AN AUTHENTIC TOUR OF TURKEY(sm) (16 days)

Arrive at Ankara airport. Transfer to hotel.

City Tour: Mausoleum of Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, and the Museum of Ancient Anatolian Civilizations, a world-class museum that introduces you to most of the civilizations that flourished in Asia Minor. In the afternoon, drive to Gordium, capital of the Phrygian Kingdom, famous for the Gordion Knot and King Midas.  Return to Ankara for dinner and overnight stay.  

Early morning departure from Ankara for Hattusas, capital of the Hittite Kingdom. See Yazilikaya, the open-air sanctuary displaying many gods and goddesses of the Hittites, carved on the rocks, and the ancient city of Alacahoyuk.  Lunch will be at Bogazkoy. Then, drive on to Cappadocia, arriving late in the afternoon for overnight stay in your cave hotel.

Sightseeing will include an underground city, churches carved in the volcanic rock in Goreme, and the surreal landscape of Fairy Chimneys.

Depart from the Cappadocia Region for Konya; enroute, visit the Sultanhan Caravanserai (road-side inn on the Silk Road, used in the Seljuk times). Arrive in Konya in time for lunch.  Afterwards, visit Karatay Medresesi (Academy). Dinner will be at the hotel. (

This morning visit the Mausoleum of Mevlana, founder of the Whirling Dervishes, in Konya before departing for Antalya on a road that crosses over the Taurus Mountains.  

Visit the ancient cities of Perge and Aspendos.  In the afternoon, visit the Archaeological Museum and other sites in Antaya.

Tour of Termessos, the only citadel that Alexander The Great did/could not conquer in Asia Minor, will require some uphill climbing.  The afternoon is free for your leisure.

Drive to Pamukkale, the “Cotton Fortress”, with lunch enroute. Dinner will be at the hotel.

After sightseeing in Hierapolis and Aphrodisias, drive to Kusadasi for dinner and overnight stay.

Sightseeing in Ephesus, the Basilica of St. John, and House of The Virgin Mary.

Drive to Pergamum via Izmir. Sightseeing in Pergamum includes the Acropolis and the Aesculapion, the ancient hospital. In the afternoon, drive to Çanakkale on the Straits of Dardanelles. Dinner will be at the hotel.

Morning sightseeing at Troy, the city immortalized by Homer’s Iliad, and at the Gallipoli War Monuments and battlefields on the European side of Turkey.  Then, drive to Istanbul, arriving in late afternoon for overnight stay.

Visit the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, and  St. Sophia Museum. After lunch, tour  Topkapi Palace before proceeding to the Covered Bazaar.

Cruise on the Bosphorus, the Straits between Asia and Europe, enjoying the famous Istanbul skyline.  Stop for lunch at a seafood restaurant on the European coast. Visit Dolmabahce Palace, the last opulent residence of the Ottoman Sultans, built right on the Bosphorus. If available, attend a performance of the Janissary Band, the first military band in the world which also influenced Mozart and Beethoven, at the Military Museum.

Private Transfer to the airport for the flight to your next destination.