7 nights Tailor made, privately escorted tour: The Itinerary covers Turkey’s cultural heritage including the Ottoman capitals of Bursa or Edirne, first world war battlefields of Gallipoli, ancient Troy and Ephesus . This is only a sample itinerary, we can alter as per request.
Day 1: UK to Istanbul.
Fly to Istanbul and transfer to hotel for overnight in Istanbul.
Day 2 : Istanbul.
The first day is the Istanbul Classic Tour which starts when our local company pick you up from your hotel at around 9am and will return to your hotel is around 4pm. During the tour you will visit the most important popular sites of Istanbul, including St. Sophia Museum, Byzantine Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar. Overnight in Istanbul.
Day 3: Istanbul.
Your 2nd day regular tour in Istanbul, the Istanbul Two Continents Tour including a Bosphorus Cruise. Our local tour company will pick you up from your hotel at around 9 am and return around 4pm. You will experience one of the most beautiful sights in the world, the Bosphorus strait separating the two continents of Europe and Asia. This tour includes a Bosphorus Cruise and visits the Spice Bazaar, Rustempasa Mosque, Beylerbeyi Palace, Bosphorous Bridge and Camlica Hill. Overnight in Istanbul.
Day 4: Bursa or Edirne.
You will be met at your hotel after breakfast by English-speaking driver (or a professional guide – subject to extra supplement) after short briefing, you will be driven to Bursa to visit the first capital of the Ottoman Empire, with its famous tombs and mosques and the fascinating Kozahan the silk bazaar which was at the heart of the ancient silk trade, overnight in Bursa. Following morning after breakfast, travelling on to Gallipoli. (as an alternative route, instead of Bursa you can choose to go Edirne, another capital of Ottoman Empire to explore the grand Selimiye Mosque and its many museums and stay overnight in Edirne)
Day 5: Visit Gallipoli - First World War battlefields.
Drive to Gallipoli to visit the profoundly moving site of the First World War battlefields and memorial. Explore this tragic episode of the war one of the most bloodiest bottle during first world war, lost hundrads of thousands of young lives. You cannot miss the Turkish commander of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's speech, addressed to mothers, commemorating the loss of the hundreds of thousands of Turkish, British and Anzac soldiers who perished during the Gallipoli campaign is inscribed on a monument at Anzac Cove: "Those heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives … you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Jonnies and the Mehmets to us, they lie side by side. You the mothers wipe away your tears, your sons are now lying in our bosom. After having lost their lives on this land of ours, they have become our sons as well.”
After exploring the Gallipoli, take the ferry to nearby Canakkale for overnight.
Day 6: Troy.
Drive to Troy to visit the evocative site of the ancient city of Troy, a World Heritage Site, and the scene of the famous legend. Continue to Pergamum to visit the impressive ruins of this ancient city. Its acropolis is set high on a hillside and dominates the surrounding countryside and it Asclepion, once a renowned centre of medicine. Stay overnight in Bergama, formerly Pergamum.
Day 7 and 8: Ephesus.
Drive to Selçuk, where you can spend the rest of the day and the following day exploring Ephesus, Selçuk and the neighbouring charming Ottoman town of Sirince. Drive to Ephesus to visit this ancient Roman city, one of the best preserved and most visited in the world, with its grand marble streets and imposing library. Once home to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it was also here that St Paul preached some of his most famous sermons, and where the Virgin Mary spent her last days. Stay for two nights in Selçuk.
Day 9: Izmir to UK.
You will be driven to Izmir airport - and fly back to the UK (You may extend for another 2 days to visit Pamukkale before returning back to the UK, or just stay another week for relaxing beach holiday)
