Istanbul 3 Nights & Cappadocia 4 Nights Group Tour – 7 Nights 8 Days with Domestic Flight

Highlights of the Istanbul 3 Nights & Cappadocia 4 Nights Group Tour – 7 Nights 8 Days with Domestic Flight

Turkey's two most famous destinations in one 7-night group tour: Istanbul, the imperial city on two continents, and Cappadocia, the volcanic plateau of fairy chimneys, cave churches and underground cities. An evening domestic flight after your Bosphorus cruise is already included. You stay in hand-picked hotels of your chosen category, are met at every airport and join small group excursions led by a professional English-speaking guide.

The historic peninsula of Sultanahmet is the heart of old Constantinople: Hagia Sophia, built by Emperor Justinian in 537 and for almost a thousand years the largest church in the world, the Blue Mosque with more than 20,000 hand-painted İznik tiles, the Hippodrome with its Egyptian obelisk and Topkapı Palace, from where the Ottoman sultans ruled an empire on three continents. The Grand Bazaar, with some 4,000 shops under its vaulted roofs, is one of the oldest covered markets in the world.

Dolmabahçe Palace, with its crystal staircase and the largest Bohemian chandelier in the world, was the last residence of the Ottoman sultans and the place where Atatürk died. Along the Golden Horn you visit the Eyüp Sultan Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam, ride the cable car up to the Pierre Loti café for the famous view over the inlet and walk through the colourful houses and old churches of Balat.

In the north of the region you climb to the viewpoint of Uçhisar Castle, the tallest rock citadel of Cappadocia, and step inside the Göreme Open-Air Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose rock-cut churches such as the Dark Church preserve vivid Byzantine frescoes. The mushroom-shaped fairy chimneys of Paşabağ (Monks Valley), the animal-shaped rocks of Devrent (Imagination Valley) and the pottery town of Avanos on the Red River complete the day.

South Cappadocia reveals another world: Derinkuyu Underground City descends eight levels into the rock and once sheltered thousands of people with their animals, wells and chapels. The Ihlara Valley, a 16-kilometre canyon cut by the Melendiz river, hides more than a hundred rock churches along a shaded riverside trail, and the vast Selime Monastery, carved into the cliff face, is one of the largest religious complexes in the region.

On foot you discover the Red Valley and Rose Valley, famous for their sunset colours and rock-hewn chapels such as the Three Cross Church, and the abandoned cave village of Çavuşin with its Church of St John the Baptist. Kaymaklı Underground City, with its maze of tunnels, ventilation shafts and stables, shows how early Christians lived hidden from invaders.

A cruise on the Bosphorus is the best way to understand Istanbul: the strait between Europe and Asia is lined with Ottoman palaces such as Dolmabahçe and Beylerbeyi, the baroque Ortaköy Mosque, the Rumeli Fortress built by Mehmed the Conqueror and elegant wooden waterside mansions called yalı. Before the boat trip you visit the Spice Bazaar, built in 1664 and still full of spices, teas and Turkish delight.

Choose your hotel category for both regions – 3★: Ilkbal Deluxe Hotel Istanbul and Cappadocia Balloon Cave; 4★: Antik Hotel Istanbul and Monark Hotel Cappadocia; 5★: Eresin Hotels Topkapi and DoubleTree by Hilton Avanos - Cappadocia. All prices are per person in a double room for the whole package and change with the travel season; the domestic flight from Istanbul to Cappadocia, all airport transfers, guided excursions, lunches on full-day tours and entrance fees are included. A Bosphorus dinner cruise and a sunrise hot-air balloon flight over Cappadocia can be added as options.