14-Day Turkey Private Tour: Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus & Pamukkale

When you land at Istanbul Airport, our representative is waiting with a sign showing your name. A private van then drives you to your hotel.

Once you have checked in, the day is yours to discover Istanbul independently. Overnight in Istanbul.

Your guide collects you from the hotel lobby or the cruise port, and the Old City tour begins:

• Highlights of Topkapi Palace Museum: the sultans lived here, but the palace was also where the Ottoman state was run for close to 400 years. It is still one of the finest landmarks of Oriental architecture.
• Hippodrome / Sultanahmet Square: Romans raced chariots on this square. The Egyptian Obelisk dates from Byzantine times, and the German Fountain stands here today.
• Hagia Sophia: Emperor Justinian built it in the 6th century, and it matters to Christians and Muslims alike. When the Ottomans took the city and turned the church into a mosque, they took out the bells, the altar and the sacred vessels and covered many of the mosaics.
• Blue Mosque: a masterpiece raised for Sultan Ahmed I in the early 1600s. For such a large building, its proportions feel surprisingly light.
• Grand Bazaar: among the oldest and biggest covered markets on earth. Its 4,000-plus shops sell gold and silver, carpets and rugs, leather, ceramics, clothing and handicrafts.

When the tour is over, your guide goes back to the hotel with you.

*Should one of the mosques be closed to visitors, you see the Basilica Cistern in its place.

The Bosphorus tour starts once your guide has collected you from the cruise port or your hotel lobby:

• Spice Market
• Bosphorus Cruise: a public ferry zigzags across the water between Europe and Asia. From the deck you see Galata Tower, Dolmabahce and Beylerbeyi palaces, Rumeli Fortress, the Bosphorus Bridge, historic Ottoman mansions and mosques along the shore.
• Dolmabahce Palace
• Taksim Square
• Cicek Passage
• Istiklal Street

*If you would rather cruise the Bosphorus on a private yacht, just tell us.

Your guide returns to the hotel with you once the tour ends.

Today is the Golden Horn tour. Your guide picks you up from your hotel lobby or from the cruise port, and the stops are:

• the Suleymaniye Mosque
• the Fener district
• the Balat quarter
• the Church of St. Stephen
• Pierre Loti Hill, with a ride on the cable car
• Chora Church, also called Kariye Mosque

Once the visits are done, the guide returns you to your hotel. An optional one-hour Whirling Dervish ceremony is available in the evening, a short introduction to Sufism.

You spend the night in Istanbul.

Your guide is at the hotel at 9:00 am to show you the Asian side of Istanbul. Along the way you hear the stories behind each stop:

• Beylerbeyi Palace
• Cengelkoy and Cinaralti
• The traditional houses of Kuzguncuk
• Camlica Hill
• A Bosphorus viewpoint with wide panoramic views

Once the tour is finished, you are driven to Istanbul Airport and fly to Nevsehir, the main entry point for Cappadocia. On arrival our representative greets you with a name sign, and a private van brings you to your hotel in Cappadocia. Overnight in Cappadocia.

Early in the morning you are collected for a one-hour hot air balloon flight over the valleys of Cappadocia. After landing there is a short celebration in the valley, where you receive your flight certificate. Then it is back to the hotel for breakfast.

At 10:00 am your private guide and driver pick you up to begin the North Cappadocia tour, which includes:

• Uchisar Castle
• Goreme Open Air Museum
• Avanos
• Pasabag, the Valley of Monks
• Devrent Valley

When the tour ends, the guide and driver drop you at your hotel. You spend the night in Cappadocia.

At 10:00 am your private guide and driver meet you at the hotel, and the South Cappadocia tour gets under way. The guide gives you the background at every stop:

• The underground city of Kaymakli
• The Rose Valley
• Love Valley
• The Pigeon Valley
• The castle at Ortahisar
• Mustafapasa, also called Sinasos

Afterwards the guide and driver bring you back to the hotel. Overnight in Cappadocia.

At 9:00 am you meet your guide at the hotel and set off by road for Hattusa and Yazilikaya.

These ancient Hittite sites in Central Anatolia are on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and you spend time exploring both.

Afterwards you are taken to your hotel in Ankara, Turkey's capital. Overnight in Ankara.

Your guide meets you at the hotel at 9:00 am to start the Ankara tour. The stops are:

• Anitkabir, the Mausoleum of Ataturk
• The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations
• The castle of Ankara
• The Ankara Vakif Eserleri Museum

Afterwards you are taken to the airport for your flight to Izmir. Our representative waits at Izmir Airport with a sign showing your name, and a private van brings you to your Kusadasi hotel. You spend the night in Kusadasi.

Pick-up is from your hotel in Kusadasi, and your guide sets the scene with some history of Ephesus before the walk among the ruins begins. Your guide talks you through each of these:

• the Great Theater
• the Celsus Library
• the Temple of Hadrian
• then Harbor Street
• the Terrace Houses
• the House of the Virgin Mary
• the Isa Bey Mosque

When the visit is done, your driver and guide return you to the hotel for another night in Kusadasi.

Your guide is at the hotel at 9:00 am. The day's visits are:

• Priene: a Greek city that has survived in better condition than almost any other in the world.
• Miletus: known for its school of philosophy, it also has an impressively well-kept theatre and Roman baths.
• Temple of Apollo at Didyma: home of a celebrated oracle, connected to Miletus in ancient times by a sacred road.

When the visits are done, you are driven back to the hotel. Overnight in Kusadasi.

At 9:00 am the private guide and driver pick you up and set off for Pamukkale, known for its natural calcium terraces shaped by thermal water. The drive takes about 3 hours, and on the way your local guide explains what you are going to see.

On the itinerary:

• Calcium terraces and pools
• The Necropolis
• The Roman Baths
• The Domitian Gate
• The Latrina
• Frontinus Street
• The Agora
• The Byzantium Gate
• The Triton Fountain
• The Cathedral
• The Temple of Apollo
• The Plutonium (seen and explained from outside, since digging is still under way)
• The Theater
• Hierapolis itself

(Optional, extra cost) If time allows, you may swim in the Cleopatra Pool.

Then it is check-in at the hotel. You stay the night in Pamukkale.

At 9:00 am your guide picks you up at the hotel for a day at Laodicea. You will see:

• Laodicea
• The Temple of Zeus
• The theatre
• The Monumental Fountain
• The Temple of the Imperial Cult
• The Caracalla Fountain
• The odeon
• The church
• Syria Avenue
• The gymnasium and the stadium
• Kaklik Cave
• The Honaz Waterfalls

Next comes a transfer to Denizli Airport and a flight back to Istanbul. At Istanbul Airport a member of our team holds up a sign with your name, and a private van drives you to the hotel. You spend the night in Istanbul.

Spend your last day in Istanbul as you like, at your own speed. At the right time you are driven to Istanbul Airport for your international flight.

Our services end here. Thank you for choosing to travel with us, and we hope to see you again soon.