intervals, placed to light the main junctions and corridors. On the ceilings of some lower rooms you can still see soot from those lamps, the oldest physical trace of the light the first residents used.

17:00 – The South Cappadocia tour ends with a transfer to Cappadocia Bus Station.

From there you take an overnight intercity bus to Pamukkale. The ride lasts about 10 hours, with a few breaks along the way.

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

Today's stops: White Calcium Terraces, Hierapolis Ancient City and Cleopatra Antique Thermal Pool.

05:30 – The bus arrives at Pamukkale Bus Station.

We take you to our freshen-up room for a short rest and breakfast. Please keep your luggage with you.

09:30 – Rested and fed, you begin the Pamukkale day tour.

Pamukkale: The name means Cotton Castle, given by people who saw this white hill long before anyone could photograph it. Thermal springs heavy with calcium have been building the travertine terraces since ancient times. Today it is one of the best-known UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Turkey, in the inland province of Denizli.

White Calcium Terraces: Warm, white and like nothing else in the country, the terraces are a natural attraction in a class of their own. Mineral-rich water has flowed here since antiquity, leaving calcium carbonate that slowly forms wide ledges and shallow pools. You take your shoes off at the entrance, and that is the moment the visit really starts.

Hierapolis Ancient City: Founded in the 2nd century BC, Hierapolis became one of the richest spa towns of the Greco-Roman world. Sitting right above the thermal springs, it drew emperors, traders and pilgrims looking for healing water. Its ruins now spread over a broad hilltop and form one of the most complete ancient townscapes in Turkey.

Cleopatra Antique Thermal Pool: Very few pools have real Roman remains on the bottom, but this one does. An earthquake threw the columns of an ancient building into the water, and they still lie where they fell, under warm mineral water at 36 degrees. Entry is not part of the tour price; it is an optional extra paid at the pool gate on the day.

16:00 – The Pamukkale tour ends and you are taken to your hotel to check in.

Night in Pamukkale.

Meals: breakfast. Overnight: Antalya. Transfers included.

11:00 – Our driver collects you from your Pamukkale hotel and drives you to Pamukkale Bus Station.

12:00 – You board the intercity bus to Antalya, which makes planned rest stops on the way. The bus time may change.

15:30 – Our team welcomes you at Antalya Bus Station (the arrival time may change) and takes you to your hotel.

Night in Antalya.

Meals: breakfast and lunch. Overnight: Antalya. Transfers included. Free time.

Today's stops: Perge Ancient City, Aspendos Theater, Side Ancient City, Free Time in Side and Manavgat Waterfall.

08:30 – After breakfast, the Antalya day tour sets off.

Perge Ancient City: A Greek city that prospered under Roman rule. Its Hellenistic gate with twin round towers still stands, along with a long colonnaded street that has a water channel running down its centre, Roman baths and a stadium. Saint Paul preached here during his first missionary journey.

Aspendos Theater: Built in the second century AD under Marcus Aurelius, it is the best-preserved Roman theatre of the ancient world, and its stage building still rises to full height. A voice from the stage carries to the highest rows, and shows are still staged here today.

Side Ancient City: On a small peninsula the ruins blend straight into the modern town. The columns of the Temple of Apollo stand by the sea, and a big Roman theatre, the colonnaded street and the agora sit among the houses and shops.

Free Time in Side: Stroll the harbour and the old town lanes, enjoy a coffee by the water, or sit near the Temple of Apollo for as long as you like.

Manavgat Waterfall: Here the Manavgat River spills over a wide, low shelf rather than dropping from a height, so the falls are broad and full of spray. Shaded tea gardens line the banks, making it a cool and easy stop after a morning of ruins.

17:30 – The Antalya tour ends and you return to your hotel.

Night in Antalya.

Meals: breakfast. Overnight: Antalya.

No touring is planned today. As the largest summer holiday centre in Turkey, Antalya has plenty to see and do, so spend the day however you wish.

Night in Antalya.

Meals: breakfast. Transfers included.

11:00 – You check out and are driven to Antalya Airport in line with your flight time.

14:00 – Flight from Antalya to Istanbul. The flight time may change.

15:20 – Landing at Istanbul Airport. The arrival airport and time may change depending on availability.

The tour finishes on arrival. If you would like a transfer to your hotel, we can organise one for an extra fee.