10 Days Turkey Tour

Your ten-day journey through Turkey begins as you arrive in Istanbul. Our driver will be waiting at the exit with a sign bearing your name and will take you to your hotel. Take your time to check in and rest after the flight. At a convenient hour, your travel consultant will meet you at the hotel to welcome you and outline the days to come.

After breakfast, your guide will meet you in the lobby for a walking tour of the old city. The day takes in the great highlights of historic Istanbul: the soaring dome of Hagia Sophia, the elegant Blue Mosque, and the ancient Hippodrome with its Obelisk of Theodosius brought from Egypt and the Serpentine Column from the Temple of Delphi. You will pause at the German Fountain, explore the grand courtyards of Topkapi Palace — once home to the Ottoman sultans — and finish among the maze of stalls in the Grand Bazaar. The whole route is walkable, and afterwards you will be driven back to your hotel.

We make an early start, transferring you from the hotel to the airport for the flight to Cappadocia. On arrival, our representative will greet you and take you to our office, where your full-day tour of northern Cappadocia begins. You will visit Uchisar, with its great hilltop rock carved full of cave rooms, and Urgup, known for the fairy chimneys that symbolise Cappadocia, along with Devrent Valley and Avanos — the centre of Turkey's red-clay pottery since Hittite times. The day's highlight is the Goreme Open-Air Museum, where rock-cut churches preserve some of the country's finest frescoes. The tour ends around 4:30 pm, leaving the rest of the day free to explore the lovely town of Goreme.

Make the most of the morning with an optional sunrise balloon flight over Cappadocia. After breakfast and check-out, your guide will collect you for a tour of southern Cappadocia: Meskendir and Rose Valley with their red rock and walking trails, the cave houses of Cavusin, the well-named Pigeon Valley and the view from Love Valley. You will explore the Kaymakli Underground City and its many levels of rooms, wineries, tombs and stables, and have the chance to see a traditional carpet-weaving demonstration. At the end of the tour you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Izmir, where our representative will meet you at the exit and take you to your hotel in the Kusadasi area.

Following breakfast, our guide picks you up from the hotel and heads for the ancient city of Ephesus. Among the highlights are the Temple of Artemis — one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — the great amphitheatre seating 25,000, the iconic Library of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian and the marble harbour street. You will finish at the House of the Virgin Mary before returning to your hotel.

After breakfast, your guide will collect you at the set time for a full day at Pamukkale and Hierapolis — about two and a half 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 snowy-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 your hotel.

After breakfast and check-out, we will collect you from the lobby and head for Pergamon. Following a lunch break, we will explore the ancient city — the Acropolis and the Altar of Zeus, the lower Agora, the Asclepion healing centre, the Hellenistic theatre, the Temple of Dionysus and the Red Basilica, once a temple to Serapis. The theatre is the real showpiece, a remarkable feat of engineering set into the steep hillside. From Pergamon we drive on towards Gallipoli, staying overnight in Canakkale.

After breakfast and check-out, your driver will collect you for an afternoon tour of Troy. You will see 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, focal point of a great annual festival in the goddess's honour. At the end of the day you will be transferred to your hotel in Istanbul.

After breakfast, enjoy a free day to explore Istanbul at your leisure — browse the bazaars or discover the modern side of the city at your own pace.

After breakfast and check-out, we will arrange your transfer to the international airport for your flight home. This brings your ten-day Turkey tour to a close, and we would be delighted to welcome you back one day.