9-Day Biblical Tour of Turkey

Welcome to Türkiye. You are met at Istanbul Airport and privately transferred to your hotel in the old city. The evening is free, with optional outings such as a Bosphorus dinner cruise or a Whirling Dervish ceremony. Overnight in Istanbul.

A full day among Istanbul's Christian heritage. You visit the Ecumenical Patriarchate at Fener and the church of Aya Yorgi, the Byzantine mosaics of St Mary Pammakaristos, the cast-iron Bulgarian St Stephen Church, the shrine of Panagia of Blachernae and the mosaic-filled Church of St Saviour in Chora (Kariye). Overnight in Istanbul.

You board a traditional boat for a cruise along the Bosphorus, the strait dividing Europe and Asia, passing the Dolmabahçe and Çırağan palaces, the Ortaköy mosque, Rumeli Fortress and the Beylerbeyi Palace. After a stop at a spice bazaar for Turkish delight, baklava and coffee, the rest of the day is free. Overnight in Istanbul.

An early departure through European Türkiye, crossing the Dardanelles by ferry, brings you to Troy, the Bronze-Age city of Homer's Iliad, where you see the excavated walls, the layers of successive cities and the replica of the wooden horse. You continue to Çanakkale on the Asian shore. Dinner and overnight in Çanakkale.

Today covers three of the Seven Churches. At Pergamon (Bergama) you climb the acropolis with the steepest theatre of antiquity and the site of the Altar of Zeus, and visit the Red Basilica, a pagan temple turned church. At Thyatira (Akhisar) — the city of Lydia the purple-seller — you see the basilica ruins, then take in panoramic Smyrna (Izmir). Dinner and overnight in Izmir.

At Sardis, capital of King Croesus, you see the Temple of Artemis, the restored gymnasium and the ancient synagogue beside the "golden" Pactolus stream. At Philadelphia (Alaşehir) you visit the brick piers of its Byzantine basilica. You reach Pamukkale and ancient Hierapolis, with the martyrium of the Apostle Philip and the white travertine terraces. Dinner and overnight in Pamukkale.

At Laodicea, the lukewarm church of Revelation, you walk the colonnaded streets, theatres and the ancient water system. You then visit Aphrodisias, with one of the best-preserved stadiums of the ancient world, the marble-staged odeon and the Temple of Aphrodite, before continuing to the Aegean resort of Kuşadası. Dinner and overnight in Kuşadası.

A full day at Ephesus, where the Apostle Paul lived and preached for three years. You walk the marble streets past the Baths of Scholastica, the Library of Celsus and the Great Theatre, and visit the Temple of Artemis, the Basilica of St John over the apostle's tomb and the House of the Virgin Mary. In the afternoon you explore the Greek hill village of Şirince with its churches of St Demetrios and St John the Baptist. Dinner and overnight in Kuşadası.

After breakfast you are transferred to Izmir Airport for your onward flight, having completed the circuit of the Seven Churches of Revelation. End of the tour.