Mosaic of History spanning two Continents

Angora/Ankara : capital of Galatia and land of the Celtic Gauls.

Program

16 days and 15 nights with full board included (three meals per day, from dinner on the first day to lunch on the last day) and lodging in 4* and 5* hotels to discover the most famous cities of Turkey:  the capital of Ankara, sublime Istanbul, mystical Konya, but also the sites of Ephesus and Pamukkale, the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia, the coasts of Pamphylia and Lycia, from Antalya to Fethiye.

Book an unforgettable hot air balloon ride and fly over the stunning Cappadocia landscapes sculpted by geological erosion. Reservations can be made with your guide for an extra charge.

100% customisable programmes.

THREE REASONS FOR CHOOSING AFEL TRAVEL

1.  IRREPROACHABLE QUALITY

• Enjoy full board throughout your stay : tour price includes catering from dinner on the first day to lunch on the last day.
• Reap the benefits of small group travel : 18 participants maximum.
• Be accompanied by an experienced bilingual and knowledgeable tour guide. Individual audio-phones for all guided tours will also be provided.
• Delight in the high standards and comfort of the 4* and 5* hotels we have chosen for you.
• Participate in food and wine tastings of local products.

2.  ABSOLUTE COMFORT

• Discover Turkey while having fun and relaxing. Our tours are designed to give you just the right amount of time to explore: spend 2 nights in Ankara, 3 nights in Cappadocia, 1 night in Konya, 2 nights in Antalya, 2 nights in Fethiye, 1 night in Pamukkale, 1 night in Izmir and 3 nights in.
• Airlines: Turkish Airlines, Onur Air, Pegasus Airlines, Sun Express.
• Comfortable, spacious and air-conditioned coaches equipped with Wi-Fi.
• Excellent roadway infrastructure, guaranteeing comfortable travel.

3.  UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS

In addition to the wonderful sites of Pamukkale and Ephesus, you will be surprised by the liveliness of Ankara, awestruck by the landscapes of Cappadocia and splendours of Istanbul. Upon arrival in Konya, you will think you are in Central Asia!  And be dazzled by the radiant region of Lycia on the Mediterranean coast.  One of the main highlights is the boat trip on the Bosphorus.

Itinerary

DAY 1 : Flight to Ankara

Meeting point at your departure airport. Assistance with check-in and boarding of your flight to Ankara.   Upon arrival, you will be greeted by your guide, then transfer to your hotel. Welcome cocktail before heading to your room.

Accommodation and dinner for 2 nights at the Hilton 5* or similar hotel.

The Hittite empire was a great rival of ancient Egypt and not only influenced the Levant but dominated Anatolia until 1200 BC.  The Hittite gods not only played with lightening & rain, but fertilised the earth and governed the pantheon and men.

DAY 2 : Ankara, from the Hittites to Atatürk

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Visit the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations, the most important museum in Turkey.  Winner in 1997 of the European Museum of the Year Award, it houses unique collections from the Hittite Empire (2nd millennium BC).   Stroll through the alleys of the citadel with the most magnificent panoramic views of Ankara.

After lunch, you will discover the mausoleum of Atatürk, the most imposing monument of the capital, erected in honour of Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey, who died in 1938.

Return to the hotel and take advantage of the hotel’s facilities, including the hammam.

Dinner and night at the hotel.

The well preserved Ankara citadel dominates the alleys of the old town below, a small neighbourhood of beautiful Ottoman houses.

DAY 3 : Ankara – Cappadocia (290 km – 3 h 20)

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

En route for Cappadocia along the shores of the Salt Lake.

In this fantastic land with its lunar landscapes, nature created a strange and colourful world of columns, needles and cones shaped by the erosion of volcanic tuff.  Some of these singular shapes are over 30 metres high.

After lunch, take a walk in the beautiful Ilhara valley, in the heart of a canyon where the Melendiz River flows.  During this excursion, you will visit troglodyte dwellings and cave churches dating from the 11th century.

Accommodation and dinner for 3 nights at the Yunak Evleri or similar hotel.

An incredible feeling of euphoria : beneath you, watch the rising sun and magical beauty of this landscape, its reddened rock and breathtaking view of hundreds of hot air balloons flying above you.

DAY 4 : Byzantium in Cappadocia

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

On one of the mornings, you will have the opportunity to take an unforgettable hot air balloon ride (optional, at your own expense).

After a walk along the Pasabaglari paths to admire the enchanting and spectacular landscapes of the famous fairy chimneys, continue on to the troglodyte village of Çavusin.

Visit the Goreme Valley open-air museum, a Unesco World Heritage Site.

This site shelters the largest number of monasteries and chapels, some of which have superb Byzantine frescoes dating from the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

After lunch, discover the Avcilar and Kiliçlar valleys, with their ancient troglodyte dwellings and fairy chimneys.

Then on to Avanos, a charming little town well known for its artisanal pottery.

Dinner and night at the hotel.

The Annunciation : Archangel Gabriel dressed in Byzantine imperial costume.  Cappadocia has many ruins carved into the soft rock of the Christian communities of the Byzantine era, between the 8th and 13th centuries.

DAY 5 : A Hike in Cappadocia

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

On this day’s hike, you will have views that are unique in the world and you will see how the wind and water created this strange all-white landscape.  In the village of Uçhisar, situated on a rocky peak, you will have a superb panoramic view over the entire region of Cappadocia as well as the Pigeon valley.

Lunch in a typical Cappadocian restaurant.

Turkish carpet making is an ancestral art and one of the country’s main artisanal industries. This art will be explained during a visit to a renowned carpet factory.

If you are interested, at the end of the day, you can attend a ceremony of the whirling dervishes.

Dinner and night at the hotel.

From the depths of the earth up to the sky.  The interiors of these rocky peaks are carved out with bedrooms, kitchens and other rooms linked together by stairs and tunnels.

DAY 6 : Cappadocia – Kaymakli – Konya (220 km – 2 h 40)

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

In the morning, departure for Kaymakli and visit of its underground city.  An example of pure ingenuity built by native Christians to protect themselves from their successive enemies (Persians, Romans, Arabs…).  Some of these tunnels date back 2,000 years.

En-route, you will cross the plain of Konya, the breadbasket of Turkey.

Along the Silk Road, you will stop off at Sultanhan, one of the best-preserved Seljuk caravanserais built during the 13th century and where merchants safely stored their goods.

Arrival at Konya and after lunch, visit the Mevlana Museum, dedicated to the famous poet and mystic who, in the 13th century, founded the Sufi order of the whirling dervishes.

Continue on with the discovery of this ancient Seljuk capital with a guided walk up the Alaeddin hill through its local market.

Accommodation and dinner at the Bayir Diamond 5* or similar hotel.

With the sound of the ney (a reed flute), percussion instruments and religious singing, the dervish enters into communion with the divine.

DAY 7 : Konya – Aspendos – Antalya (290 km – 4 hours)

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Departure for the attractive city of Antalya, located on the Mediterranean coast.

A long and beautiful drive through the plains and southern mountains with the Anatolian plateau unrolling before you.

During the classical period (5th and 4th centuries BC), these southern regions of Turkey were called Pisidia and Pamphylia.

After Pisidia, you will reach Antalya, the capital of Pamphylia.  In classical times, between the coast and the Pisidian hinterland, this region was populated by Greeks and local people.

To reach the northern foothills of the Taurus Mountains, the dual carriageway passes through villages, meadows and gentle hills.  Nowadays, large herds of black and white goats and sheep, belonging to Turkmen nomads, graze on the arid and rocky slopes making them less austere looking.

As one gains altitude, from 1,400-2,000 metres, the vegetation suddenly becomes mountainous and after the Alacabel pass (1,825 m), a dark green mass of huge impressive pine and cedars punctuate the line of the southern Taurus slopes, more exposed to maritime weather conditions.  Until a few decades ago, these ranges were populated by wolves and bears.

Approaching Antalya, the road is bordered by orange groves, banana trees and palm trees; your breath will be taken away by the beauty of this alpine range overlooking the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean.

Once on the coastal plain, you will visit Aspendos whose 2nd century theatre is the best preserved of all the Roman theatres in Asia minor, as well its beautiful aqueduct.

Accommodation and dinner for 2 nights at the Alp Pasa Butik or similar hotel.

The British archaeologist David George Hogarth wrote in 1909: “This is not like anything that I ever saw before.  You may have seen the amphitheaters in Italy, France, Dalmatia and Africa; temples in Egypt and Greece; the palaces in Crete; you may be sated with antiquity or scornful of it. But you have not seen the theatre of Aspendos.”

DAY 8 : Antalya, between Sea and Mountains

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Visit Antalya’s Archaeological Museum, the second most important one in the country for its collection of Greek and Roman antiques.

After lunch, you will have a guided walk through the old town of Antalya, with its typical wooden houses overlooking the marina and discover the fluted minaret, the truncated minaret, the Hidirilik tower and Hadrian’s gate, built in the city walls when this Roman emperor came to Antalya in 147 AD.

You will also visit one of the largest jewellery stores in Turkey with unique pieces set with precious gemstones.   The country is ranked second in the world in this art form.

Dinner in the city and night at the hotel.

Antalya’s old town, Kaleiçi, stretches along the side of a steep cliff with the ancient port, now a marina, nestled below.

DAY 9 : Antalya – Uçagiz – Fethiye (300 km – 5 hours)

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

The picturesque village of Uçagiz is the best place from where to start exploring  Kokova Bay, one of the most beautiful spots on the southern coast of Turkey. Upon arrival at the port, you will embark on a boat.

Lunch on board.

Afternoon sailing in crystal clear waters and coves off the coast of the island of Kekova, only accessible by sea. Past an ancient sunken city and on to the citadel of Simena, built in 1440, from where you will have panoramic views over the entire bay and neighbouring islands. Disembark at Uçagiz and en-route to the lovely seaside town of Fethiye.  Arrival at the hotel.

Accommodation and dinner for 2 nights at the Ece Saray Marina & Resort or similar hotel.

Coves accessible only by sea where nature has taken over : an enchanting picture of deserted beaches and pine forests.

DAY 10 : Saklikent – Kayaköy – Fethiye (110 km – 2 h 20)

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Departure for the Saklikent gorge, cut into the side of Gömbe Akdagi (3,016 m) with several hundred metres of footbridges crossing over the gorge and its pure water rapids below.

Stop-off on-site for lunch and watch a local speciality being prepared for you.

After lunch, discover the village of Kayaköy, formerly known as Karmylassos, now abandoned.

En 1926, its inhabitants left the village and moved to Greece after the population exchange agreements were signed between Greece and Turkey.

Return to Fethiye.  Dinner and night at the hotel.

The Saklikent  Gorge is one of the deepest canyons in the world.

DAY 11 : Fethiye – Pamukkale (200 km – 3 hours)

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

In the morning, discover Pamukkale : from the top of a 200 m high cliff overlooking the plain, hot springs bearing deposits of calcite created an unreal landscape of petrified waterfalls and stepped basins.  This unique site in the world was named Pamukkale or « cotton castle ».

The city of Hierapiolis, an exceptional Greco-Roman spa complex, was built on this extraordinary natural site.  The remains of the Martyrium of Saint Philip, discovered only in 2011, affirms the extraordinary influence of the Christian community from the first century.

Like the nearby city of Laodicea, Hierapolis is one of the seven churches mentioned by the apostle Saint John in his Revelation.

Upon arrival at your hotel, enjoy a taste of what awaits you and take time to relax at the swimming pools, thermal water baths and spa.

And, why not treat yourself to a relaxing massage? (optional, at your own expense).

Accommodation and dinner at the Doga thermal 5*  or similar hotel.

Pamukkale, or « cotton castle », is a limestone rock formation.  These astonishing petrified waterfalls and stepped basins, which look as if they were frozen, are formed from water laden with calcite deposits coming from springs.

DAY 12 : Pamukkale – Ephesus – Izmir (220 km – 3 h 20)

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

A lovely drive through rural western Turkey to Selçuk, crossing the rich alluvial plain of Menderes irrigated by the Meandros river (the Meandros river god) with its long winding course disappearing into the distance.  The road bordering the river is lined with trees and plantations including plane trees, reeds, fig, olive, pomegranate, orange and lemon and strawberry fields.

After lunch, visit of Ephesus, one of the most beautiful ancient cities remarkable for its architecture.  Among its gems are the Library of Celsus, the theatre and the remains of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

At the peak of the 3rd century BC, Ephesus was an important port and a major administrative centre with a population of 200,000 inhabitants. Ephesus played a significant role in the spread of Christianity in large partly due to Paul’s lengthy stays in the area as of the year 52.

Lunch with be served in a traditional nomadic tent, with a menu of local specialities.

Then on to a fashion show of leather designer clothes specially presented for you.

Departure for Izmir (former Smyrna), Turkey’s third largest city.

Accommodation and dinner at the Swissôtel Grand Efes 5* or similar hotel.

The Library of Celsus (2nd century) with its sumptuous facade is one of the most remarkable monuments of Ephesus.

DAY 13 : Izmir – Istanbul (domestic flight 50 minutes)

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Transfer to Izmir airport and flight to Istanbul.

Founded over two thousand years ago, first Byzantium, then Constantinople before becoming the sumptuous capital of the Ottomans for almost five centuries.  Straddling two continents and separated by the Bosphorus Strait, Istanbul’s preserved monuments proudly demonstrate its rich and eventful past.

Arrival and transfer to the city centre.

After lunch, take a boat trip on the Bosphorus and admire the best views of Istanbul.  Along the strait on both banks, you will pass by the marble palaces of Dolmabahçe and Beylerbeyi, the beautiful wooden Ottoman mansions (the yali ») and the medieval fortresses.  Return to the Golden Horn port.

Accommodation and dinner for 3 nights at the Novotel Bosphorus Karaköy 5* or similar hotel.

Beylerbeyi Palace : until the 18th century, the city of Istanbul offered extraordinary views of its silhouettes of domes and minarets.  From the 19th century, the influence of Western architecture could be seen in the palaces and mansions along the Bosphorus.

DAY 14 : From Emperors to Sultans

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

You will start the day with a visit to Hagia Sophia, one of the most remarkable monuments in the world. Its architecture is an example of the refinement of the Byzantine capital during the sixth century.

Onwards to the Basilica Cistern, an ancient water reservoir and superb Roman hydraulic masterpiece of engineering.

Across from the Hippodrome Square, visit the worldwide famous Blue Mosque, built between 1609 and 1616 for the Sultan Amhet I with its six elegant minarets towering over the Sultanahmet Square.

After lunch, stroll in the maze of alleys in the Grand Bazaar.  With its 60 alleys and 4,000 stalls and shops spanning over 30 hectares, it is still the largest indoor market in the world today.

Dinner and night at the hotel.

A Byzantine mosaic in Hagia Sophia. Emperor Constantine IX and Empress Zoe surround the Christ Pantocrator (11th century).

DAY 15 : Topkapi Palace

Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Departure from the hotel to discover the incredible beauty of the Topkapi Palace ; the lavish residence of Ottoman Sultans and ladies of the harem for four hundred years.  Surrounded by five kilometres of ramparts, it stretches over 70 hectares.  In 1985, Unesco inscribed it on the World Heritage list, describing it as « an unmatched assemblage of buildings constructed over four centuries ». You will be captivated by its art collections: ceramics, jewellery, silverware, ceremonial furniture, miniatures, weapons and mosaics.

After lunch, free time to discover the bustling Spice Bazaar, a complex with vaulted ceilings and a multitude of shops under its arches. Breathe in the perfumes of cinnamon, caraway, saffron, mint and thyme and experience the colours and flavours of the Silk Road.

A warm farewell dinner in the famous fisherman’s quarter.

Night at the hotel.

The walls of the vaulted rooms at Topkapi Palace covered in superb Nicene earthenware.  The small golden ball hanging from the ceiling represents the Earth. Placed in front of the sultan’s window, it symbolises the justice he must show to the world as well as the vigilance he must keep towards his viziers (ministers).

DAY 16 : Return flight home

Breakfast and transfer to Istanbul airport according to your flight schedule.

Assistance with check-in and departure to your destination.

Topkapi Palace : the Imperial Council Chamber or Divan Court.

 

The price includes

✈ International round trip flights.

✈ Domestic flight Izmir/Istanbul.

o Meeting upon your arrival.

o Transfers airport/hotel/airport.

o Assistance from your experienced bilingual guide during the tour.

o Double room accommodation in the assigned hotels or ones of similar standing, hotel luggage porters.

o Full board from dinner on the first day to lunch on the last day.

o Transportation in comfortable vehicles adapted to the size of the group, a window per person.

o Visits and entrance fees to sites and museums mentioned in the programme.

24/7 assistance from our agency.

The price does not include

X Single room supplements.

X Drinks and personal expenses, tips for the guide and the driver.

X No insurance is included (Afel Travel recommends you purchase travel insurance).