DISCOVERY TURKEY TOUR

Tour Plan

• DAY 1
• Flight to Izmir/Ephesus Tour (B,L) (KUSADASI)
• You will have an early morning check out and transfer to the airport and fly to Izmir. You will be transferred from airport to Ephesus to join the Ephesus day trip. Visit the Greco – Roman City of Ephesus which is one of the best preserved ancient Roman city in the world. Then drive up to the House of Virgin Mary where it is believed she spent her final days. This is an official pilgrimage and holy place for Christians. After lunch we visit Temple of Artemis and Greek Wine Village Sirince.
• DAY 2
• Pamukkale Tour / Travel to Fethiye (B,L) (FETHIYE)
• Today we will drive to Pamukkale which is an UNESCO World Heritage site with its white calcified terraces. Lunch on arrival. Then visit the ancient city of Hierapolis right next to the white terraces with its Temple of Apollo, the Theatre, Necropolis and the thermal baths where Cleopatra and famous Roman general Mark Antony stayed for honeymoon.
  
  After the tour in Pamukkale drive to bus terminal in Denizli for a public bus to Fethiye. On arrival in Fethiye you will catch a taxi to your hotel in the harbour.
• DAY 3
• Day 3– Fethiye to St. Nicholas Island (B,L,D) (ON BOARD)
• Transfer from your hotel to embark on your gulet and cruise to Samanlik Bay for swimming, lunch or depending on the sea conditions to Butterfly Valley. A swim and optional visit of this natural reserve, hosting 136 kinds of different butterflies and moths. Afterwards we cruise to Oludeniz (The Blue Lagoon) again sea conditions permitting. Option for paragliding available. Last stop of the day is St.Nicholas Island with its Byzantine ruins. Chance for swimming followed by dinner on board.
• DAY 4
• St. Nicholas Island to Kas (B,L,D) (ON BOARD)
• Around sunrise departure to Aquarium or Firnaz Bay near Kalkan for breakfast and a swim. Cruising to Kas where we stop in the harbour for lunch and visit this charming fishing village. Kas was once known as ancient Antiphellos of which Lycian rock tombs, sarcophagi and Roman theatre over looking to Mediterranean are now left. But the charm of the town remains! In a bay near Kekova-Sunken city we stop for swimming and diner on board.
• DAY 5
• Kas to Gokkaya Bay (B,L,D) (ON BOARD)
• Departure to Sunken City of Kekova (this Lycian-Roman archaeological site is UNESCO protected, so only looking!). Lunch by Simena, a traditional Turkish fishing village with no car access and Byzantine-Ottoman castle. In Gokkaya Bay optional water sports are available. Dinner, relax in this pirates haven or party the night away at the Smugglers Inn.
• DAY 6
• Transfer to Antalya (B) (ANTALYA)
• After breakfast we have a look at the Pirates Cave (sea conditions permitting) before cruising to Andriace harbour. Disembark from our gulet and private transfer to Antalya old city.
• DAY 7
• Perge, Aspendos, Side Tour (B,L) (ANTALYA)
• Today in the morning we will drive to Perge Ancient City, which is a biblical site as St. Paul passed through this very well-preserved Roman city with stil standing Roman baths, Gymnasium and Agora. Then drive to one the best preserved Greco-Roman Amphitheater at Aspendos. On the way back to Antalya stop at Side where the temple of Athena & Apollo by the seaside.
• DAY 8
• Bus Travel to Cappadocia / See The Countryside (B) (GOREME)
• Check-out in the morning and transfer to Antalya Bus Terminal and public bus to Cappadocia with driving over legendary Taurus mountains as the country side view dramaticly changed during the drive. On arrival in Goreme transfer to your hotel.
• DAY 9
• South Cappadocia Tour (B,L) (GOREME)
• We will pick you up from your hotel at 09:30 am for full day Cappadocia tour. Start the day with a hike along the Red & Rose Valley, the most breathtakingly and mysteriously beautiful valleys in the region. The valleys, with their fabulous volcanic rock formations, are in the heart of Cappadocia but well away from the mainstream tourist haunts. Our hike will end in Cavusin Cave Village, where we will see a rock castle and troglodyte dwellings where people lived until the 20th century. After lunch in a local restaurant we descent towards the centre of the earth, with a trip to the Underground City , one of the largest and deepest of Cappadocia’s many such settlements. This city is approximately 40m deep and contains all the usual rooms found in an underground city (stables, cellars, storage rooms, refectories, churches, wineries etc.) We will end the day with a visit to the Pigeon Valley where we will have a spectacular view of dovecotes, old abandoned cave homes and old Greek houses of Uchisar. One of the most interesting conical rock formation and best place to see volcanic layers that each representing one eruption. Each layer having a different hardnes and colors. At the end of a spectacular days sightseeing you will be dropped off at your hotel about at 17:00pm.
• DAY 10
• North Cappadocia Tour / Flight to Istanbul (B,L)
• We will start our day with driving up to Uchisar Castle, which is one of the highest point of Cappadocia. Then drive through Cavusin and Pasabag (Monks Valley) surrounded by local vineyards. Lunch break in Avanos. After lunch drive through Devrent Valley with its famous animal shape rock formations, the symbol of Cappadocia known as Three Nices and finally Goreme Open Air Museum full of cave chapels, churches with very well-preserved unique frescoes. After our day tour transfer to airport for flight back to Istanbul.