10-Nights Wonders of Turkey - Classic Group

Wonders Of Turkey - Classic Group, Summer
Fall in love with Turkey on this 11-day guided tour. See Ephesus, an ancient city founded in the 10th century BC, home to an amphitheater that once sat 24,000 people. Drive through the Maeander River Valley to an organic farm, where you can walk the lush lands, then feast on fresh produce during a mouth-watering lunch. See the turquoise travertine pools in Pamukkale where ancient Romans used to soak - then dip into the spa at your hotel to indulge in its Turkish baths. Take a tour of a traditional cave house in Cappadocia with the local who lives there, then dine as you watch whirling dervishes dance nearby. In Ankara, visit the Mausoleum of Atatürk, the final resting place of the country’s first president. Travel to Istanbul, where you’ll see the infamous Blue Mosque before bargaining at the eclectic Grand Bazaar, which boasts more than 4,000 shops.


Dining Summary

• 7 Dinner (D)
• 10 Breakfast (B)
• 1 Lunch (L)

Well-being

• Enjoy the comfort of Insight's luxurious, air-conditioned, 40-seat coach with double the standard legroom and onboard washroom. Our customized luxury coaches are sanitized before the start of your tour and are maintained to very high standards. Physical distancing measures have been implemented on our customized luxury coaches.
• Hand sanitizer is freely available on board for you to use throughout the day.

Additional Included Highlights

• Personal radio headsets give you the freedom to wander during visits to famous highlights, without missing any of your Local Expert's fascinating commentary.
• Hotel and restaurant tips are included - you'll never have to worry about how much to give, nor search for foreign currency. We also include all taxes and porterage charges at hotels.
• We carry your bags for you and promptly deliver them to your hotel door.
• From time to time, your Travel Director will delight you with an Insight Flourish, which is a local specialty representing the destination.
• Stay connected with friends and family with our complimentary coach and hotel Wi-Fi (where available).
• If your arrival and/or departure flights are as per the itinerary start and end dates, then transfers are available at scheduled times. If your flights are outside these times, or you have booked additional nights accommodation with Insight Vacations, you may purchase transfers or make your own way from/to the airport.

Authentic Dining

• Istanbul: Begin your travels savoring traditional flavors over dinner at a local restaurant.
• Izmir: Share a Farm-to-table lunch at Nif Baglari, a family-owned wine producer in the foothills near Izmir. Walk through the vines and learn how the land is used, then sit down to seasonal dishes made with produce grown on the property, served in the vineyard setting.
• Cappadocia: Experience a Sema ceremony performed by the whirling dervishes, part of the Mevlevi Sufi tradition. You’ll watch the ritual unfold through music, movement and costume, in a form of worship still practised across Turkey today.
• Istanbul: Toast the culmination of your travels during dinner at a local restaurant.

Top Rated Highlights

• Gallipoli: Visit ANZAC Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula, the landing site for Australian and New Zealand forces on 25 April 1915. The site remains the focus of ANZAC Day commemorations, including the dawn service held here each year.
• Troy: Visit this ancient sight fabled to have been destroyed over love and view the huge reconstructed Trojan Horse.
• Ephesus: Visit the Archaeological museum housing many of the artifacts from Ephesus.
• Ephesus: Explore the Ephesus Archaeological Museum and come face to face with the objects found at the site. You’ll see sculptures from the Temple of Artemis, mosaics from private homes and everyday items that show how the city once lived.
• Ephesus: Walk through Ephesus with a Local Expert, following the Arcadian Way into the heart of the Roman city. You’ll stand before the Library of Celsus, take in the scale of the amphitheater and visit the House of the Virgin Mary, set in the hills above the ruins.
• Pamukkale: Walk along the travertine pools at Pamukkale, where thermal waters have created white limestone terraces across the hillside. You’ll see how the calcium-rich water continues to shape the formations, leaving new deposits as it flows.
• Konya: Step inside the Sultanhani Caravanserai, built in 1229 to support traders and travelers crossing the Anatolian plain. See how the space was designed for overnight shelter, with stables, storerooms and a central courtyard still intact.
• Saratli: Explore the underground city of Saratli, where tunnels, rooms and passageways were carved out to provide shelter and storage. You’ll walk through the lower levels and see how early communities built out daily life below ground.
• Göreme: Explore the rock-cut churches of Göreme, carved into the soft volcanic rock of Cappadocia. Inside, you’ll see early Christian frescoes that have survived for centuries, offering a close look at how communities once lived and worshipped here.
• Avanos: Visit a pottery studio in Avanos, a town on the Kizilirmak River with a clay-working tradition that dates back to Hittite times. Watch how red river clay is prepared and shaped at the wheel, and follow the stages as each piece is formed, dried and decorated.
• Ankara: Visit Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey and the Republic’s first President. You’ll walk through the ceremonial complex and enter the Hall of Honor, observing how the architecture and setting underline his role in the country’s modern history.
• Istanbul: Cruise along the Bosphorus, the strait that links the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara.