Tour Style : Group Tour
Duration : 9 Days – 8 Nights
Highlights : Pamukkale, Hierapolis, Cappadocia, Goreme Underground City

DAY 01 – Arrival in Istanbul TRAIN STATION
Upon your arrival we will pick you up from the airport and transfer your hotel.

Overnight in Istanbul.

DAY 02 – Byzantine and Ottoman Relics Tour
8:30am – Picked-up from hotel and met by your tour guide for a full day to discover the city of Istanbul. The tour will include visit to the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Hippodrome, Grand Bazaar, Topkapi Palace and the Rustem Pasa Mosque. At the end of the tour, you will be dropped back to your hotel at approximately 5:00 pm. Overnight in Istanbul. (B, L)

DAY 03 – Half Day Morning Bosphorus Cruise wıthout lunch
8:30 am – You will be picked-up from your hotel to visit the Spice Bazaar (or Egyptian Bazaar). Filled with spices, dried fruits, nuts and seeds, lokum (Turkish delight) and other edibles, Spice Bazaar has a smell of the fragrance of the exotic East. Then join a boat excursion on the Bosphorus on a shared tour. Enjoy viewing Ottoman palaces, Bosphorus bridge, citadels, centuries-old mansions and the European and Asian shorelines at the same time. At the end of the tour, you will be dropped back to your hotel at approximately 1:00 pm.
Evening flight to PAMUKKALE
Overnight in PAMUKKALE

DAY 04 – Pamukkale and Hierapolis Tour at 09:45am
After breakfast we will depart from Kusadasi to Pamukkale, as soon as we arrive we will continue onto guided tour of Pamukkale and Hierapolis. Pamukkale means cotton castle in Turkish. It is the result of limestone formations built over thousands of years. Warm calcium rich mineral water flowed over the cliffs and as it cooled it deposited the calcium into the formations that are seen today. Pamukkale is now a world heritage site. Hierapolis was founded as a healing care center in 190 BC, taking advantage of the mineral waters in the area. It was one of the most important intellectual, artistic, religious and commercial centers of the Roman Empire.

TRANSFER TO KUSADASI AT 16:00PM

STAY KUSADASI

DAY 05 – Ephesus Tour at 09:00am
Ephesus for a full day of sightseeing. First visit the Temple of Artemis, which once was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Then you will visit the world famous ancient Greco-Roman City of Ephesus, the most well preserved example in the world. After visiting this impressive site, you will have a lunch break. After lunch, you will visit The House of Virgin Mary, where it is believed she spent her last days. This is a holy place for both Christians and Muslims. Evening flight to Kayseri

. Overnight in a cave hotel in Cappadocia.

DAY 06 –Fairy Chimneys Tour at 09:30am

In this day you will be able to see:
DEVRENT VALLEY: Devrent is situated on the northern slopes of Aktepe, 1km from Pasabaglari (Monks’ Valley) and 5 km from Avanos. The ruins at Devrent are spread over three valleys, which also house several pointed fairy chimneys with large stems.

Pasabag, the Pasha’s Vineyard, is surrounded by incredible natural rock formations; a spectacular scene.

AVANOS: A center of terra cotta work of art since 3000 BC, it is a town where you will be invited to visit a traditional pottery workshop, which is possibly set deep into the hillsides. The clay, which comes from the Red River passing through the town, gives life both to the land and to the local economy.

UCHISAR: Uchisar is a troglodyte town situated right in the middle of Cappadocia. It is named after the enormous piece of rock in the center of the town, which was once used as a castle. This extraordinary rock is the highest peak of the area with the view of whole Cappadocia and Erciyes (Argeus) Mountain.
After the tour, you will be transferred back to your hotel.

Overnight in Cappadocia. (B, L)

DAY 07–Rose Valley &  Underground City Tour at 09:30am

You will be picked up from your hotel for Full day tour of South Cappadocia. In this day you will be able to see:
KIZILCUKUR: is an isolated valley behind Urgup. It has beautiful rock formation with some great hidden rock-carved churches. The most interesting part of this area is the countless tracks connecting the small villages and towns through vineyards and gardens like a spider net. It is always possible to see villagers working in the area and offering grapes, apples or apricots to you.

CAVUSIN: One of the oldest settlements in the area, Cavusin is situated 2km from Goreme, on the Göreme-Avanos road. The Church of St.John the Baptist offers a panoramic view of the village. This church and its paintigs date back to the 5th century, making the oldest church in the region. It had a large courtyard which is unusual for Cappadocia, this has been eroded away
however.

UNDERGROUND CITY: One of largest and deepest of the 40 others in Cappadocia. They both have eight floors, although not all are open to the public.

PIGEON HOUSE: Visit the pigeon houses and rock formations.

At end of the tour, collect luggage from hotel reception in Cappadocia. Transfer to Kayseri or Nevsehir airport for your evening return flight to Istanbul. Upon arrival you will be picked-up from the airport & transfer to your hotel.

STAY CAPPADOCIA

DAY 08: Ihlara Valley & Derinkuyu Underground City Tour

Our tour starts at 09:30 by pick-up from your hotel. After our guide’s introduction to Cappadocia at the Goreme panoramic view point, we drive about 1 hour and visit the most spectacular gorge of Turkey: Ihlara. The 6 km hike in the Ihlara Valley will be the highlight of our day. The Melendiz River has carved an impressive canyon through the verdant valley and we will walk about two hours along the river, passing Byzantine rock chapels decorated with frescoes. Especially the first half of the hike where we will be the only tourists walking, is totally peaceful. We end the hiking portion of the tour near Belisirma village, where we will have lunch in a quaint riverside restaurant.

After lunch, we stop at the biggest rock-cut monastery of Cappadocia, Selime Monastery and Cathedral. Selime is the biggest rock-cut cathedral of Cappadocia and located at the end of Ihlara Valley. It has has been used as a fortress by both Byzantine and Seljuk armies during 10th to 12th centuries.

Derinkuyu Underground City. Previously known as Melagobia, Derinkuyu was one of the biggest settlements in Cappadocia and its 8 level underground city is the deepest of the region today. We will explore the caves of this interesting city and your guide will explain about the way of life here. With its floors extending to a depth of approximately 60 m, it was large enough to shelter approximately 20,000 people together with their livestock and food stores. It is the largest excavated underground city in Turkey and is one of several underground complexes found across Cappadocia. Derinkuyu itself connects to Kaymaklli via an 8 km tunnel.

EVENING FLIGHT TO ISTANBUL

Overnight in Istanbul.

DAY 09 – Departure
After breakfast check out from hotel (before 12:00), transfer to Istanbul Ataturk Airport according to your flight details. End of tour and services. (If you would like, you can extend your trip by adding extra nights in Istanbul, please advise.)