Turkey Private Tour Package, 15 Days: Istanbul, Coast & Cappadocia

On arrival at Istanbul Airport you are met by our representative holding a sign with your name, then driven to your hotel in a private van.

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

The Old City tour starts when your guide collects you from your hotel lobby or the cruise port. The stops are:

• Highlights of Topkapi Palace Museum: the palace was not only a home for the sultans but also the centre of Ottoman government for close to 400 years, and it is still one of the finest examples of Oriental architecture.
• Hippodrome / Sultanahmet Square: in Roman times chariots raced here. Two monuments stand on the square today: the Egyptian Obelisk, which dates to Byzantine times, and the German Fountain.
• Hagia Sophia: Emperor Justinian had it built in the 6th century, and it holds deep meaning for Christians and Muslims alike. When the Ottomans took the city and turned the church into a mosque, they removed its bells, altar and sacred vessels and covered many of the mosaics.
• Blue Mosque: Sultan Ahmed I had this masterpiece built in the early 1600s. Despite its great size, its proportions give it a surprisingly light feel.
• Grand Bazaar: among the oldest and biggest covered markets anywhere, with over 4,000 shops for carpets, rugs, ceramics, leather, handicrafts, clothing, gold and silver.

Your guide brings you back to your hotel when the tour finishes.

*Should one of the mosques be closed to visitors, the Basilica Cistern replaces it.

For the Bosphorus tour, you are collected at your hotel lobby or the cruise port by your guide. The day includes:

• Spice Market
• Bosphorus Cruise: a public ferry carries you back and forth from Europe to Asia, past Galata Tower, Dolmabahce Palace, Beylerbeyi Palace, Rumeli Fortress, the Bosphorus Bridge, historic Ottoman mansions and the mosques along the water.
• Dolmabahce Palace
• Taksim Square
• Cicek Passage
• Istiklal Street

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

Your guide brings you back to your hotel at the end of the day.

Your guide collects you from the hotel lobby or the cruise port to start today's Golden Horn tour. Stops include:

• Suleymaniye Mosque
• Fener
• Balat
• St. Stephen Church
• Pierre Loti Hill and its cable car, where you can sip a Turkish coffee or tea while looking out over the Golden Horn
• Chora Church (Kariye Mosque)

When the tour is over, your guide takes you back to the hotel. In the evening you watch a Whirling Dervish ceremony lasting one hour, which offers an insight into Sufism.

Overnight in Istanbul.

At 8:00 am your private guide and van wait at the hotel to drive you to Troy, the city linked in legend with Helen and the Trojan Horse. On the visit you see:

• The Trojan Horse
• The Troy Museum
• Altars used for sacrifice
• City walls dating back 3,700 years
• Houses from Troy I
• The Bouleuterion, or Senate Building
• The Odeon, or Concert Hall
• Remains of every layer of the city, from Troy I to Troy IX
• The ancient city of Pergamon
• Altar of Zeus
• The Acropolis

Then the drive continues to your Kusadasi hotel for the night.

At 11:00 am your guide collects you from the hotel. The day's visits are:

• Sirince, a village that keeps its Ottoman-era character
• Smyrna, an ancient town known from the Bible

You return to your hotel after the tour and stay another night in Kusadasi.

Your guide picks you up at your Kusadasi hotel and explains the story of Ephesus, then leads you on foot around the ancient city. The guided visit covers:

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

After the visits, your guide and driver return you to the hotel. You spend the night in Kusadasi.

At 9:00 am you are collected by your private guide and driver for Pamukkale, where thermal water has created natural calcium pools. During the drive of roughly 3 hours, your local guide explains the places you pass.

The visit includes:

• The calcium pools
• Necropolis
• Roman Baths
• Domitian Gate
• Latrina
• Frontinus Street
• Agora
• Byzantium Gate
• Triton Fountain
• Cathedral
• Temple of Apollo
• Plutonium (described from the outside, as excavations are still under way)
• Theater
• Hierapolis

(Optional, extra cost) Time permitting, you can take a swim in the Cleopatra Pool.

A drive of about 4 hours then takes you to Antalya for the night.

Your private guide and driver are waiting for you at 10:00 am. The day covers:

• Perge: an ancient city of Pamphylia that lay on St. Paul's route; its stadium is part of the visit.
• Aspendos Theatre: ranked among the most complete Roman theatres anywhere.
• Manavgat Waterfalls
• Side and its attractive streets

After the tour the driver returns you to the hotel for another night in Antalya.

Your private guide and driver collect you at 10:00 am. Today you see:

• Demre: the site of the rock-cut Lycian tombs of Myra.
• Church of St. Nicholas: linked to the saint whose story gave rise to Santa Claus.
• Kekova Island by boat: a trip out to view the well-known sunken city.

*Pack your swimsuit; you will have a chance to swim.

The day ends with the drive back to your hotel and a night in Antalya.

The journey from Antalya to Cappadocia starts at 9:00 am, when your private guide and driver collect you, and it passes through Konya, a city with a strong spiritual heritage. Along the route there is a break at the Sultanhan Caravanserai, among the biggest and most significant caravanserais of Central Anatolia.

The drive from Antalya is a long one, and your guide explains the sights you pass.

Visits in Konya:

• Mevlana Museum
• Karatay Madrasa (Tile and Stone Art Museum)
• Ince Minaret Madrasa (Wood Art Museum)

Following lunch in Konya, the drive continues to Cappadocia, where you are dropped at your hotel for the night.

(Optional) An early pickup can take you to a hot air balloon flight of one hour above Cappadocia's valleys. Once you land, a small celebration and a flight certificate ceremony take place in the valley, and then you return to the hotel for breakfast.

The North Cappadocia tour starts at 10:00 am, when your private guide and driver come for you. It covers:

• Uchisar Castle
• Goreme Open Air Museum
• Avanos
• Valley of Monks (Pasabag)
• Devrent Valley

Your guide and driver take you back to the hotel at the end. Overnight in Cappadocia.

At 10:00 am your private guide and driver pick you up at the hotel for the South Cappadocia tour. At every stop the guide gives you the background:

• Kaymakli Underground City
• The Rose Valley
• Love Valley
• The Pigeon Valley
• Ortahisar Castle
• Mustafapasa (Sinasos)

When the tour is over, you are transferred to the airport for the flight to Istanbul. On arrival our representative holds up a sign with your name and takes you to the hotel by private van. You spend the night in Istanbul.

At 11:00 am you meet your guide at the hotel for a 4-hour walking food tour. You sample local Turkish dishes and take the public ferry across to Kadikoy.

Your guide then sees you back to the hotel. Overnight in Istanbul.

Spend your final day in Istanbul as you like. At the right time, a transfer takes you to Istanbul Airport for your international flight.

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