Itinerary
Day 1: Istanbul – Cappadocia
Stop At: Istanbul, Istanbul
Start your tour with a transfer from your Istanbul hotel to Istanbul Airport. Board your flight to Kayseri or Nevsehir Airport, and on arrival, meet your driver who will transfer you to your Cappadocia hotel.
Duration: 3 hours
Stop At: Goreme Open-Air Museum, Merkez, Muze Cd., Goreme 50180 Turkiye
The area covered by this Open Air Museum forms a coherent geographical entity and represents historical unity. There are eleven refectories within the Museum, with rock-cut churches tables and benches. Each is associated with a church. Most of the churches in Goreme Open Air Museum belong to the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries.
Duration: 2 minutes
Stop At: Uchisar Castle, Uchisar Turkiye
Many rooms hollowed out into the rock are connected to each other with stairs, tunnels and passages. At the entrances of the rooms, there are millstone doors, just like the ones in the underground settlements, used to control access to these places. Due to the erosion in places of this multi-leveled castle, it is unfortunately not possible to reach all the rooms. Most of the rooms, located on the north side of the castle are in use as pigeon houses (dovecuts) today. Farmers used these cave pigeon houses to collect the droppings of pigeons which is an excellent natural fertilizer for the orchards and vineyards.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Avanos, Avanos, Cappadocia
The Kizilirmak (red) river (ancient Halys river) is the longest river in Turkey and it does not only separate the town from other parts of Cappadocia, but also gives the supplies the clay for pottery. It is by this river that the red pottery clay is found from which Avanos derives its main livelihood and its foremost claim to fame. Pottery has been produced in the Avanos area for centuries and some of the techniques still used date back to Hittite times to 2000 BC. The Hittites named the town "Zu Wanes" and it became "Venessa" during the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Pasabag, Urgup Turkiye
Some of these cones split into smaller cones in their upper sections, in which stylites and hermits once hid. The hermitage of Simeon monks was also here. A chapel dedicated to St. Simeon (Simon), and a hermit's shelter is built into one of the fairy chimneys with three heads. The entrance of the cell is decorated with antithetical crosses. Saint Simeon was living in seclusion near Aleppo in the 5th century, when rumors that he made miracles started to spread. Disturbed by all the attention, he began to live at the top of a 2m high column, and later moved to one 15m in height. From there he only descended occasionally to get food and drink brought by his disciples. The hermits of Cappadocia distanced themselves from the world by cutting into fairy chimneys rather than living on top of columns.Pasabag, Cappadocia They hollowed out the chimneys from bottom to top creating rooms at 10-15m high.
Duration: 45 minutes
Stop At: Fairy Chimneys, Goreme Turkiye
Fairy Chimneys are the world famous formations of Cappadocia. The outstanding landscape, natural beauties, rock-cut houses, caves, the picturesque valleys, scenic lunar hills and many more popular spots of Cappadocia are full of fairy chimneys.
Duration: 30 minutes
Meals included:
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Accommodation included: ACER cave hotel
Day 2: Cappadocia
Stop At: Kaymakli Underground City, Derinkuyu Turkiye
Kaymakli underground city is built under the hill known as the Citadel of Kaymakli and was opened to visitors in 1964. The people of Kaymakli (Enegup in Greek) village have constructed their houses around nearly one hundred tunnels of the underground city. The inhabitants of the region still use the most convenient places in the tunnels as cellars, storage areas and stables, which they access through their courtyards. The Kaymakli Underground City has low, narrow and sloping passages. While the underground city consists of 8 floors below ground, only 4 of them are open to the public today, in which the spaces are organized around ventilation shafts.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Fairy Chimneys, Goreme Turkiye
Esentepe, the impressive panoramic viewpoint overlooking Goreme. Here your guide will give you information on the history of Cappadocia and the unique rock formations. From here we visit the beginning of Rose Valley for an easy one-hour hike through fairy chimneys, orchards and vineyards.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Urgup, Urgup, Cappadocia
Ürgüp (formerly known as Ossiana in Greek) is an ideal starting point to visit Cappadocia.
It used to be a centre of a trade at Seljuk times. Today it is still popular for its handicrafts and small shops.
The city attracts lots of travellers, thanks to its geomorphological sights and cave dwellings.
It is one of the largest towns in Cappadocia and has many cave hotels and restaurants.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Pigeon Valley, Uchisar KasabasI Nevşehir Kapadokya, Goreme 50240 Turkiye
Guvercinlik Vadisi (Pigeon Valley) earned its name from the countless man made dovecotes (Pigeon Houses) that have been carved into the soft volcanic tuff. Since ancient times Pigeons have been used in the Cappadocia region for food and fertiliser for the infertile soil. While pigeons no longer play such an important role in the area, their rocky homes have still been maintained by locals and can be found atop rock pillars and inside excavated cave houses and churches throughout the region, however, they are particularly numerous in this valley.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Cappadocia, Cappadocia
After visit your interested place with your guide drive to Kayseri Airport for your 1.-hour evening flight to Izmir. Arrive at Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport on your own, and enjoy a transfer to your hotel. Have a dinner at hotel and enjoy a good night’s sleep in readiness for tomorrow.
Duration: 3 hours
Meals included:
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Accommodation included: ramada 5 star hotel
Day 3: Ephesus- Istanbul
Stop At: Ancient City of Ephesus, Selcuk 35920 Turkiye
After breakfast start a full day tour to Ephesus. First you will explore the site and remains of the Temple of Artemis, also known as the Temple of Diana. Once considered one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, this grand temple was destroyed in the 5th century.
See the ruins at the site of this once-great temple, and admire pieces of impressive ancient Greek architecture.
Next on our itinerary is the House of the Virgin Mary. This Christian shrine is believed to be the stone house that Mary was taken to by Saint John, and where she lived until her death.
You will be offered a substantial lunch prior to the afternoon programme.
After exploring other historical sites, such as the magnificent remains of the Library of Celsus or the 6th-century Basilica of St. John, you will be driven to the airport and fly back to Istanbul.
On arrival to Istanbul transfer to your hotel and our services end.
Duration: 3 hours
Stop At: Meryemana (The Virgin Mary's House), Sultaniye Mahallesi, Selcuk 35100 Turkiye
Take a break for lunch in the main town (own expense), before traveling to the House of the Virgin Mary, a site that many believe is where the Virgin Mary spent her final days. Enjoy a look around the chapel and hear about its history as a place of pilgrimage from your guide.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Ephesus Museum, Selcuk Turkiye
The ancient city of Ephesus (Ephesos) takes you on an unforgettable journey through history; etched on minds as the home of the Blessed Virgin Mary, stretching back to the Neolithic period and inhabited in the greatest period of the Roman Empire. This ancient city was valued for a long time as a harbour town, and due to the excavations which have uncovered new sections and artefacts every year, the city continues to surprise its visitors and to maintain its historical value. Many famous classical philosophers, who are still read today, such as Heraclitus, lived in the scientific, artistic and cultural city of Ephesus.
Duration: 1 minute
Stop At: The Temple of Artemis, Ataturk, Park Ici Yolu No:12, Selcuk Turkiye
One of the Seven Wonders of the World in ancient times, the Temple of Artemis (Artemision) at Ephesus was a famous place of pilgrimage for centuries.
Anatolia has always had a fertility goddess: Mita to the Phrygians, Cybele (or Kybele) to many other Anatolian peoples, Artemis to the Greeks and Diana to the Romans.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Istanbul, Istanbul
At the end of the tour, according to your flight time, we will transfer you to the airport for your return flight to Istanbul. Upon landing in Istanbul, our team will welcome you at the exit gate of the Airport (meeting details will be specified). Then, approx. 1-hour transfer to your hotel.
Duration: 2 hours
Meals included:
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No accommodation included on this day.