5-Day Istanbul & Cappadocia Tour by Domestic Flight – Guaranteed Departure (Private Tour)

Highlights of the 5-Day Istanbul & Cappadocia Tour

This 5-day Turkey tour links Istanbul and Cappadocia by a short domestic flight instead of a long coach ride, so you spend your time on guided sightseeing rather than on the road. With guaranteed departures, an English-speaking guide on every tour and transfers between airports and hotels, it is a compact way to see the two most famous destinations in Turkey; you choose your own hotels from our recommended list in Istanbul and Cappadocia, and we are happy to book them for you at good rates.

In Istanbul the Old City tour begins at the Hippodrome, a UNESCO-listed square since 1985, where the German Fountain given by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1898 stands near the Obelisk of Theodosius, an Egyptian monolith almost 3,500 years old brought from the Temple of Karnak around 390 AD, the Serpentine Column once at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, and the Column of Constantine. You then step inside the Blue Mosque, where Ottoman and Byzantine traditions merge under a dome decorated with Iznik tiles, and Hagia Sophia, more than 1,500 years old and often called the eighth wonder of the world, before shopping for Turkish delight, coffee, spices and handicrafts. The next morning a Bosphorus cruise passes Dolmabahce, Yildiz, Ciragan and Beylerbeyi palaces, Ortakoy and Rumeli Fortress, followed by lunch and the Spice Bazaar, before your evening flight to Cappadocia.

Cappadocia day begins underground at Ozkonak Underground City, carved into the volcanic tuff of Mount Idis with galleries joined by tunnels, then moves to the Goreme Open Air Museum, a UNESCO site whose rock-cut churches — including the Tokali, Dark, El Nazar, Sakli, Virgin Mary and Kiliclar churches, the Chapel of St. Basil, St. Barbara and the Convent of Monks and Nuns — preserve vivid frescoes. You continue to the cave village of Cavusin, lunch in Avanos with a visit to a pottery workshop rooted in Hittite tradition, and the rock formations of Love Valley, Devrent Valley and the Three Beauties. An optional sunrise hot air balloon flight can be added, making this Istanbul and Cappadocia package a flexible first introduction to Turkey.