Asia Minor

Day 1 – Arrival to Istanbul
Arrive at any time to Istanbul Airport. You will be met and be transferred to your hotel. The remainder of the day is free to rest and relax, or explore the city on your own. Overnight in Istanbul.

Day 2 – Highlights of Old Town
Today we will discover the Ancient Monuments of Istanbul. We start with a tour of the Topkapi Palace Museum, residence of the Ottoman Sultans for about 400 years, with its fabulous collections of jewels and other artifacts. We will also visit the ”Harem” section, which is its own palace inside the Topkapi, where you will hear us recount the history of the white and black Eunuchs and the high education of the Concubines. After lunch, we continue the tour with a visit to Hagia Sophia Museum, originally built as a church by Justinian the Great in the 6th century, then used as a mosque from 1453 until 1935. Today it is a museum encompassing both Christianity and Islam. We also visit the Blue Mosque, famous for the beautiful blue tiles decorating its interior walls. It was built in the 17th century and both it and Hagia Sophia are considered masterpieces of their periods. Later on our itinerary is the Basilica Cistern museum, the best known and the largest of the closed cisterns built under the Justinian basilica in the 6th century. The James Bond movie ”From Russia with Love” was filmed here in early 60’s. Later, we will explore the ancient Hippodrome; seeing the Egyptian Obelisk, the Serpentine Column and other sights. Overnight in Istanbul.

Day 3 – Fly to Cappadocia and afternoon tour
We will have a morning flight to Cappadocia. We will start having a scenic drive through the wonderful landscape of Cappadocia. This is surely one of the most beautiful and unusual spots in the world, with a moon-like landscape boasting a variety of weird but interesting natural formations, including pyramid-shaped rocks and sensuously carved fertile valleys that are volcanic in origin. We will have a traditional lunch after checking into the hotel, then we’ll visit one of the local underground cities carved from the volcanic tufa to a depth of eight to ten stories (some of these cities were once populated by as many as 2,500 people), then drive to a couple of valleys for panoramic views. A possible walk in the Love Valley (30 min.) Overnight in Cappadocia.

Day 4 – Cappadocia Highlights
The day starts with a visit to the Goreme Valley and its Open Air museum, including restored Dark Church with its well-preserved and beautiful frescoes. (This whole valley is the place where early Christianity flourished.) We’ll also visit one of the clay pottery workshops to see how the pottery is produced just as was done in ancient times. After lunch in a local restaurant, we will walk up to Uchisar Castle with its surrounding panoramic view of the Cappadocia region, and walk (1.5 hours) in an area of pointed rock formations known as the Fairy Chimneys. Overnight in Cappadocia.

Day 5 – Konya, the Land of Whirling Dervishes
Drive to Konya in the morning (2.5 hours) with a stop on the way and visit to a Seljuk Caravanserai, the largest in Anatolia, dating from 13th century. Such structures provided lodging, supplies, refuge from bandits and all the other needs of traveling Silk Road caravans. After our visit, we arrive in Konya with a short drive, the holy city of Turkey. It has been the land of the Sufi Dervishes from 13th century onward. It still keeps old traditions next to its modern emerging life. Our first visit in Konya will be to the Shrine of Mevlana Celaleddin Rum-i. His lyrical verse recounts a mystical ecstasy in which he saw all differences of race, religion and creed disappear, and how he was exalted above the principles of the Sheriat. After lunch we will visit the Karatay Madrasa museum – 1251 C.E. The museum houses magnificent collection of tiles. Particularly the wall – tiles from a palace built by Alaeddin Keykubat I from the shore of Beysehir Lake at Kubad – Abad. These tiles have representations of people and animal on brilliantly – colored glazed tiles, shaped like stars, octagons, squares, crosses and other forms. Overnight in Konya.

Day 6 – Antalya, Aspendos and walk in the Gulluk National Park
After breakfast, drive to Antalya (3.5 hrs). This is a beautiful drive through forested 6000 feet high overpass on Touros Mountains. We will stop on the way and visit the most famous Roman theatre; Aspendos, from the period of Marcus Aurelius, circa 160 CE. which today still hosts productions in the summer where once the best horses in the world used to be raised (Alexander the Great is said to have collected 2000 horses as a tribute here on his way to Persia while passing through Aspendos). Also, we will have chance to see a marvel of engineering, the Roman aqueduct of Aspendos city. After lunch at a local restaurant, a short drive to the Gulluk Dag National Park, where we will start our walk. We shall explore the most dramatic historical site of the Western Touros Mountains. Our walk will take us to the ancient city of Termessus, which originally dates back to as early as 800 B.C.E.; this site is actually mentioned in the Homer’s book of Iliad. Today, objects from different historical periods can be seen on the site, but the ruins themselves are the remains of the Roman Empire dating back to 200-300 C.E. It is said that Alexander the Great gave up the idea of capturing the city when he first saw the heroic resistance of its people, but he took his revenge by burning the neighboring olive groves, which were the only food crop of the people at that time. We shall spend the entire afternoon walking the Lycian trails through the following areas: unidentified buildings, theatres, bouleuterion, necropolis, and the gymnasium. After exploring a hidden trail off the “beaten path”, we will return to our hotel. Overnight in Antalya.

Day 7 – Visiting the Hometown of St. Nicholas – Myra and Kekova
After breakfast, drive to Myra (2 hrs), we will tour the Lycian necropolis that were carved into the cliff faces, one facing the river and the other pointed seaward. Eventually Myra fell under the Roman Empire, and many structures from that era are evident, including baths, an acropolis, and a massive semi-circular theatre that is still largely intact. A short ride will take us to the earliest known church dedicated to St. Nicholas (later known as Santa Claus) who was a Christian bishop here in 400 A.D. Later in the afternoon, we will start our walk to a secluded turquoise cove by passing some of the interesting landscape through the trails of the Lycians, which they built almost 3000 years ago (2.5-3 hours). At the end of our walk, we will reach to the village of Ucagiz with a short boat ride, where we will hike up to the hilltop castle of Simena by walking through village and ruins. Overnight in Kekova.

Day 8 – Exploring the Lycian Capital “Xanthos”
After breakfast, we will journey for an hour’s drive to Kalkan-Kalamaki; it is an authentic, small, picturesque village. We will proceed to Xanthos via Kalkan and visit the ancient Lycian capital. Until the Persian invasion, Lycia was an independent state, minting its own money and writing in a language that was not shared by other nearby people. Known in antiquity as the “city of disasters,” Xanthos had a tragic history. Rather than let themselves be overrun by the Persians, the inhabitants committed mass suicide in 540 BC. A century later the city was destroyed by fire, rebuilt, then destroyed again when the inhabitants refused to pay taxes levied by the Athenians. We will walk through the ruins, noting the different styles of stonework shown in the Lycian, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine periods. We’ll visit the theatre – with its wall built to separate onlookers from the wild animals – and also the Harpy, a family tomb situated high on a rock, Lycian Acropolis and other parts of the ancient city. In the afternoon, we will start our walk and along the way explore the cyclopean style construction of the historic people, which is a marvel of engineering of the early Roman period. We shall then stop for a picnic lunch, which will be spread under the old olive trees by the aqueduct. After lunch, we will proceed for a two hours walk to the village where St. Nicholas was born. If time permits, we will explore the ruins of the earliest “lighthouse” in the world, which is around 2000 years old. This lighthouse is located inside the ruins of Patara, an important seaport of Asia Minor Province during the Roman Empire. After another exciting day, we will return to our hotel. Overnight in Patara.

Day 9 – Selcuk, Kusadasi, Ephesus
Morning drive to Kusadasi (3.5 – 4.5 hrs.). We will have a lunch on the way at a local restaurant. Upon arrival to Ephesus area, transfer to our hotel. The rest of the afternoon will be on your own for relaxation, reading. Overnight in Kusadasi.

Day 10 – Ephesus Highlights
After breakfast, we will take a short drive to Ephesus, known as the “First and Greatest Metropolis of Asia” during the Roman Empire. Today, the city is one of the best archaeological sites found anywhere. We’ll spend the morning exploring, visiting the gymnasiums, stadiums, brothels, and the Celsus library, once home to 12,000 scrolls. We will also visit Terrace Houses (Hill side Houses). Our next destination is the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The temple took over 100 years to complete and was made almost entirely of marble, with 127 Ionic columns, each 60 feet in height. Then we shall proceed to the Ephesus archaeology museum where the magnificent marble Artemis statues (known as Cybele and Diana) can be seen. Our last discovery will be the Mosque of Isa Bey – 1375 C.E. Transfer to Izmir airport for an early evening flight to Istanbul. Overnight in Istanbul.

Day 11 – Fly back Home
Private group transfers one in the morning and one in the early afternoon and fly back home.