10 Days Turkey Tour

Your ten-day Turkey package begins as you arrive in Istanbul. Our driver will be waiting at the exit with a sign showing your name and will take you to your hotel. Check in at your leisure and rest after the flight. At a convenient time, your travel consultant will meet you at the hotel to welcome you and run through the days ahead.

After breakfast, your guide leads you out from the lobby on a walking tour of historic Istanbul. The day's stops include Hagia Sophia, the famous Blue Mosque and the Hippodrome — with its Egyptian Obelisk of Theodosius and the Serpentine Column from Delphi — plus the German Fountain, the magnificent Topkapi Palace and the sprawling Grand Bazaar, all reached on foot. At the end of the day you will be driven back to your hotel.

After an early check-out, your driver will collect you for the roughly four-hour journey to the Gallipoli peninsula, pausing for breakfast en route. On arrival you will break for lunch before visiting Brighton Beach, the Ariburnu and ANZAC Cove cemeteries, the Lone Pine Australian memorial, the original tunnels and trenches at Johnston's Jolly, the Nek cemetery, Chunuk Bair, and the Ataturk and New Zealand memorials. At the end of the day you will be transferred to your hotel.

After breakfast and check-out, we will collect you from the lobby and set off for Troy. You will begin at the replica of the wooden Trojan Horse — which you can climb into for a photo — the excavation information centre with its underground exhibits, the fortification walls of Troy VI with their tower and gateway, the sacrificial altars, the Odeon and the Temple of Athena. After lunch, we drive on to the ancient city of Pergamon to see the Acropolis and its library, the temples of Athena and Dionysus, the Altar of Zeus, the lower Agora, the Asclepion, the Hellenistic theatre and the Red Basilica, once a temple to Serapis. The theatre, built dramatically into the steep hillside, is especially impressive. We then continue to the resort town of Kusadasi and drop you at your hotel.

After breakfast, be ready to be collected at the set time by your guide for a full day at Pamukkale and Hierapolis — about three hours' drive through lovely scenery, with a lunch break on arrival. You will visit the gates of ancient Hierapolis, its necropolis and beautiful ancient theatre, and the famous travertines, whose icy-white panorama is one of the trip's most captivating sights; there is the chance to swim among the ruins in Cleopatra's pool or visit the Hierapolis Archaeology Museum. At the end of the tour you will be transferred back to Kusadasi (Bird Island).

After breakfast and check-out, your guide will collect you for a tour of Ephesus, one of the final highlights of your trip. You will visit the Temple of Artemis — one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — the 25,000-seat amphitheatre, the famous Library of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian and the harbour street of the ancient city, ending at the House of the Virgin Mary, her final home. Afterwards you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Cappadocia, where our representative will meet you and take you to your hotel.

A sunrise hot-air balloon flight over Cappadocia is one of the great experiences of the trip, if you would like to add it. After breakfast, be ready in the lobby for your tour of northern Cappadocia. You will begin at the Esentepe rock panorama, see the Byzantine-era Uchisar Castle from outside, and explore Pasabag, Devrent and the Three Beauties valleys, all key sights of the region. The day continues in the old towns of Urgup and Avanos, the latter famous for red-clay pottery, where you can try the wheel. At the end of the day you will be transferred to your hotel.

After breakfast and check-out, your guide will collect you for a tour of southern Cappadocia. You will head to Meskendir and Rose Valley, famous for their red rock formations, with time to walk among the scenery, then visit Cavusin with its cave houses and the well-named Pigeon Valley. The view from Love Valley is unforgettable, and you will descend into the Kaymakli Underground City, with its many levels of rooms, wineries, tombs and stables. At the end of the tour you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Istanbul, where our representative will meet you at the exit and take you to your hotel.

After breakfast, spend the day exploring Istanbul as you please. A half-day Bosphorus cruise is a wonderful way to see the city from the water, or you could arrange a day out to the nearby islands for a swim or a bike ride. In the evening, a Bosphorus dinner cruise shows off Istanbul at its most beautiful, the lights of the European and Asian shores reflected on the water.

After breakfast, we will arrange your transfer to the international airport in line with your flight. This brings your ten-day Turkey package to a close, and we hope to welcome you again.