Turkey The Grand Tour

This is a private tour : Starts in Istanbul daily: Choose your own date : March - Nov
Our 16-day Grand Tour shows you all of Turkey's best cities, sites and beaches:
Istanbul, Troy, Izmir, Ephesus, Kusadasi, Hierapolis, Aphrodisias, Antalya, Side, Perge,
Aspendos, Konya, Cappadocia, Ankara . Click here for the King Midas Extension

Add Egypt . Check out our Konya Extension ( for the independent traveler)
Compare with the Jewish Heritage Tour of Turkey . Add Jordan and Egypt
Compare with the 14-Day Splendors of Turkey Private tour with air fare from USA

DAY 1- ISTANBUL-This is a Private Tour. Private Transfers - You may choose your own date - Yet we are suggesting- Saturday
Our staff meets your plane at Istanbul Airport and escorts you to your hotel. All of our airport transfers here are on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur.

DAY 2 - ISTANBUL- Sunday (BL)
We tour historic Istanbul, including the Hippodrome, Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Süleymaniye Mosque, and the 4000-shop Grand Bazaar. Lunch is included at a charming local restaurant . All of your tours are on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur and private guide .

DAY 3 - ISTANBUL- Monday (BL)
After a visit to the aromatic Egyptian (Spice) Bazaar on the Golden Horn, we board a ferryboat and cruise northward along the Bosphorus, the strait which separates Europe and Asia. Sipping Turkish coffee or tea, we pass waterside palaces, mansions, forests and parks. Disembarking at a fishing village, we have a seafood lunch at a local restaurant, then drive south to tour fabled Topkapi Palace, where we will stroll through the palace gardens to see the Treasury and Chinese porcelains. All of your tours are on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur and private guide .

DAY 4 - DARDANELLES - TROY- Tuesday (BD)
We drive through Thrace (European Turkey) to Gallipoli, scene of famous battles in WWI. After lunch we cross the Dardanelles (Hellespont) and drive to legendary Troy to see the famous walls and a replica of the Trojan Horse before settling in at our hotel in Çanakkale. Dinner is included at the hotel. Prefer to fly to Izmir and skip Troy ? please click here . All of your tours are on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur and private guide .

DAY 5 - PERGAMON - IZMIR - Wednesday (BD)
Driving south through the fields and olive groves along the Aegean shore, we come to Bergama, ancient Pergamon. Ascending its lofty acropolis, we see the Altar of Zeus, Temple of Dionysus and the remains of the 200,000-volume library which was surpassed only by Alexandria's. A few miles away, we tour the asclepion, the early medical center where Galen was a physician, before continuing to Izmir for the night. Dinner is included at the hotel . All of your tours are on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur and private guide .

DAY 6 - EPHESUS - KUSADASI - Thursday (BD)
In the morning light we ascend Kadifekale, Izmir's hill crowned by a fortress built by Alexander the Great, to enjoy the view. Then it's off to biblical Ephesus to see the Basilica of St John the Evangelist, who came here with the Virgin Mary. Passing the ruins of the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, we reach Ephesus, the most impressive ancient city on the Mediterranean. After our tour, we continue to the fine Ephesus Museum and the hilltop House of the Virgin Mary, said to be her last home on earth. We spend the night in the Aegean resort of Kusadasi. Dinner is included at the hotel . All of your tours are on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur and private guide .

DAY 7 - PRIENE, MILETUS - DIDYMA - Friday (BD)
A short drive brings us to the well-preserved ruins of Priene, a very ancient city perched above the aptly-named Meander River. We next tour Miletus, where the philosopher Thales was born. Finally, we tour the gigantic oracular temple at Didyma, which challenged the primacy of Delphi, before returning to our hotel in Kusadasi. Dinner is included at the hotel. All of your tours are on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur and private guide .

DAY 8 - APHRODISIAS - PAMUKKALE (BD)
Driving east along fertile river valleys crowded with fields and fruit orchards, we reach Aphrodisias, the City of Aphrodite, goddess of love. After our visit, we continue to Pamukkale, the "Cotton Fortress," where cascades of gleaming white calcium cover a hillside. The warm mineral-laden waters attracted the Romans, who built the spa-city of Hierapolis here. We tour its ruins, and enjoy the swimming pool at our hotel here in the evening with dinner included at the hotel . All of your tours are on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur and private guide .

DAY 9 - ANTALYA- Sunday (BD)
We drive back to Antalya, "capital" of the Mediterranean Turquoise Coast and your hotel where dinner is included . All of your tours are on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur and private guide .

DAY 10 - PERGE, ASPENDOS - SIDE - Monday (BD)
We tour three ancient cities close to Antalya, including Perge, with its great gates and colonnaded street; Aspendos, with its perfectly-preserved theater; and Side, with its creamy marble temples of Athena and Apollo, where Cleopatra once met Marc Anthony for a romantic tryst. Dinner is included at the hotel . Tours are on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur and private guide .

DAY 11 - LAKE DISTRICT - KONYA - (BD)
Climbing up onto the Anatolian plateau, we drive through Turkey's lake district on our way to Konya, the capital of the 11th-century Seljuk Turkish Empire and the home of the mystical whirling dervishes. We visit the Mevlana Museum, with the tomb of Jelaleddin Rumi, founder of the Whirling Dervish order, and also the Karatay Museum, a 13th-century theological seminary. Dinner is included at the hotel .

DAY 12 - KONYA - CAPPADOCIA- Wednesday (BD)
We travel eastwards along the ancient Silk Road, stopping at the camel caravanserai of Sultanhan for a look at this "caravan motel." Entering biblical Cappadocia, we descend into the ground at Derinkuyu or Kaymakli to explore an entire city carved from the soft volcanic rock by ancient Christians. Dinner is included at the hotel. Tours are on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur and private guide .

DAY 13 - CAPPADOCIA - Thursday (BD)
Continuing our explorations of Cappadocia, we tour the Göreme Valley, filled with brightly-painted cave-churches hollowed from the rock. Next is the monastic Zelve Valley, and then the farming towns of Avanos and UÇhisar. Dinner is included at the hotel.

DAY 14 - Istanbul - Friday (B)
Enjoy breakfast at your hotel , before heading for the airport and flying to Istanbul and your hotel .
Evening dinner and show . All of your transfers are on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur .

DAY 15 - ISTANBUL (BL)
" Imperial Constantinople in the Belle Epoque" (late 19th century), the exotic romance of the "Paris of the East:"

Morning walking tour : We start with our guide in Karaköy where the foreign bankers and shipping companies had their headquarters, then take the Tünel up to istiklal Caddesi; stop in the whirling dervish tekke, and walk past the various old embassy buildings (now consulates), and point out the architecture. Stop for tea (included) at the famous Pera Palace Hotel.
Walk at least as far as Galatasaray Square, and have lunch in the Çicek Pasaji (Flower Passage); then walk up to Taksim Square and be picked up for the afternoon tour. In the afternoon the tour visit Yildiz Palace Park and the Ihlamur Kasri, a mini-palace south of Yildiz, and finish up with a visit to the Military History Museum in Harbiye in time to hear the "Mehter," or Ottoman military band (mid-afternoon) . Return to the hotel . All of your tours are on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur and private guide .

DAY 16 - DEPARTURE - (B)
We escort you to the airport for your flight home. Bon Voyage. All of your transfers are on a private basis , private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur .

Rate per person in USD $

Click here to add King Midas Extension
Or the 14-Day Turkey and Anatolia A La Indiana Jones Private Grand Tour of Istanbul and Anatolia

"Turkey: The Grand Tour" does include:

• Domestic airfares in Turkey as per itinerary in economy class, tax included .

• All meals, preset menu, as per itinerary: BLD : Breakfast/lunch/dinner.

• Four star hotels or Ottoman Mansions Boutique style hotels with tax.

• All transfers in Turkey, on a private basis .
  
• Private Guided sightseeing , entrance fees.
  
• Locally escorted throughout Turkey.
  
• Air conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur

Rate does not include :

• Tips
• Visa Fee : in cash upon arrival, for US citizens, or $45 for Canadians, or secure from any of the Turkish Consulates.
• Trip cancellation / travel insurance
• International airfare

General Sample Hotel Listing ( or similar) : 5 Stars and best available :

Istanbul : Boutique style Ottoman Mansion Hotel : Blue House . Arena . Yesil Ev, Sultanahmet Sarayi , Sultanhan or similar
Kusadasi : Korumar Hotel or similar
Pamukkale: Colassae Hotel or similar
Antalya: Talya Hotel or similar
Konya: Riixos Hotel or similar
Cappadocia : Cave Suites Hotel or similar (local 4 star)
Çanakkale Tusan Hotel or similar (local 4 star)
Izmir Hilton Hotel or similar

More choices :

• Compare with the 14-Day Splendors of Turkey Private tour with air fare from USA

• Add Egypt .

• Sirince Village version
  

• Click here for the King Midas Extension .
  

• Check out our Konya Extension ( for the independent traveler)
  

• Compare with the Jewish Heritage Tour of Turkey .
  

• Add Jordan and Egypt