1. Day: Flight to ISTANBUL
Transfer to hotel.
2. Day: ISTANBUL
Full day city tour according. "Ottoman and Byzantine Istanbul" Full day
city sightseeing tour of Istanbul's monuments. It
begins with the Süleyman Mosque, the work of
architect Mimar Sinan, and one of the most beautiful
mosques of the city. Then it continues to the
Hippodrome, a Roman arena where horse carriage races
and gladiator fights took place. You can see the
snake column, the Egyptian obelisk and the German
fountain. Afterwards there is a visit to the famous
Blue Mosque unique for its exquisite blue tiles and
its six minarets. The program continues with a visit
to Santa Sophia, one of the most important church
monuments in the Christian world.
After lunch we visit Topkapi Palace, the old
residence of the Ottoman Sultans which contains the
treasures of the times. In the afternoon there is a
walking tour in the Covered Bazaar with its
thousands of shops unique in atmosphere
3. Day: ISTANBUL / BURSA
We eill cross the gulf of Izmit with a ferry boat to
Yalova. Then we proceed to Bursa, the first capitol
of the Ottoman Empire. Then we visit its most
important sights such as the Green Mausoleum, the
Green Mosque, the Great Mosque and the bazaar which
has a perfectly preserved oriental atmosphere.
4. Day: BURSA / AYVALIK
We will cross the Dardanelle's. Canakkale and continue on to Troy, the mythological
and historical center of the occident. There will be
a detailed visit the ruins of Troy which were
unearthed by the German archeologist Schliemann.
Then we continue to Ayvalik
.5. Day: AYVALIK / KUSADASI
Trip to Pergamum and a visit to the Acropolis and
the asclepium of this significant ancient town.
Passing through Sardes, an important and ancient town.
6. Day: KUSADASI / PAMUKKALEA
Visit to Ephesus, one of the largest antique
cities and most beautiful excavation of its time.
Then a visit to Saint John's Basilica, one of the
Council churches, and a visit to the home of Mother
Mary where she died. We will go on to Pamukkale
which means cotton castle. Pamukkale was created by
chalk deposits from the hot springs water. Then a
visit to the antique city of Hierapolis and it's
unique necropolis.
7. Day: PAMUKKALE / KONYA
A long trip inland via Beysehir and Egridir lakes to
Konya, one of the important agricultural produce
cities in Turkey. Here we visit the Selcuk ruins and
the Mausoleum of the Mystic Mevlana
8. Day: KONYA / CAPPADOCIA
Tour to Sultanhani and on to Cappadocia. After a
visit to the Monasteries in the Ihlara Valley and
Cavusin's rock houses.
9. Day: CAPPADOCIA
Day tour to the moon like landscape of Cappadocia.
We visit the open air museum Göreme Valley with
wonderful cave churches and Zelve Valley with unique
rock pyramids. There we will climb up the hill of
Uchisar and have a wonderful view of Cappadocia. We
visit the underground city of Derinkuyu, where up to
16.000 people, especially Christians, hid from
persecution.
10. Day: CAPPADOCIA / ANTALYA
Tour through the Taurus mountains to the
Mediterranean coast to Antalya. Then a visit to
Aspendos, one of the best preserved Roman theatres
and to the ancient town Perge, one of Saint Paul's
perching stops.
11. Day: ANTALYA
Transfer to the airport.