Istanbul: Cruise along the Bosphorus, the strait that links the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. You’ll watch ferries, fishing boats and cargo ships share the waterway and see how Istanbul’s districts line both banks, built around this route between Europe and Asia.
Bursa: On your orientation with your Travel Director visit the town’s mosques, bazaars and famous Silk Market.
Cumalikizik: Visit the over 700 year-old village to get glimpse into what Ottoman villages away from the capital looked like.
Ankara: Visit Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey and the Republic’s first President. You’ll walk through the ceremonial complex and enter the Hall of Honour, observing how the architecture and setting underline his role in the country’s modern history.
Ankara: On your orientation with your Travel Director of the capital of modern Turkey discover its Roman and Byzantine heritage, visit the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations and the Mausoleum of Atatürk.
: Visit the narrow passages and interconnecting rooms of this Stone Age underground city dug out from the hills and built to block invaders and defend against attacks.
Göreme: Explore the rock-cut churches of Göreme, carved into the soft volcanic rock of Cappadocia. Inside, you’ll see early Christian frescoes that have survived for centuries, offering a close look at how communities once lived and worshipped here.
Avanos: Visit a pottery studio in Avanos, a town on the Kızılırmak River with a clay-working tradition that dates back to Hittite times. Watch how red river clay is prepared and shaped at the wheel, and follow the stages as each piece is formed, dried and decorated.
Konya: Step inside the Sultanhani Caravanserai, built in 1229 to support traders and travellers crossing the Anatolian plain. See how the space was designed for overnight shelter, with stables, storerooms and a central courtyard still intact.
Konya: Accompanied by your Local Expert, visit the beautiful Mevlana Tekke Museum for insight into the mystic Whirling Dervishes. See the Karatay Medrese and Ince Minaret.
Aspendos: Visit the world’s best preserved Roman Theatre in Aspendos.
Antalya: Visit the historic Old Town and wander through its charming narrow streets, discovering souvenir markets and sweeping sea views.
Pamukkale: Walk along the travertine pools at Pamukkale, where thermal waters have created white limestone terraces across the hillside. You’ll see how the calcium-rich water continues to shape the formations, leaving new deposits as it flows.
Corinth: Visit the open-air museum Aphrodisias dedicated to goddess Aphrodite, see the ancient city and statues that have survived preserving most of their originality.
Ephesus: Walk through Ephesus with a Local Expert, following the Arcadian Way into the heart of the Roman city. You’ll stand before the Library of Celsus, take in the scale of the amphitheatre and visit the House of the Virgin Mary, set in the hills above the ruins.
Troy: Visit this ancient sight fabled to have been destroyed over love and view the huge reconstructed Trojan Horse.
Troy: On your orientation with your Travel Director hear about the nearly 4000 year-old settlement, see the wooden Trojan Horse and hear about myths and legends connected to this archaeological site.
Gallipoli: Visit ANZAC Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula, the landing site for Australian and New Zealand forces on 25 April 1915. The site remains the focus of ANZAC Day commemorations, including the dawn service held here each year.
Istanbul: Explore Istanbul’s historic peninsula with your Local Expert. You’ll move between the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome and the former palace complex of Topkapi, tracing how the city shifted from Byzantine Constantinople to the Ottoman capital while life continues in the surrounding streets and markets.