Kusadasi 3 Nights, Pamukkale 1 Night & Antalya 4 Nights Group Tour – 8 Nights 9 Days Overland

Highlights of the Kusadasi 3 Nights, Pamukkale 1 Night & Antalya 4 Nights Group Tour – 8 Nights 9 Days Overland

A group tour that travels like the ancient caravans – overland from the Aegean to the Mediterranean with a night at Pamukkale: Kusadasi, Pamukkale and Antalya in 8 nights. Instead of a domestic flight, a shuttle brings you from the coast to the white travertines, you sleep in a thermal hotel, and the next day's guided Pamukkale tour continues straight to your hotel in Antalya. You stay in hand-picked hotels of your chosen category and join small group excursions led by a professional English-speaking guide.

Ephesus was the capital of Roman Asia and one of the largest cities of the ancient world. Its marble Curetes Street leads past the Temple of Hadrian and the terraced houses of the wealthy to the two-storey façade of the Library of Celsus and the Great Theatre, which seated 25,000 people. Nearby stand the House of the Virgin Mary, a place of pilgrimage for Christians and Muslims alike, and the lonely column of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

South of Kusadasi lie three jewels of ancient Ionia: Priene, a model Hellenistic city on the slopes of Mount Mycale with the Temple of Athena; Miletus, birthplace of Thales and once the greatest port of the Aegean, with its huge theatre and Roman baths; and Didyma, whose colossal Temple of Apollo housed one of the most famous oracles of antiquity.

In Kaleiçi, the historic walled quarter of Antalya, cobbled lanes lead past restored Ottoman mansions to Hadrian's Gate, built in honour of the Roman emperor in 130 AD, the Clock Tower and the fluted Yivli Minaret, the symbol of the city. The Lower Düden Waterfall pours straight off the cliffs into the sea, and a boat trip along the coast shows you the old Roman harbour and the Falez cliffs from the water.

The Pamphylian coast east of Antalya is an open-air museum: Perge impresses with its Hellenistic gates, stadium and colonnaded streets, Aspendos boasts the best-preserved Roman theatre in the world, still used for concerts today, and Side combines ancient ruins with a lively harbour and the seaside Temple of Apollo. A stop at the Manavgat Waterfall completes the day.

Instead of flying, this itinerary crosses inland by road and spends a night at Pamukkale, the "Cotton Castle", a UNESCO World Heritage Site where calcium-rich thermal springs have built brilliant white travertine terraces. Staying overnight in a thermal hotel lets you visit the terraces and the ancient spa city of Hierapolis – with its monumental theatre, necropolis and Cleopatra's Antique Pool – in the fresh morning light, and even take a sunrise balloon flight, before the tour continues over the Taurus Mountains to Antalya.

Choose your hotel category for every stop – 3★: Club Hotel Lion and Lycus River Thermal Hotel and Mediterra Art Hotel; 4★: Kuşadası Derici Otel and Lycus River Thermal Hotel and Sky Luxe Hotel Konyaaltı; 5★: Elite World Kusadasi and Lycus River Thermal Hotel and Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Antalya. All prices are per person in a double room for the whole package and change with the travel season; the shuttle to Pamukkale, the Pamukkale tour with onward transfer to Antalya, any domestic flights shown in the itinerary, airport transfers, guided excursions, lunches on tour days and entrance fees are included. A sunrise balloon flight over Pamukkale can be added as an option.

Optional extras (not included in the package price)

• Sunrise hot-air balloon flight over Pamukkale – €120 per person