Insight's First Class Services

• Insight Hotels include all service charges, taxes and porterage
• Travel by Luxury air-conditioned 40 seat coach with onboard toilet
• Insight’s professional multilingual Tour Director to escort you
• Insight Traveler document wallet, map book journal and information pack

Complimentary Transfers

• Complimentary arrival and departure transfers between Istanbul airport and your Insight tour hotel

Quality Dining & Entertainment

• A spectacular highlight folklore show in an underground cave in Cappadocia (HD)
• 10 Buffet Breakfasts (BB) and 6 special-menu Dinners, or Buffets, plus tea or coffee (D)

12 Days ~ Turkey

Tour Pace
This tour captures all the fabulous highlights of Turkey in 12 days, so the pace can be fairly brisk. However, there are two-night stays in Istanbul and Cappadocia, and driving days are of reasonable length with regular comfort stops for refreshment and sightseeing.

DAY 1 – THU – DEPART USA
Overnight flight to Istanbul.

DAY 2 – FRI – ISTANBUL AT LEISURE
Welcome to Turkey – a land rich in archeological sites, historic monuments, warm-hearted people and an enormous variety of spectacular scenery. On arrival at Istanbul Airport, you will be met and transferred to your hotel for your two-night stay. This evening, get together with your Tour Director and fellow passengers for a Welcome Drink.   
Hotel: Crowne Plaza Old City.

DAY 3 – SAT – ISTANBUL SIGHTSEEING
Get your cameras ready today. Visit the Blue Mosque with its beautiful tiles and the Hippodrome where Roman chariot races were held, and visit St Sophia, at one time a cathedral and a mosque, and now a magnificent museum. Move on to visit the fabulous Topkapi Palace, a walled city perched above the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, and then the famous Grand Bazaar where – all under cover – there are more than 4,000 shops, cafes and tea houses. Consider sampling some traditional apple tea, or spending the evening watching some belly-dancing. (BB)

DAY 4 – SUN – ISTANBUL – ÇANAKKALE
Drive along the shores of the Sea of Marmara to the peninsula of Gelibolu, better known in the west as Gallipoli. Here are the battlefields where, for nine disastrous months during the Great War, Anzac troops fought unsuccessfully to gain control of the strategic Dardanelle Straits. Visit Anzac Cove and Lone Pine Cemetery, final resting place of soldiers who gave their lives over the entire Gallipoli campaign. From Eceabat, a 30-minute sea crossing to Çanakkale takes you from one continent to another as you leave Europe for Asia.
Hotel: Kolin. (BB,D)

DAY 5 – MON – ÇANAKKALE – IZMIR
Drive to Homer’s legendary city of Troy, where archeological excavation has established nine levels of habitation. See an enormous reconstruction of the famous Trojan wooden horse before continuing to Pergamon, the seat of an ancient kingdom. Visit the Acropolis, the Temple of Athena and the famous library, which is said to have contained 200,000 volumes. View the Red Courtyard and visit the ruins of the Asklepion, one of the most famous shrines and therapeutic centres in the ancient world. Continue to the pretty port of Izmir on the Aegean Sea.
Hotel: Hilton (BB,D)

DAY 6 – TUE – IZMIR – KUSADASI
En route to Ephesus, visit the archeological museum at Selcuk where many of the excavated artifacts of Ephesus are displayed, and visit the House of the Virgin Mary, spectacularly situated above the Ephesus ruins. Finally, tour Ephesus itself, one of the world’s finest archeological sites. Visit the colonnaded Arcadian Way, the splendid façade of the Library of Celsus and see the Amphitheatre, the largest and most impressive structure to survive from Hellenistic Ephesus. Head to the lively coastal town of Kusadasi for an overnight stay. Your hotel is one of the newest and most luxurious in this resort town – relax with a cool drink and take advantage of the hotel’s indoor pool, Turkish bath and fitness centre.
Hotel: Charisma. (BB,D)

DAY 7 – WED – KUSADASI – PAMUKKALE
Drive inland to Pamukkale, famous for its ‘Cotton Castle’, a dazzling chalk-white array of fantastically shaped limestone terraces. Visit the ruins of ancient Hierapolis and the fairyland terraces and see the glistening pools and cascades in scallop-shell basins. The rest of the day is yours to relax and enjoy the blissfully warm thermal pools at the hotel.
Hotel: Colossae Thermal. (BB,D)

DAY 8 – THU – PAMUKKALE – CAPPADOCIA
Head to Konya, the old capital of the Anatolian Seljuk Empire, now Turkey’s most religious city and home to the mystic Whirling Dervish sect. Visit the Mevlana Tekke, a museum and national monument, with its beautiful fluted turquoise dome, which contains the tomb of the Whirling Dervishes’ founder. See the Karatay Medrese and Ince Minaret before driving on to the historic region of Nevsehir in Cappadocia.
Hotel: Dedeman. (BB,D)

DAY 9 – FRI – CAPPADOCIA – FULL DAY EXCURSION TO GöREME
Enjoy an excursion to Göreme, a unique region of volcanic landscapes and rock-hewn churches decorated with ancient wall paintings, some of which you can see in the open-air museum. Continue to the Zelve Valley where the scenery is dotted with churches, caves and troglodyte dwellings. Tour the underground city Kaymakli, and see the cone of Uchisar. Enjoy dinner at the hotel followed by a colorful folklore show in an underground cave, featuring dances from different regions. (BB,HD)

DAY 10 – SAT – CAPPADOCIA – ANKARA
Visit Agzikarahan, one of the best-preserved Seljuk caravanserais in Anatolia. Continue on to Ankara to visit the Hittite Museum and Anit Kabir, the mausoleum of Ataturk, Turkey’s greatest modern leader.
Hotel: Sheraton. (BB,D)

DAY 11 – SUN – ANKARA – ISTANBUL
Leaving Ankara, take the highway for a scenic drive through the Turkish countryside to Istanbul. Upon arrival, embark on a superb Highlight cruise along the Bosphorus Waterway. Travelling towards the old city from close to the Black Sea, the scenery complements the grandeur of the Ottoman palaces, old mansions and fortresses. Consider celebrating the tour with a farewell dinner with your new friends at a colorful local restaurant.    
Hotel: Crowne Plaza Old City. (BB)

DAY 12 – MON – RETURN TO USA
This morning, your tour comes to an end with a transfer to the airport. (BB)

Hotels
Accommodation in Turkey can vary in style and comfort depending on the area. In general, the hotels on this tour are clean, comfortable and centrally located with the best scenic locations in the towns of Kusadasi, Pamukkale and Cappadocia.

Fellow Passengers
This tour attracts many first-time visitors to Turkey who want to get a taste of what this fascinating country has to offer. It also appeals to those with limited vacation time. Anyone with a love of history and a sense of adventure will also appreciate this tour.

Highlights
Turkey is well endowed with natural wonders like the eerie moonscape of Göreme, with its rock-hewn churches and dwellings, and the cascading terraces of Pamukkale. But there is also ancient Ephesus, Turkey’s grandest and best preserved archeological site.

Enjoy our Premium Highlights plus these extra tour features

Excursions & Sights

• Visit Istanbul’s Blue Mosque, Basilica of St. Sophia & famous Grand Bazaar
• Tour Topkapi Palace in Istanbul - former home of the Sultans
• View the huge reconstructed Trojan Horse in Troy
• Visit Pergamon’s Acropolis, Temple of Athena, library & Asklepieon
• Visit the Virgin Mary’s House and the Archeological Museum in Selçuk
• View Pamukkale’s cascading white terraces and visit the ruins of Hierapolis
• Visit Konya’s famous Mevlana Tekke and see the Karatay Medrese & Ince Minaret
• Tour the underground city of Kaymakli and see the cone of Uçhisar
• Visit the well preserved Agzikarahan Caravanserai
• Visit Ataturk’s Mausoleum and Hittite Museum in Ankara

Guided City Tours

• In-depth sightseeing tours in Istanbul, Gallipoli, Troy, Pergamon, Ephesus & GöremeOrientation tours in Konya & Ankara

Insight's First Class Services

• Insight Hotels include all service charges, taxes and porterage
• Travel by Luxury air-conditioned 40 seat coach with onboard toilet
• Insight’s professional multilingual Tour Director to escort you
• Insight Traveler document wallet, map book journal and information pack

Complimentary Transfers

• Complimentary arrival and departure transfers between Istanbul airport and your Insight tour hotel

Quality Dining & Entertainment

• A spectacular highlight folklore show in an underground cave in Cappadocia (HD)
• 10 Buffet Breakfasts (BB) and 6 special-menu Dinners, or Buffets, plus tea or coffee (D)