Grand tour of Turkey
PERIOD: 01.09 – 15.11.2015
PRICE: 775 E/person
ROUTE: Istanbul – Canakkale – Kusadasi – Pamukkale – Cappadocia – Ankara – Istanbul
SERVICES PROVIDED: 12 nights accommodation with breakfast and five dinners at 3* and 4* hotels (two and three beds rooms):
- 1 night Istanbul
- 1 night Canakkale area
- 3 nights Kusadasi area
- 1 night Pamukkale area
- 2 nights Cappadocia area
- 1 night Ankara
- 3 nights Istanbul
– modern coach transportation, ferryboat to Canakkale, travel guide.
Optional – dinner about 12-15 E/person/day for the days the dinner is not included.
– Lunch about 12-15 E/person/day.
PROGRAM
DAY 1 – pickup from the airport in Istanbul, hotel accommodation;
DAY 2 – after breakfast travel to Canakkale, visit to Troy – mythical city, the place the Trojan War had been waged, as narrated in the Trojan War cycle, Iliad in particular, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer – accommodation in the Canakkale area, free time for tourists.
DAY 3 – breakfast; travel to Kusadasi, brief stopover in Bergama – located on the Aegean coast of Turkey, Bergama is famous both for its antique monuments and for being the place the parchment had been invented – in the central area of Izmir – the third city by size from Turkey, it lies on the place the old Greek stronghold of Izmir had been erected – dinner and accommodation in the Kusadasi area.
DAY 4 AND 5 – breakfast and dinner accommodation in the Kusadasi area; free time for tourists; travel to Ephesus and Virgin Mary house; visit to a leather processing centre.
Kusadasi is a harbor city at the Aegean Sea that had been developing along several successive civilizations: Greek, Roman, Venetian, Genovese, and Ottoman. It is one of the most important resorts in Turkey providing many opportunities for an unforgettable vacation.
DAY 6 – breakfast; visit to Pamukkale – one of a kind nature creation due to its limestone deposits and thermal water basins; further on travel to the accommodation place; free time for tourists.
DAY 7 – breakfast; travel to Cappadocia for accommodation in that area.
DAY 8 – breakfast; visit to settlements and Christian churches at Cappadocia and the underground locality;
Cappadocia unfolds in the shape of a second to none scenery comprising caves, tunnels and hundreds of underground localities dug out by Hittites more than three thousand years ago. Here secrets lie in every nook and cranny, from trap tunnels and caves, up to clandestine routes useful during the fierce battles waged in these places.
– accommodation in the Cappadocia area.
DAY 9 – breakfast; travel to Ankara – located in the central Anatolia, Ankara is an important commercial and transit hub, the turntable of the Turkish road and railway system – visit to the Ataturk mausoleum and the central area; accommodation in Ankara.
DAY 10– breakfast;
– travel to Istanbul for accommodation.
DAY 11 AND 12 – breakfast and dinner accommodation in Istanbul.
During our staying in Istanbul, we will visit Saint Sophia Church, the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, Topkapi, leisure cruise on Bosporus, visit to Dolmabahce Palace; free time for shopping.
Inhabited for more than five thousand years, the city capital of two great empires of the world, the Ottoman and Byzantine ones, the city of Istanbul strikes you by its commanding buildings richly adorned in Muslim motifs, through the Turkish gastronomy aromas, and most of all by the fairytale like atmosphere seemingly coming off the Scheherazade tales.
DAY 13 – breakfast; tourists transfer to airport.
The price does not include:
– plane ticket
– entrance fees to the touristic sites – about 90 E/person
– medical insurance
– lunch – about 12 – 15 E/person/day
– dinner – about 12 – 15 E/person/day
– single supplement – 125 E/person
– the price is calculated for a minimum of 20 participating persons; if the group is bigger, the price will be recalculated.
