17 Days Turkey Cultural & Historical Heritage Tour: Ankara, Eastern Anatolia and Istanbul Private Tour

Meet at the airport and transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day is free to explore Ankara at your own pace. Dinner and overnight in Ankara.

After breakfast visit the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, then the old part of Ankara with its Ottoman-period wooden houses, the Ethnographical Museum and the spice market, with a photo stop at the Ataturk Mausoleum. Lunch is a doner kebab at a well-known restaurant near the parliament quarter. In the afternoon drive to Hattusa, the Hittite capital, to see its city walls, Lion Gate, underground passage and King Gate, followed by the rock sanctuary of Yazilikaya. Reach Amasya, birthplace of the geographer Strabo, for a walk along the Green River past wooden houses and rock-cut tombs. Dinner and overnight in Amasya.

Continue sightseeing in Amasya: the Sultan Beyazit Mosque, the Burmali Minare Mosque, the Darussifa hospital, the Gok Medrese, the Archaeological Museum, the Hazeranlar Konagi Ethnographical Museum and the Torumtay Mausoleum of 1266, along with the historic bridges and fountains. After lunch follow the Green River to Niksar and on to Ordu, where hazelnut fields meet views of the sea. Arrive in Giresun, known for its cherry trees. Dinner and overnight in Giresun.

Drive along the Black Sea coast to Trabzon and visit the 13th-century church of Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya), built under the Komnenos dynasty. Its south portal is decorated with reliefs of Adam and Eve and floral friezes, and the narthex holds the finest frescoes, showing New Testament miracles such as Christ walking on the water. Dinner and overnight in Trabzon.

Start with the Sumela Monastery near Macka, built into the cliff at about 1,200 metres above the Altindere valley and known for its rock church frescoes; the final stretch is covered on foot or by shuttle van. Cross the mountains via Torul, Gumushane and Bayburt, with lunch by the Coruh River, and over the Kop Pass (2,302 m) to Erzurum. Visit the Great Mosque, the three Kumbet tombs and the twin-minaret medrese decorated with turquoise tiles. Dinner and overnight at a hotel on Palandoken Mountain.

Stop at the Cobandede Bridge between Pasinler and Horasan, then follow the Aras River to Ani on the Armenian border, once a capital with thousands of churches. Among its ruins you see the cathedral, the churches of the Savior and St Gregory, an early mosque, the Seljuk palace, a bathhouse and the old market. After lunch in Kars take photos of the Cathedral of the Apostles and Kars Castle, then drive towards Dogubayazit with views of Great and Little Ararat. Dinner and overnight in Dogubayazit.

Visit the Ishak Pasha Palace, an Ottoman palace complex completed in 1784 at the foot of Mount Ararat, 7 km from town. After lunch cross the Tendurek Pass (2,644 m) to the Muradiye waterfalls near Lake Van. In Van climb up to the Urartian fortress of Tuspa, with its royal rock tombs and the trilingual inscription of the Persian king Xerxes, and watch the sunset over the lake. Dinner and overnight in Van.

Begin with a visit to a cooperative where the famous kilims of Van are made, then continue to the Urartian citadel of Cavustepe, 28 km south of Van, with its upper and lower fortresses, temple and storage jars marked in cuneiform. Cross to Akdamar Island for a picnic lunch and a visit to the 10th-century Church of the Holy Cross, famous for the Old and New Testament scenes carved on its outer walls. At sunset stop at the Seljuk cemetery before returning to the hotel. Dinner and overnight in Van.

Drive south of the lake over the Kuskunkiran Pass to Tatvan and through the valley of Bitlis to the Malabadi Bridge, built in 1146 over a tributary of the Tigris. Lunch is in Silvan, ancient Tigranokerta, followed by a visit to the Selahaddin Eyyubi Mosque, the Ataturk Museum, the rock-cut houses and caves around Hassuni and Hassuni Castle. In Diyarbakir admire the black basalt city walls and the old bridge over the Tigris before continuing to Mardin. Dinner and overnight in Mardin.

Walk through the old town of Mardin with its carved limestone houses and visit the Sultan Isa Medrese of 1385, whose roof overlooks the Mesopotamian plain, and the Great Mosque. Continue to the Syriac Orthodox Deyrulzafaran Monastery, then to Urfa for lunch near the Pool of Sacred Fish and a visit to the sites linked to Abraham. In Harran see the beehive-shaped mud-brick houses and the remains of the city walls before driving to Kahta at the foot of Mount Nemrut. Dinner and overnight in Kahta.

Leave early, warmly dressed, for the summit of Mount Nemrut (2,150 m), where King Antiochus I of Commagene built his tomb mound flanked by giant seated statues of gods, lions and eagles on the east and west terraces. Then drive to Antakya, ancient Antioch, one of the great cities of the Roman Empire, for lunch with local specialties. Visit the Cave Church of St Peter and the Archaeological Museum with its renowned Roman mosaics. Dinner and overnight in Antakya.

Leave Antakya via Daphne (Harbiye), the setting of the Apollo and Daphne legend, and pass Iskenderun and Issos, where Alexander the Great defeated Darius III, on the way to Tarsus. See St Paul's Well and the house associated with him, then stop for lunch. Cross the Taurus Mountains through the Gulek Pass to Tyana and its Roman aqueduct and pool, then visit the Seljuk-period Great Mosque of Nigde and the Princess Mausoleum before reaching Nevsehir in Cappadocia. Dinner and overnight in Cappadocia.

Join the Red Tour at about 09:30. Start at Uchisar Castle, the highest point in the region, then visit Goreme Open Air Museum with its 10th-century frescoes and the abandoned cave village of Cavusin. After lunch in Avanos watch a potter at work, then see the multi-headed fairy chimneys of Pasabag and a carpet and kilim workshop. Continue to Devrent (Imagination) Valley, a wine tasting in Urgup and the Three Beauties fairy chimneys. Return to the hotel at about 18:00. Dinner and overnight in Cappadocia.

After pick-up at about 09:30, descend into Derinkuyu Underground City, 55 metres deep with eight levels open to visitors. Drive to the Ihlara Valley, a 16 km canyon lined with rock-cut churches, for a 3 km walk and a church visit, with lunch by the river at Belisirma village. In the afternoon visit Selime Monastery, carved into the rock, and stop at Pigeon Valley on the way back. Dinner and overnight in Cappadocia.

Transfer to Kayseri Airport for the domestic flight to Istanbul, where you are met and taken straight to the Bosphorus programme. Start at the Spice Bazaar, fragrant with cinnamon, saffron, mint and thyme, then board a boat on the strait between Europe and Asia. From the water you see Dolmabahce Palace, the parks of Yildiz Palace, the marble front of Ciragan Palace, Ortakoy with its church, mosque and synagogue side by side, Rumeli Fortress built by Mehmed the Conqueror in 1452, and Beylerbeyi Palace on the Asian shore. Cross the Bosphorus Bridge and enjoy the panorama from Camlica Hill, the highest point of the city. A shopping tour follows, with a carpet weaving course, jewellery and handicraft centres and a leather fashion show. Overnight in Istanbul.

Pick-up at 08:30 for a full day in old Istanbul. Visit Topkapi Palace, home of the Ottoman sultans for four centuries, with its porcelain collection, imperial robes, Treasury jewels and the Holy Relics. Continue to Hagia Sophia, rebuilt by Justinian in the 6th century, and the Blue Mosque opposite, named after its blue Iznik tiles. At the Hippodrome see the Obelisk of Theodosius, the Serpentine Column and the Column of Constantine. After lunch wander the Grand Bazaar with its more than 4,000 shops before returning to the hotel. Overnight in Istanbul. Note that Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesdays and the Grand Bazaar on Sundays.

After breakfast check out of the hotel and transfer to the airport for your flight home. End of the tour.