12 Days Best of Turkey Private Tour

Our representative meets you at Istanbul Airport with a name sign and takes you to your hotel by private van.

After check-in the rest of the day is free to explore Istanbul on your own. Overnight in Istanbul.

Your guide meets you in your hotel lobby or at the cruise port to begin the Old City tour:

• Highlights of Topkapi Palace Museum: more than a royal residence, it was the seat of Ottoman government for almost 400 years and remains a great monument of Oriental architecture.
• Hippodrome / Sultanahmet Square: the square where chariot races were held in Roman times, home to the Egyptian Obelisk from the Byzantine era and, today, the German Fountain.
• Hagia Sophia: built in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian and important to both the Christian and Islamic worlds. After the Ottoman conquest the bells, altar and sacred vessels were removed and many mosaics were covered when the church became a mosque.
• Blue Mosque: built in the early 1600s for Sultan Ahmed I, a true masterpiece whose proportions feel remarkably light for a building of its size.
• Grand Bazaar: one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with more than 4,000 shops selling ceramics, leather, rugs, carpets, handicrafts, clothing, silver and gold.

At the end of the tour your guide accompanies you back to your hotel.

*If one of the mosques cannot be visited, the Basilica Cistern is visited instead.

Your guide meets you in your hotel lobby or at the cruise port to begin the Bosphorus tour:

• Spice Market
• Bosphorus Cruise: by public ferry between the European and Asian shores, passing Galata Tower, Dolmabahce Palace, Beylerbeyi Palace, Rumeli Fortress, old Ottoman mansions, the Bosphorus Bridge and waterfront mosques.
• Dolmabahce Palace
• Taksim Square
• Cicek Passage
• Istiklal Street

*Please let us know if you would prefer a private yacht for the Bosphorus cruise.

At the end of the tour your guide accompanies you back to your hotel.

Your guide meets you in your hotel lobby or at the cruise port to begin the Golden Horn tour. You will visit:

• Suleymaniye Mosque
• Fener
• Balat
• St. Stephen Church
• Pierre Loti Hill and the cable car
• Chora Church (Kariye Mosque)

At the end of the tour your guide accompanies you back to your hotel.

At 9:00 am your guide meets you at the hotel for a tour of Istanbul's Asian side. With your guide's explanations you will visit:

• Beylerbeyi Palace
• Cengelkoy and Cinaralti
• The traditional houses of Kuzguncuk
• Camlica Hill
• A panoramic viewpoint over the Bosphorus

After the tour you are transferred to Istanbul Airport for your flight to Nevsehir, the gateway to Cappadocia. Our representative meets you on arrival with a name sign and takes you to your Cappadocia hotel by private van. Overnight in Cappadocia.

(Optional) Early in the morning you are picked up for a one-hour hot air balloon flight over the valleys of Cappadocia. After landing there is a small celebration in the valley and a flight certificate ceremony, and then you are taken back to your hotel for breakfast.

At 10:00 am your private guide and driver pick you up for the North Cappadocia tour, which includes:

• Uchisar Castle
• Goreme Open Air Museum
• Avanos
• Valley of Monks (Pasabag)
• Devrent Valley

After the tour your guide and driver drop you off at your hotel. Overnight in Cappadocia.

Your private guide and driver meet you at your hotel at 10:00 am for the South Cappadocia tour. With your guide's explanations you will visit:

• Kaymakli Underground City
• Rose Valley
• Love Valley
• Pigeon Valley
• Ortahisar Castle
• Mustafapasa (Sinasos)

After the tour your guide and driver drop you off at your hotel. Overnight in Cappadocia.

At 9:00 am your guide meets you at the hotel and you drive to Hattusa and Yazilikaya.

Here you explore the ancient Hittite sites of Central Anatolia, listed by UNESCO as World Heritage.

After the tour you are transferred to your hotel in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Overnight in Ankara.

At 9:00 am your guide meets you at the hotel for the Ankara tour, which includes:

• Mausoleum of Ataturk (Anitkabir)
• Museum of Anatolian Civilizations
• Ankara Castle
• Ankara Vakif Eserleri Museum

After the tour you are transferred to the airport for your flight to Izmir. Our representative meets you at Izmir Airport with a name sign and takes you to your Kusadasi hotel by private van. Overnight in Kusadasi.

Your guide picks you up from your Kusadasi hotel and introduces the history of Ephesus before you explore the ancient city. With your guide's explanations you will visit:

• Great Theater
• Celsus Library
• Temple of Hadrian
• Harbor Street
• Terrace Houses
• House of the Virgin Mary
• Isa Bey Mosque

After the tour your guide and driver drop you off at your hotel. Overnight in Kusadasi.

At 9:00 am your private guide and driver pick you up for the Pamukkale tour, home to the natural calcium pools formed by thermal water. The drive takes about 3 hours, and your local guide tells you about the sites on the way.

You will visit:

• The calcium pools
• Necropolis
• Roman Baths
• Domitian Gate
• Latrina
• Frontinus Street
• Agora
• Byzantium Gate
• Triton Fountain
• Cathedral
• Temple of Apollo
• Plutonium (explained from outside because of ongoing excavations)
• Theater
• Hierapolis

(Optional, extra cost) If time allows, you can swim in the Cleopatra Pool.

After the tour you are transferred to Denizli Airport for your flight to Istanbul. Our representative meets you at Istanbul Airport with a name sign and takes you to your hotel by private van. Overnight in Istanbul.

A free day in Istanbul to explore the city at your own pace.

You are transferred to Istanbul Airport in time for your international flight.

This is the end of our service. Thank you for travelling with us; we look forward to welcoming you again.