8 Days Turkey Tour

Welcome to Istanbul, where your eight days in Turkey begin. As you come through arrivals, our driver will be holding a sign with your name and will take you straight to your hotel. Take your time to check in and unwind after the journey. At a convenient hour, your travel consultant will drop by to greet you and walk you through the programme to come.

Following breakfast, your guide collects you from the lobby for a day on foot through old Istanbul. You will visit Hagia Sophia, the magnificent Blue Mosque and the Hippodrome, where the Egyptian Obelisk of Theodosius and the Serpentine Column from Delphi still stand. The walk continues past the German Fountain to Topkapi Palace, the lavish residence of the Ottoman court, before ending at the colourful Grand Bazaar. Everything is within walking distance, and you will be transferred back to your hotel at the end of the day.

Early this morning your driver will collect you from the hotel for the transfer to the airport and your one-hour flight to Cappadocia. On arrival, our representative will meet you at the exit and take you to our office, where you can leave your luggage before setting off on a guided tour of northern Cappadocia. You will take in the sweeping panorama from Esentepe, see the Byzantine-era Uchisar Castle from below, and explore Pasabag, Devrent and the Three Beauties valleys — among the most striking landscapes in the region. The day continues in the old towns of Urgup and Avanos, the latter famous for its red-clay pottery, where you are welcome to try your hand at the wheel. Afterwards you will be transferred to your hotel.

A sunrise hot-air balloon flight over Cappadocia comes highly recommended — for many, the standout moment of the trip. 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 aptly named Pigeon Valley and the panorama from Love Valley. You will explore the Kaymakli Underground City, descending past its rooms, wineries, tombs and stables. The tour ends around 5:00 pm, when you will be transferred to your hotel.

After breakfast and check-out, we set off for Pamukkale, breaking the journey at Konya — the adopted home of Rumi (Mevlana), the Sufi mystic who inspired the Whirling Dervishes, and once a major trading city on the Silk Road. We reach Pamukkale at the end of the day and check into the hotel.

After breakfast and check-out, your guide will collect you at the set time for a full day at Pamukkale and Hierapolis. You will visit the gates of ancient Hierapolis, its necropolis and beautiful ancient theatre, and the famous travertines, whose panorama, gleaming like an icy mountain, is one of the trip's most captivating sights; you can swim among the ruins in Cleopatra's pool or visit the Hierapolis Archaeology Museum. At the end of the tour you will be transferred to the lovely resort town of Kusadasi.

After breakfast and check-out, your guide will collect you for a tour of Ephesus. 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 the one-hour flight to Istanbul, where our representative will meet you and take you to your hotel.

After breakfast, check out of the hotel between 12:00 and 1:00 pm. Depending on your international flight time, your driver will be waiting in the lobby to take you to the airport, where you will leave with fond memories of your eight days in Turkey.