Turska turneja od 12 dana iz SAD-a 2027: plan putovanja dan po dan, letovi i cijena

The best 12-day route through Turkey from the USA is 3 nights in Istanbul, 3 in Cappadocia, 3 around Ephesus and Pamukkale, and 2 on the Antalya coast, with the flight home from Antalya. Our 10-day Grand Turkey package starts at $2,800 per person, our 15-day Best of Turkey at $3,980, and a 12-day version falls between the two. Your transatlantic flight is booked separately.

Quick facts: 12 days in Turkey from the USA

Why 12 days works for most American travellers

Ten days covers the headline route but leaves no free time. Fifteen days adds a long beach stay. Twelve days adds the thing most people miss in a 10-day programme: one extra night each in the places where you would otherwise leave just as the pace slows. A flight of 10 hours or more from the US plus a time difference of 7 hours from New York and up to 10 from the West Coast means the first day goes mainly on sleep, and at 12 days you can afford that.

The route also follows the geography. Istanbul is the flight hub, Cappadocia is one short flight inland, the Aegean coast has Ephesus and a day trip to Pamukkale, and Antalya is the last stop before a flight home. There is no backtracking. If you would rather stay under 10 days, our 10-day Turkey tour package from the USA page covers that route, and the older Turkey 12-day itinerary page gives a plain description of the days.

The 12-day route, day by day

Day 1, arrival in Istanbul. Your driver meets you at the airport and takes you to the hotel. Most flights from the USA land in the afternoon or evening. Nothing is planned except dinner and sleep.

Day 2, Old City. Sultanahmet in one day: the Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and the Basilica Cistern, with lunch in a side street. Start before 09:00 on weekdays to stay ahead of the queues.

Day 3, Topkapi, bazaars and the Bosphorus. Topkapi Palace and the Harem in the morning, the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar after lunch, and a Bosphorus boat in the evening. This is also the day to add a dinner cruise if you want one: our Bosphorus dinner cruise is $90 per person.

Day 4, fly to Cappadocia. A flight of about an hour and a half from Istanbul lands at Nevsehir or Kayseri airport, followed by a transfer of around 45 to 60 minutes to Goreme. The afternoon is for the rock valleys at sunset.

Day 5, Red Tour. The Goreme Open-Air Museum, Uchisar and Pigeon Valley, with a pottery stop in Avanos. This is also the usual balloon morning if you book a flight.

Day 6, Green Tour. Ihlara Valley, an underground city and the rock-cut churches of the south. Walking is moderate, and good shoes matter on the loose gravel.

Day 7, fly to the Aegean coast. A domestic flight takes you to Izmir, then about an hour by road to Kusadasi, where you spend three nights.

Day 8, Ephesus. The Roman street, Great Theatre and Library of Celsus, plus the House of the Virgin Mary. Go early in summer. Our page on Ephesus entrance fees lists the current ticket prices.

Day 9, Pamukkale. The White Terraces and the ruins of Hierapolis are a long road day, roughly three hours each way from Kusadasi. Bring a swimsuit for the ancient pool if you want to swim, and shoes you can carry, since the terraces are walked barefoot.

Day 10, Kusadasi, then Antalya. A free morning on the harbour before the transfer and flight to Antalya.

Day 11, Antalya. The old town of Kaleici, Hadrian's Gate, the harbour and a boat trip, with the afternoon free at the sea.

Day 12, flight home. From Antalya you connect to the USA, usually through Istanbul. Leave a margin of several hours for the connection.

What 12 days costs: the budget in pieces

Both packages are priced per person, and a 12-day route is not a simple multiple of either. Send us your dates and number of travellers and we reply with a written price. If you want an extra day with a private guide in Istanbul, our Best of Istanbul Private Tour is $199 per day for the group. For more on the cost side, see what a Turkey trip costs from the USA.

What is included and what is not

In our multi-city packages the price covers hotel nights with breakfast, all airport transfers, the domestic flights between cities, lunch on tour days, the guided tours on the programme and the entrance tickets for the listed sites. Not included: the flight from the USA, dinners (apart from the dinner show where a package lists one), the optional balloon flight, personal spending and tips for guides and drivers. Tipping is customary in Turkey but there is no fixed percentage; a few dollars per person per day for the guide and the driver is common among our guests, and rounding up in restaurants is enough.

Hotels are chosen city by city from our selection and confirmed for your dates with your approval, so you see where you sleep before the programme is fixed. In Cappadocia many travellers ask for a cave hotel; tell us when you write, because the best ones fill early in spring and autumn. A 24/7 assistant on WhatsApp is part of the multi-city packages, which matters most on the days you change cities.

Tips for a 12-day trip

• Pack for two climates. Istanbul and Antalya are mild or hot depending on the month, while Cappadocia is a high plateau and cool in the evenings even in summer.
• Keep one suitcase. Domestic airlines have baggage limits that are lower than transatlantic ones, so travel light and wear your heaviest shoes on the plane.
• Do not stack the balloon and a flight. Balloons fly at dawn; if your next domestic flight leaves that same morning, tell us so that the programme can protect it.
• Leave the last day free. The flight home from Antalya connects through Istanbul, and a late connection is easier when nothing is planned for the morning.

Flights from the USA

Turkish Airlines flies nonstop to Istanbul from more than a dozen US cities, including New York, Washington, Chicago, Houston, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Route sites show roughly 9 to 10 hours from New York, about 10 hours 40 minutes from Chicago and 12 hours from Houston. Schedules change by season, so confirm the days on the airline site; our page on flights to Istanbul from the USA has more. Because you fly into Istanbul and out of Antalya, ask for an open-jaw ticket, which on many routes costs about the same as a plain return, so compare both. We arrange the domestic flights, so you book only the transatlantic part.

Visa and entry

US citizens with ordinary passports are exempt from a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period (Turkish Consulate General in Houston). Twelve days is well inside that. Check the State Department's Turkey page for current passport validity rules before you buy your ticket, and see Turkey travel requirements for US citizens for the checklist.

When to go

Spring and early autumn suit this route best, because Ephesus, Pamukkale and Antalya are hot from July to August, and Cappadocia is cold and sometimes snowy from December to February. Easter 2027 falls on 28 March and Memorial Day is 31 May, which makes late spring easy to plan around. Read more in our best time to visit Turkey page. Our sister site Get Turkiye Tours also lists tours across the country if you want to add a day trip.

Shorter alternatives

If 12 days is too many, the Istanbul city tour package at $699 per person covers four days in one city, and the Turkey 10-day itinerary shortens the route. If you need to decide how many days to give each region, our blog on how many days in Turkey compares 5, 7, 10 and 14-day trips, and the 10-day Turkey costs report gives a cost breakdown.

Frequently asked questions