Turkey Tours

A tour to discover the essence of a wonderful land, from the minarets on the Bosphorus to Cappadocia, with stops along the way enveloped in the magic of the places.

DEPARTURES EVERY SUNDAY FROM 01.03.24 TO 28.11.24

ISTANBUL / ANKARA / CAPPADOCIA / PAMUKKALE / IZMIR / PERGAMON / ISTANBUL

Day 1:

Arrival in Istanbul and welcome at the airport. Transfer to the hotel (Novotel Zeytinburnu or similar) and accommodation in the room. Dinner at the hotel (for arrivals before 21:00) and overnight.

Day 2:

Breakfast at the hotel. Pass through the Golden Horn, the ancient port during the Byzantine and later Ottoman periods. Visit the ancient Hippodrome, where chariot races were held; the obelisks; Sultan Ahmet's Mosque famous as the Blue Mosque, known for its 17th-century majolica tiles; and the Imperial Palace of Topkapi (the Harem section and the Church of St Irene are included), home of the Sultans for almost four centuries, whose architecture with its magnificent decorations and furnishings bears witness to the power and majesty of the Ottoman Empire. Lunch in a restaurant. Visit to the Hagia Sophia Church, a masterpiece of Byzantine architecture; the Basilica Cistern, built under the reign of Justinian I in 532, the most prosperous period of the Eastern Roman Empire; and the Grand Bazaar, the largest covered market in the world, characterised by its domed roof and formed by a maze of alleys and streets. Possibility of taking part in the Bosphorus Cruise excursion (optional, extra charge) to admire both the Asian and European sides of the city and its most important palaces, mosques and fortresses. Transfer back to the hotel. Dinner at the hotel and overnight stay

Day 3:

Breakfast at the hotel. Departure for the capital of Turkey: Ankara via the Euroasia Bridge, famous for its wonderful panorama. Arrival in Ankara and lunch in a restaurant. Visit to the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations, also known as the Hittite Museum, where the exhibits are displayed in chronological order and visitors can follow the evolution of the civilisations that followed one another in Anatolia from prehistoric times to the Roman period. Continuation to Cappadocia with a stop at the Salt Lake. Transfer to the hotel (Hotel Perissia or similar) and accommodation in the room. Dinner at the hotel and overnight stay. Possibility of attending the show (optional, extra charge) of the dancing dervishes

Day 4:

Possibility of taking part in a hot-air balloon trip to admire from above the breathtaking lunar landscape of Cappadocia illuminated by the first light of dawn (optional, subject to payment and availability of places. This trip may be cancelled even a few hours before the start due to adverse weather conditions). Breakfast at the hotel. Visit to the open-air museum of Goreme, the most spectacular and famous of the Cappadocian valleys, dotted with rocky columns carved into the tufa, which are called "fairy chimneys" because they give the valley a fairy-tale appearance; to the Devrent Valley, where time has eroded the rock, forming peaks, cones and obelisks; and to a local cooperative where you can discover all the secrets of making the famous Turkish carpets on display, with optional purchase and shipping. Lunch in a restaurant. Visit to Ozkonak (or Saratli), one of the complex shelters
underground known as the 'underground cities'; the Citadel of Uchisar, located inside a tuffaceous rock cone; and a workshop for working semi-precious stones, gold and silver. Transfer back to the hotel. Dinner at the hotel and overnight stay. Possibility of attending a folkloric evening (optional, extra charge) with a belly dancer.

Day 5:

Possibility of participating in the Jeep Safari excursion (optional, extra charge), one of the best ways to enjoy Cappadocia's unique landscapes, its valleys and incredible mix of rock formations and rolling hills. An itinerary full of evocative stops to photograph the landscapes and characteristic hot-air balloons. Breakfast at the hotel.Departure for Pamukkale through valleys and mountain ranges. Visit the Sultanhani Caravanserai (13th century), now a museum. Lunch in a restaurant. Continue with a visit to ancient Hierapolis, which was destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt in 17 AD, and had its heyday in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Visit Pamukkale, where visitors will be surprised to see on the hillside and leaning against each other, dozens of huge pools formed by the slow, millennial flow of limestone water. It seems as if time has stopped and the waterfalls of a gigantic fountain are petrified as suggested by the name of the place Pamukkale, which translated into Italian means 'cotton fortress'. Transfer to the hotel (Hotel Lycus River or similar) and accommodation in the room. Dinner at the hotel and overnight stay. Possibility of a swim in the hotel's thermal pool.

Day 6:

Breakfast at the hotel. Visit to Ephesus: Hadrian's Temple, the Library of Celsio, the Grand Theatre and the Ephesus Experience Museum. Stop at a characteristic leather shop. Lunch in a restaurant. Visit to a local cooperative for hand-painted ceramics, known for their beauty and quality. Departure for Izmir, the country's third largest city, also considered the most beautiful after Istanbul. Transfer to the hotel (Hotel Kaya Prestige or similar) and accommodation in your room. Dinner at the hotel and overnight stay.

Day 7:

Breakfast at the hotel. Visit to Pergamon (the Acropol section is excluded) and the Aschlepion, located southwest of the city, was dedicated to the god of health: Aesculapius. Lunch in a restaurant. Passage over the Osmangazi Bridge, the fourth longest bridge in the world in terms of the length of its central span. Arrival at the hotel (Hotel Titanic Kartal or similar) and accommodation in the room. Dinner at the hotel and overnight.

Day 8:

Breakfast at the hotel. Free morning. Transfer to the airport for the flight back to Italy. Transfer to the hotel. Meeting with the group and guide at dinner.

 

THE TRIP INCLUDES
International flights with baggage included (catering sold on board for PC flights and included for TK flights).
Overnight stay of 7 nights in 4* / 5* hotels.
Full board: 7 (B) Breakfasts, 6 (P) Lunches and 7 (C) Dinners included (excluding drinks).
Professional Italian-speaking guide during the tour
Minibus or coach with A/C from arrival to return.
Board and lodging for the guide and driver.
Tourist taxes.
Airport taxes.
Insurance all inclusive.

THE FEE DOES NOT INCLUDE:
Optional surcharge €150 PP for TK flights.
Tips in hotels & restaurants and entrance fees to museums & sites amounting to € 175 PP to be paid on arrival to the guide (compulsory).
Tips for the guide and driver of € 25 PP.
Personal extras, optional excursions.

The wording 'or similar' for hotels refers to the fact that we have blocked rooms in more than one hotel and cannot mention them all in our programmes.
The wording 'indicative' for operations refers to the fact that most PNRs provide for the above-mentioned operations and both carriers still have the right to use flights other than those indicated on exceptional dates at airports where they operate more than one flight.
There is no triple room in city hotels and it is meant to be a small extra bed for the third adult.
Child 2 - 5.99 does not pay for tips in hotels & restaurants and entrance fees to museums & sites.
Arrival and departure transfers include the assistance of a professional Italian-speaking guide to support the Turkish-speaking driver only in the case of collective transfers with more than 10 passengers.
For logistical reasons, passengers departing on Turkish Airlines flights from Istanbul IST Airport will be accommodated for the last night in the European part of the city instead of at the Hotel Titanic Kartal (or similar), which is closer to Istanbul SAW Airport.
During the journey between Cappadocia and Pamukkale, there are not many alternatives for lunch, so it is planned to do so at roadside refreshment points or petrol stations in order not to burden the journey with long detours and to optimise transfer times.
Optional hot-air balloon and jeep safari excursions are not part of the tour. They are activities organised by third parties who are also entitled to carry out the excursion in areas and valleys other than the traditional ones for weather or traffic reasons. The legal organisational responsibility belongs to the tour organiser who has the freedom to define or change the price, itinerary and method of booking or payment without this being attributable in any way to the tour organiser