3-Day Ephesus, Pamukkale & Didyma Tour from Istanbul by Flight

At around 05:00 you are picked up from your hotel in Istanbul and taken to the airport for the early flight to Izmir (pickup and flight times vary by hotel and season). On arrival at Izmir Airport at about 08:00 our team greets you with a name sign and drives you to the Ephesus area, where you meet your professional local guide. The first visit is the site of the Temple of Artemis, once counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. You then explore the ancient city of Ephesus, the best-preserved Greco-Roman city in the world, walking its marble streets past temples, fountains and grand public buildings. After lunch at a local restaurant you continue up the hillside to the House of the Virgin Mary, a holy place for both Christians and Muslims where Mary is believed to have lived her last days. The final stop is the 14th-century Isa Bey Mosque in Selcuk. You are then transferred to your hotel for check-in. Overnight in Kusadasi.

After breakfast at the hotel you are picked up at around 08:00, meet your local guide and drive inland to Pamukkale, admired as much for its unique geology as for its historical remains. The guided tour covers Hierapolis Ancient City and its Necropolis, one of the largest ancient cemeteries in Anatolia with about 1,200 graves, the Roman Bath, the Domitian Gate, the main colonnaded street and the Byzantine Gate. You then step onto the famous calcium terraces, formed over thousands of years by warm spring water at around 35 degrees Celsius that is rich in calcium bicarbonate. Lunch is served at a local restaurant during the day. Swimming in the ancient thermal pool is possible at an extra charge, so bring your swimsuit if you would like to take a dip. At the end of the tour you return to your hotel. Overnight in Kusadasi.

After breakfast you check out and are picked up at around 08:30 for a guided tour of three Ionian cities. First comes Priene, founded in the 2nd millennium BC and later rebuilt on a hillside terrace, where you see the theatre, the Temple of Athena, the Bouleuterion, the Agora and the Altar of Zeus and Cybele. After lunch at a local restaurant you drive to Didyma to stand before the Temple of Apollo, the largest oracle centre of ancient Anatolia, with its forest of towering columns. The last visit is Miletus, once a seaside city and the home of Thales, one of the first astronomers, who is said to have predicted a solar eclipse; the city was destroyed by the Persians in the 5th century BC. At the end of the tour you are taken to the airport for your evening flight to Istanbul, at around 19:30. On arrival in Istanbul you are met and transferred to your hotel. End of our services.