10-Day Best of Turkey Tour: Istanbul, Cappadocia, Ephesus & Gallipoli

After an open buffet breakfast your guided city tour starts at the Hippodrome, the former arena of Byzantine chariot races, where three monuments still stand: the Obelisk of Theodosius, the bronze Serpentine Column and the Column of Constantine. Next comes the Sultanahmet Imperial Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque for the thousands of blue Iznik tiles that decorate its interior. Across the square you visit the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, originally the Church of Divine Wisdom, the masterpiece of Byzantine architecture and for about a thousand years the largest church in the world, still glowing with 6th-century golden mosaics. After a lunch break around 13:00 you board a cruise on the Bosphorus, sailing between Europe and Asia past the Golden Horn, Beylerbeyi Palace, Rumeli Fortress and Ortakoy Mosque while your guide shares the stories of both shores. You are then transferred back to your hotel and the evening is yours to enjoy Istanbul. Please bring a headscarf for the mosque visits. Overnight in Istanbul.

After breakfast you leave Istanbul and drive east across Anatolia to Ankara, the capital of the Turkish Republic. Here you visit Anitkabir, the monumental mausoleum and museum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, whose sweeping reforms reshaped Turkish society and whose command during the First World War helped turn back the Allied invasion. Your guide explains the symbolism of the complex and the story of the young republic. The journey then continues through the open landscapes and lakes of Central Anatolia before you reach Cappadocia in the evening. If you would like to join the optional hot air balloon flight the next morning, let your guide know today so that a place can be reserved. Please note that if the departure has fewer than six guests, this section may be operated by a domestic flight instead. Dinner and overnight in Cappadocia.

Early risers can begin with an optional sunrise balloon flight over the valleys. After breakfast, at about 09:30, the full-day Cappadocia tour starts at the Ozkonak Underground City, one of the best preserved subterranean refuges of the region, where tunnels and chambers descend several levels beneath the surface. You then visit the Goreme Open Air Museum, the heart of Cappadocia, whose rock-cut churches hold frescoes from the 10th century depicting the life of Christ and the monastic communities that lived here. Next is Cavusin, an abandoned village of old cave houses once inhabited by Greek families. Lunch is taken at a restaurant in Avanos, followed by a pottery workshop where local craftsmen demonstrate their centuries-old technique on the wheel. The afternoon continues to Love Valley with its tall, curiously shaped pillars, Devrent Valley, also called Imagination Valley for its animal-like rock formations, and finally the Three Beauties, the capped fairy chimneys that symbolise Cappadocia. The tour ends around 18:00 with a transfer to your hotel. Dinner and overnight in Cappadocia.

After breakfast you head west towards Pamukkale along one of the historic trade routes of Anatolia. The first stop is the Sultanhan Caravanserai, a 13th-century Seljuk masterpiece where merchants and their camels once rested behind a massive carved stone portal. You then continue to Konya to visit the Mevlana Museum, the original lodge of the Mevlevi order known worldwide as the Whirling Dervishes. Under its green-tiled dome lies the tomb of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, the great Sufi philosopher and mystic, which remains an important place of pilgrimage for visitors from all over the world. After the visit the drive continues through the farmland and hills of inner Anatolia until you reach Pamukkale in the evening. Dinner and overnight in Pamukkale.

After breakfast you explore the dazzling white calcium terraces of Pamukkale, the Cotton Castle, where warm mineral water spills over travertine pools. Above them lie the ruins of ancient Hierapolis: you see its vast necropolis with more than 1,200 graves, the Temple of Apollo, the Plutonium dating back to the 3rd century BC and the sacred pool, where shallow thermal water ripples over fallen Roman columns. Time is allowed to walk on the terraces and take photographs. In the afternoon you drive towards the Aegean coast, stopping on the way at the remains of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which stands in a marshy plain between Selcuk and Ephesus. You then continue to the seaside town of Kusadasi. Dinner and overnight in Kusadasi.

After breakfast you drive to Ephesus, one of the largest and best preserved ancient cities in the Mediterranean. The city was first founded on the northern slope of Mount Pion around 1000 BC and later moved to its present site in the 4th century BC. On a guided walk you follow marble streets lined with Roman theatres, fountains, temples, churches and public buildings, including the celebrated Library of Celsus and the Great Theatre, while your guide brings daily life in this Roman port city back to life. In the afternoon there is a visit to a Turkish leather manufacturing house, where locally made products are available for sale. You then return to Kusadasi with time to relax by the sea or wander around the harbour. Dinner and overnight in Kusadasi.

An early start after breakfast takes you north to Bergama, the site of ancient Pergamum, one of the oldest civilised settlements in Turkey, inhabited from prehistoric times through the Ionian, Roman and Byzantine eras. The city stayed hidden from the modern world until 1871, when the German engineer Carl Humann was shown a strange mosaic by local villagers that led to the discovery of the Altar of Zeus. You climb to the Acropolis on its steep hilltop to see its temple terraces and the foundations of the famous altar. The journey continues to Troy, the legendary city of Homer, setting of the tale of Helen, Achilles and the Trojan Horse, where layers of ancient settlements are visible in the excavations. In the evening you reach Canakkale on the shores of the Dardanelles. Dinner and overnight in Canakkale.

After breakfast you cross the Dardanelles to the Gallipoli Peninsula for a moving tour of the First World War battlefields. In 1915 the Allies attempted to seize the straits in order to open a supply route through the Black Sea to Russia; the landings on these beaches failed, and more than 11,000 Anzacs were among the many thousands who lost their lives here. Your guide takes you to the key sites, including Anzac Cove, Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair and The Nek, as well as preserved Turkish and Allied trenches, explaining the course of the fighting and the respect both sides share today. In the afternoon you drive back to Istanbul for your final night of the tour. Overnight in Istanbul.

Enjoy a final open buffet breakfast at your hotel in Istanbul and check out at the appointed time. Depending on your flight schedule you may have a little free time for last-minute shopping or a final stroll before your transfer to Istanbul Airport for your onward or homeward flight. Your Best of Turkey journey comes to an end here, leaving you with memories of imperial Istanbul, the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia, the white terraces of Pamukkale, the marble streets of Ephesus and the solemn fields of Gallipoli. We hope to welcome you back to Turkey again soon.