11-Day Istanbul, Cappadocia, Antalya, Pamukkale, Ephesus, Troy & Gallipoli Tour

Day 1: Arrival in Istanbul

Welcome to Istanbul. When you land at either Istanbul Airport (IST) or Sabiha Gökçen Airport (SAW), our representative will be waiting just beyond the international arrivals gate holding a sign with your name, then drive you straight to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours to settle in, rest after the flight or wander the streets around your hotel at your own pace.

If you’d rather round off your first evening with something memorable, ask us about the optional Night Cruise on the Bosphorus with dinner and a show.

• Overnight in Istanbul
• Included Meal(s): None

Day 2: Full-day Byzantine and Ottoman Istanbul Tour

After breakfast, your guide will collect you from the hotel for a full day exploring the old city on foot. You’ll begin at the ancient Hippodrome on Sultanahmet Square, once a Roman chariot arena and now an open square where three surviving monuments still stand. A short walk brings you to the Blue Mosque, named for the more than 20,000 blue and white İznik tiles lining its interior. Next comes Hagia Sophia, one of the great buildings of the world, where Christian mosaics and Islamic calligraphy share the same soaring space.

After lunch you’ll continue to Topkapi Palace, the seat of the Ottoman sultans for centuries, and finish at the Grand Bazaar, a covered maze of 65 streets and some 4,000 shops selling carpets, spices, tea sets, porcelain, gold and silver, lamps and lanterns. A few stalls tempt you with Turkish snacks along the way. Your guide will see you back to your hotel in the late afternoon.

• Overnight in Istanbul
• Included Meal(s): Breakfast, Lunch

Day 3: Bosphorus Cruise and Flight from Istanbul to Cappadocia

Following breakfast you’ll head down to the pier at Eminönü, with a stop at the historic Spice Market along the way for its heady mix of dried fruit, teas and spices. From there you’ll board a shared boat for a morning cruise on the Bosphorus, the strait dividing Europe and Asia and linking the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. As you glide along you’ll pass Dolmabahçe Palace, Beylerbeyi Palace, the Bosphorus Bridge and rows of old waterfront mansions on both shores.

Afterwards you’ll return to the hotel to collect your luggage, then transfer to the domestic airport for your flight to Kayseri or Nevşehir, roughly an hour and a half in the air. On arrival you’ll be met and driven to your cave hotel in Cappadocia, with the rest of the day free to relax.

• Overnight in Cappadocia
• Included Meal(s): Breakfast

Day 4: North Cappadocia Tour

If you fancy an early start, this is the morning to book an optional hot air balloon flight over the valleys at first light — a spectacular way to see the region, at additional cost.

After breakfast your guide will collect you for a full day across northern Cappadocia. You’ll start at Devrent Valley, known for its strange fairy chimneys, then move on to Pasabag Valley, also called Monks Valley, where mushroom-shaped rock pinnacles rise from the ground. After passing through the town of Avanos and stopping for lunch, you’ll visit the Zelve Open Air Museum, a cluster of carved caves and old churches that tell the story of the region’s monastic past. The day ends with a stop at the natural rock citadel of Uchisar (viewed from outside) before you’re driven back to your hotel with the rest of the afternoon at leisure.

• Overnight in Cappadocia
• Included Meal(s): Breakfast, Lunch

Day 5: South Cappadocia Tour

After breakfast you’ll meet your guide for a full day through southern Cappadocia. You’ll begin at the Red Valley, where rock-cut churches are carved into the cliffs, then walk roughly 5 km through the neighbouring Rose Valley with its warm-hued rock formations. Next is Cavusin Village, once home to Christian clergy and still dotted with old houses and chapels.

You’ll pause for lunch around midday, then drive to Pigeon Valley, named for the dovecotes cut into the soft stone. In the afternoon you’ll head underground into the Kaymakli Underground City (or Ozkonak), where early Christians once sheltered across several hidden levels. Afterwards you’ll be transferred back to your hotel.

• Overnight in Cappadocia
• Included Meal(s): Breakfast, Lunch

Day 6: Flight from Cappadocia to Antalya

After breakfast you’ll check out and be driven to Kayseri Airport for your flight to Antalya on the Mediterranean coast. On arrival you’ll be met and taken to your hotel, with the rest of the day free to enjoy at your own pace — perhaps the old harbour, the beach, or the lanes of the old town.

• Overnight in Antalya
• Included Meal(s): Breakfast

Day 7: Perge, Aspendos, Side and Manavgat Waterfall, then Bus to Pamukkale

After an early breakfast your guide will collect you to explore the ancient cities east of Antalya. You’ll start at Perge, first settled by the Hittites around 1500 BC and once one of the largest cities of the Pamphylia region. From there you’ll continue to the Aspendos Theatre, a Roman theatre from the 2nd century AD that seats around 15,000 and is still used today for concerts and festivals, remarkably intact after all this time.

Lunch is at a riverside restaurant before you carry on to Side (say ‘See-day’), a former port and slave-trading centre where the Romans left behind a grand theatre, Roman baths and the seafront Temple of Apollo. You’ll have around an hour of free time to enjoy the sea and the ruins, then stop at the Manavgat Waterfall on the way back. In the evening you’ll be dropped at Antalya’s main bus station for an intercity coach to Pamukkale, a journey of roughly five hours, where you’ll be met and taken to your hotel.

• Overnight in Pamukkale
• Included Meal(s): Breakfast, Lunch

Day 8: Pamukkale and Hierapolis Tour

After breakfast your guide will collect you for a full day at Pamukkale, the famous ‘cotton castle’ of white travertine terraces formed over thousands of years by mineral-rich thermal water spilling down the hillside. You’ll walk barefoot across the terraces and take in the pools that give the site its name.

Above them lies Hierapolis, the ancient spa city built around these same hot springs, where you’ll see the theatre, the colonnaded streets and the sprawling necropolis. If you like, you can take a dip in the Antique Pool among submerged Roman columns (optional, at extra cost). Afterwards you’ll be transferred back to your hotel.

• Overnight in Pamukkale
• Included Meal(s): Breakfast, Lunch

Day 9: Travel from Pamukkale to Ephesus and Kusadasi

After breakfast and check-out you’ll travel west towards the Aegean coast for a full day at Ephesus, one of the best-preserved ancient cities in the Mediterranean. Walking its marble streets you’ll see the Library of Celsus, the great Grand Theatre, the Temple of Hadrian and the terraced houses where the city’s wealthy once lived.

You’ll also stop at the House of the Virgin Mary on nearby Bulbul Mountain, believed to be where Mary spent her final years. There’s time to see local craft and carpet-making along the way before you’re taken to your hotel for the night.

• Overnight in Kusadasi
• Included Meal(s): Breakfast, Lunch

Day 10: Travel to Canakkale via Troy and Pergamon

After breakfast you’ll head north along the coast, breaking the journey at two great ancient sites. First is Pergamon, once a major centre of learning and medicine, where you’ll visit the hilltop acropolis and its steep theatre with sweeping views over the plain below.

Later you’ll reach Troy, the city of Homer’s Iliad, where nine layers of settlement span thousands of years. You’ll walk among the excavated walls and see the wooden Trojan Horse that stands at the entrance. From there you’ll continue to Canakkale for the night, on the shore of the Dardanelles.

• Overnight in Canakkale
• Included Meal(s): Breakfast, Lunch

Day 11: Gallipoli Battlefields Tour and Return to Istanbul

After breakfast you’ll cross to the Gallipoli Peninsula for a guided tour of the 1915 battlefields. You’ll visit ANZAC Cove, where the landings took place at dawn, along with Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair and the trenches at The Nek, walking the ground where Australian, New Zealand and Turkish soldiers fought and are now remembered together.

After the tour you’ll begin the drive back to Istanbul, arriving in the evening where the tour ends. If you have a late flight or an extra night in the city, we’re happy to help arrange onward transfers.

• Included Meal(s): Breakfast, Lunch

Inclusions

• Professional licensed guides throughout
• Domestic flights Istanbul–Cappadocia and Cappadocia–Antalya
• Antalya–Pamukkale intercity coach ticket
• 10 nights hotel accommodation with daily breakfast
• All lunches on touring days
• Airport and hotel transfers
• Air-conditioned transport and entrance fees on the program

Exclusions

• International flights
• Dinners and drinks
• Hot air balloon ride and Antique Pool entry
• Personal expenses
• Tips and gratuities
• Travel insurance