Day 1 – Istanbul

Welcome to Istanbul! You will be transferred to your hotel and the remainder of the day is yours, free to explore.

Overnight Istanbul

Day 2- Istanbul – Cappadocia (Breakfast Included)

Today you are free to explore this exotic city that spans east and west, before boarding your flight to Cappadocia.

Overnight Cappadocia

Day 3 – Gaziantep (Breakfast Included)

Early morning departure today for Gaziantep, where we will see the superb roman mosaics of Zeugma in the archeological museum. Along the way we will visit Gumusler Monastery and Yesemek.

Overnight Gaziantep.

Day 4 – Sanli Urfa (Breakfast Included)

Today we drive to the ancient city of Sanli Urfa, home of Abraham. On the way we will visit remains of the ancient Roman city of Zeugma by the River Euphrates.

Overnight Sanliurfa (Urfa)

Day 5 – Kahta (Breakfast Included)

Discover the ‘City of Prophets’ as we visit Abrahams caves, the pool of sacred Carp and the busy colourful silk bazaar before visiting nearby Harran to see the incredible beehive houses. In the afternoon we drive to Kahta with a brief stop at Ataturk dam, third largest in the world.

Overnight Kahta

Day 6 – Mt Nemrut (Breakfast Included)

Today will be an experience to remember as we visit Mt Nemrut and the mountain top sanctuary of Antiochus I at sunrise, before continuing to Mardin, overlooking the vast plains of Mesopotamia.

Overnight Mardin

Day 7 – Mardin (Breakfast Included)

This morning we tour Mardin and it’s Arabic style houses decorated with intricate carvings before continuing onto Hasankeyf, to visit the cliff top roman ruins of ancient Cephe and the old town of Midyat. After lunch by the Tigris River we depart to Tatvan, a small village on the edge of Lake Van and watch the sun set over the lake before heading to Van.

Overnight Van

Day 8- Van (Breakfast Included)

Today we take a ferry to Akdamar Island and visit the Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross built in the 10th century.

Overnight Van

Day 9 – Dogubeyazit (Breakfast Included)

Today we drive the ancient ‘silk road’ Dogubeyazit located at the foothill of Mt Ararat, the highest mountain in Anatolia and Noah’s Ark is thought to have landed. We also tour Ishak Pasa Palace and visit the remains of Eski Beyazit, an ancient Urartian City before continuing onto Kars.

Overnight Kars

Day 10 – Kars (Breakfast Included)

An early morning departure to the medieval City of Ani, close to the Turkish-Armenian border. We also have a chance to visit the impressive Kars Castle, and surrounding ancient churches.

Overnight Kars

Day 11 – Erzurum (Breakfast Included)

Today we drive southwest to the scenic heights of Erzurum . On the way we will visit a 12th century Medrese, talk with the imam at the 12th century Mosque and enjoy the ethnographic museum.

Overnight Erzurum

Day 12 – Trabzon, Sumela Monastery (Breakfast Included)

We will enjoy a scenic drive towards the historic city of Trabzon today, via Karaca Cave before visiting the breathtaking Byzantine Monastery of Sumela.

Overnight Trabzon

Day 13 – Istanbul (Breakfast Included)

Today we tour the historic city of Trabzon, once the capital of the Byzantine empire, before our flight back to Istanbul.

Overnight Istanbul

Day 14 – Istanbul (Breakfast Included)

After breakfast our tour concludes and we say goodbye to our new friends before being transferred to the airport for your outbound flight.