Itinerary for: Wonders of Turkey (I983A)
Day 1 - UK - ISTANBUL
Enjoy your complimentary V.I.P door to door
transfer to your departure airport. You are met at Istanbul airport and transferred to your tour hotel for your two-night stay. This evening, get together with your Tour Director and fellow passengers for a Welcome Drink.
Hotel: Conrad.
Day 2 - ISTANBUL SIGHTSEEING
Get your cameras ready today. Visit the Blue Mosque with its beautiful tiles and the Hippodrome where Roman chariot races were held, and visit St Sophia, at one time a cathedral and a mosque, and now a magnificent museum. Move on to visit the fabulous Topkapi Palace, a walled city perched above the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, and then the famous Grand Bazaar with its vast array of antiques, brassware and carpets.Your guide will give you a full explanation of the time-honoured ritual of bargaining! Consider dinner complete with belly-dancing tonight? (BB)
Day 3 - ISTANBUL - ÇANAKKALE
Drive along the shores of the Sea of Marmara to the peninsula of Gelibolu, better known in the west as Gallipoli. Here are the battlefields where, for nine disastrous months during the Great War, Anzac troops fought unsuccessfully to gain control of the strategic Dardanelle Straits. Visit Anzac Cove and Lone Pine Cemetery, final resting place of soldiers who gave their lives over the entire Gallipoli campaign. From Eceabat, a 30-minute sea crossing to Canakkale takes you from one continent to another as you leave Europe for Asia.
Hotel: Kolin (BB,D)
Day 4 - Ccedil;ANAKKALE - IZMIR
Drive to Homer's legendary city of Troy, where archeological excavation has established nine levels of habitation. See an enormous reconstruction of the famous Trojan wooden horse before continuing to Pergamon, the seat of an ancient kingdom. Visit the Acropolis, the Temple of Athena and the famous library, which is said to have contained 200,000 volumes. View the Red Courtyard and visit the ruins of the Asklepion, one of the most famous shrines and therapeutic centres in the ancient world. Continue to the pretty port of Izmir, beautifully sited overlooking an inlet of the Aegean.
Hotel: Izmir (BB, D)
Day 5 - IZMIR - KUSADASI
En route to Ephesus, visit the archeological museum at Selcuk where many of the excavated artefacts of Ephesus are displayed, and visit the House of the Virgin Mary, spectacularly situated above the Ephesus ruins. Finally, tour Ephesus itself, one of the world's finest archeological sites. Visit the colonnaded Arcadian Way, the splendid facade of the Library of Celsus and see the Amphitheatre, the largest and most impressive structure to survive from Hellenistic Ephesus. Head to the lively coastal town of Kusadasi for an overnight stay. Your hotel is one of the newest and most luxurious in this resort town - relax with a cool drink and take advantage of the hotel's indoor pool, Turkish bath and fitness centre.
Hotel: Charisma (BB, D)
Day 6 - KUSADASI - PAMUKKALE
Follow the Maeander River valley, (so full of twists and turns gives us the word 'meander') to Pamukkale, famous for its 'Cotton Castle', a dazzling chalk-white array of fantastically shaped limestone terraces. Visit the ruins of ancient Hierapolis and the fairyland terraces and see the glistening pools and cascades in scallop-shell basins. The rest of the day is yours to relax and enjoy the blissfully warm thermal pools at the hotel.
Hotel: Colossae Thermal (BB,D)
Day 7 - PAMUKKALE - CAPPADOCIA
Head to Konya, the old capital of the Anatolian Seljuk Empire, now Turkey's most religious city and home to the mystic Whirling Dervish sect. Visit the Mevlana Tekke, a museum and national monument, with its beautiful fluted turquoise dome, which contains the tomb of the Whirling Dervishes' founder. See the Karatay Medrese and Ince Minaret before driving on to the historic region of Nevsehir in Cappadocia.
Hotel: Dedeman (BB,D)
Day 8 - CAPPADOCIA - FULL DAY EXCURSION TO GÖREME
Enjoy an excursion to Goreme, a unique region of volcanic landscapes and rock-hewn churches decorated with ancient wall paintings, some of which you can see in the open-air museum. Continue to the Zelve Valley where the scenery is dotted with churches, caves and troglodyte dwellings. Tour the underground city Kaymakli, and see the cone of Uchisar. Enjoy dinner at the hotel followed by a colourful folklore show in an underground cave, featuring dances from different regions. (BB HD)
Day 9 - CAPPADOCIA - ANKARA
Visit Agzikarahan, one of the best-preserved Seljuk caravanserais in Anatolia. Continue on to Ankara to visit the Hittite Museum and Anit Kabir, the mausoleum of Ataturk, Turkey's greatest modern leader.
Hotel: Hilton (BB,D)
Day 10 - ANKARA - ISTANBUL
Leaving Ankara, take the highway for a scenic drive through the Turkish countryside to Istanbul. Upon arrival, embark on a superb highlight cruise along the Bosphorus Waterway. Travelling towards the old city from close to the Black Sea, the scenery complements the grandeur of the Ottoman palaces, old mansions and fortresses. This evening, why not consider celebrating the culmination of your tour with a farewell dinner at a colourful local restaurant?
Hotel: Conrad (BB)
Day 11 - ISTANBUL - UK
Your tour comes to an end with a transfer to the
airport. On arrival at your UK airport, your driver will greet you and escort you to your waiting car for your return V.I.P door to door transfer home. (BB)