5 Days Cappadocia, Pamukkale, Ephesus, Troy & Gallipoli Tour

Day 1: Flight from Istanbul to Cappadocia and North Cappadocia Tour

04:00 A car collects you from your Istanbul hotel for the transfer to the domestic airport, ready for your morning flight to Kayseri or Nevsehir (departing sometime between 06:00 and 07:30). It’s an early start, but it buys you a full day on the ground. When you land, a driver is waiting to bring you into Cappadocia, where you’ll meet your licensed guide and set off on a full day exploring the northern valleys.

First stop is Devrent Valley, where wind and water have carved the rock into fairy chimneys and shapes that look oddly like animals. From there you move on to Pasabag Valley, also known as Monks Valley, famous for its tall mushroom-capped pinnacles. After lunch in the pottery town of Avanos, you’ll walk through the Zelve Open Air Museum, a cluster of carved caves and old rock churches that were lived in and worshipped in for centuries. Late in the day, before heading to your hotel, you’ll take in the natural rock fortress of Uchisar.

Once the tour wraps up you’ll be dropped at your cave hotel to check in. In the evening you can, if you like, add on a traditional Turkish Night show with dinner (at extra cost).

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

Day 2: South Cappadocia Tour and Overnight Bus to Pamukkale

If you fancy something special, you can book a hot air balloon flight at dawn and float over the valleys as the sun comes up. It’s an optional extra, arranged separately, and worth the early alarm.

09:30 After breakfast your guide meets you at the hotel and runs through the plan for the day. You’ll begin at the Red Valley, where you can look inside old rock-cut churches and walk roughly 5 km through the neighbouring Rose Valley. Next comes Cavusin Village, known for its cave houses and the churches once used by Christian clergy. Around midday you’ll stop for lunch, then carry on to Pigeon Valley in the afternoon. The final visit is one of the underground cities — either Kaymakli or Ozkonak — where early Christian communities hid and lived below ground.

21:00 That evening you board a non-smoking, air-conditioned coach for the overnight run to Pamukkale. The journey takes about 10 hours, with three comfort stops along the way.

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

Day 3: Pamukkale and Hierapolis Tour, Transfer to Kusadasi

You’ll reach the Pamukkale/Denizli bus station between 05:30 and 06:00. From there you’re taken to a hotel to freshen up and have breakfast — there’s no room stay, just somewhere to wash off the overnight journey. Once you’re feeling human again, you’ll meet the rest of the group in the lobby.

09:30 The guided day begins. Around 10:00 you’ll stop at Karahayit to see its red spring waters, then drive across to explore the ancient city of Hierapolis from about 10:30. There’s a lot here — the Necropolis, Roman Baths, Domitian Gate, the Latrina, the old oil factory, Frontinus Street, the Agora, the Byzantine Gate, the Triton Fountain, the Cathedral, the Temple of Apollo, the Plutonium and the great Theatre, along with the Cleopatra Antique Pools. Around 12:30 you get roughly an hour to yourself; you can swim in the antique pools during this time if you like (at your own expense).

13:30 You’ll rejoin your guide for the Pamukkale Travertines — the white terraces that give the place its “Cotton Castle” name — walking barefoot down over the mineral pools. Lunch follows at 14:30 at a local restaurant, and at around 15:30 there’s a short 30-minute visit to an onyx workshop. From about 16:00 you set off for Kusadasi, roughly a three-hour drive, and you’ll be dropped at your hotel on arrival.

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

Day 4: Full Day in Ephesus and Bus to Canakkale

08:30 After breakfast your guide collects you for a full day at Ephesus, one of the great cities of the ancient Greek and Roman world. You’ll walk among its marble streets and see the Temple of Hadrian, the Great Theatre and the Trajan Fountain.

After lunch you’ll visit the House of the Virgin Mary, thought to be where she spent her final years. You’ll pass the Temple of Artemis — once one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, though little of it survives today — before stopping at the Isa Bey Mosque. The last visit is Sirince Village, an old Greek hillside settlement known for its wine. You’ll have about an hour to wander the lanes on your own, taste the local wines and fruit liqueurs, and poke around the small village shops.

18:00 You’ll be driven back to Kusadasi to board a public bus to Canakkale. It’s a long evening on the road, arriving around 00:30 with two comfort stops on the way. A driver meets you at the Canakkale bus station and takes you to your hotel.

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

Day 5: Troy and Gallipoli Tour, Bus back to Istanbul

08:30 After breakfast and check-out, you’re collected from your Canakkale hotel to begin the day at Troy. You’ll see the wooden Trojan Horse, the sacrificial altars, the 3,700-year-old city walls, the houses of Troy I dating back to 3000–2500 B.C., the Bouleuterion (senate building), the Odeon (concert hall) and the layered remains of the nine cities stacked one on top of another.

11:30 The Troy visit wraps up and you cross to Eceabat, with free time there until 13:00 and lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon the Gallipoli tour begins. You’ll visit Brighton Beach, the intended landing spot, and Beach Cemetery at the southern end of Anzac Cove, where the first wave of Australian and New Zealand troops came ashore. From there you’ll see Ariburnu Cemetery, the Anzac Commemoration Site, the Lone Pine Australian Memorial, and Johnston’s Jolly, where the original Allied and Turkish trenches and tunnels still lie close together. You’ll also visit the 57th Regiment Turkish Memorial, The Nek and the Chunuk Bair New Zealand Memorial.

18:00 With the Gallipoli tour finished, you set off back to Istanbul, arriving around 23:00 and dropped at your hotel, where our service ends.

• Included Meal(s): Breakfast, Lunch

Inclusions

• Domestic flight from Istanbul to Kayseri/Nevsehir
• Professional licensed guides throughout
• Hotel pickups and drop-offs
• Air-conditioned transport and overnight coaches
• 4 nights’ accommodation as listed (cave hotel in Cappadocia)
• Daily breakfast and lunches on tour
• Entrance fees to sites on the program

Exclusions

• Dinners and drinks
• Hot air balloon ride and Turkish Night show
• Pamukkale antique pool swim
• Personal expenses
• Tips and gratuities
• Travel insurance