TURKEY BUDGET TOUR – 7 DAYS (ISTANBUL-CAPPADOCIA-EPHESUS-PAMUKKALE)

Day 1: Arrival to Istanbul: One of our colleagues will be waiting for you at the arrival hall with a sign of Efendi Travel. He/she will accompany you to our vehicle and you will be transferred directly to your hotel. Accommodation in Istanbul.

Day 2: Istanbul City Tour: You will be picked up from your hotel at around 08:30. You will visit: Hagia Sophia , Blue Mosque, Roman Hippodrome and Grand Bazaar. After the lunch, you will see: Topkapi Palace and Hagia Irene  and the tour ends about 16:30 and back to hotel Accommodation in Istanbul. (breakfast at hotel, lunch on the tour)

Please note that Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesdays and Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays. Blue Mosque will not be visited on Fridays.

Day 3: Dolmabahce Palace Tour & Bosphorus Cruise: (check out from hotel in the morning) You will be picked up from your hotel at around 08:00-08:30 for Dolmabahce Palace & Bezmi Alem Mosque Tour. We firstly visit Dolmabahce Palace, recent residence for Ottoman Sultans. Famous with great collection of European antiquity, furniture and 4.5 tons chandelier, the palace has 285 rooms of 46 halls. After palace the next stop is Bezmi Alem Mosque. Then you will drive to the restaurant for lunch break. After lunch, you will first drive by Golden Horn shores viewing the City Walls, dating back to the Byzantine Era. Then  you will get on the vehicle and drive to Eminonu, where you will get on the boat for a 2-hour Bosphorus Cruise. You will see the most impressive sights along the shores of the Bosphorus including Dolmabahce Palace, Ciragan Palace, Maiden´s Tower, Bosphorus bridges, Rumeli and Anadolu fortresses, and Ottoman Residences. After the cruise, you will be dropped off to your hotel, and then you will be transferred to bus station at 18:30  then take the overnight bus to Cappadocia Nevsehir Bus Station departing at around 20:30. The journey takes around 11 hours. (breakfast at hotel, lunch on the tour)

Day 4: First day in Cappadocia: Upon your arrival at Nevsehir Bus Station, you will be greeted and transferred to your hotel to wait for the tour group and to have breakfast (with time allowing – subject to extra charge). You will be picked up at around 09:00, then you will drive to Devrent Valley where the geographical formations remind a place of another planet. Then in Pasabagi, you will take a stroll between the amazing fairy chimneys of Cappadocia. From there, driving to Avanos to have lunch. After having the lunch you leave from Avanos to see the most beautiful examples of Byzantine art in Goreme Open Air Museum. Then you will drive to Uchisar Castle, the highest point of the region, where you will have a fabulous panoramic view over Cappadocia. You will return back to your hotel at around 17:00. Accommodation in Cappadocia. (lunch on the tour)

Day 5: Second day in Cappadocia and bus to Pamukkale: (check out from your hotel before the tour) You will be picked up from your hotel at around 09:00 for a tour on a 4 km hike through the Rose Valley visiting the churches. Afterwards visit the old Christian village of Cavusin. Stop for lunch in Pigeons Valley and then continue to see the marvel of construction that is the Kaymakli Underground City. You will also visit the Ortahisar Natural Rock Castle. After the tour, you will be dropped off at the bus station to take an overnight bus to Pamukkale, departing at around 20:00. The bus journey takes around 10-11 hours. (your bus tickets will be handed over to you when you are dropped off at the bus station – breakfast at hotel, lunch on the tour)

Day 6: Pamukkale Travertines and Bus to Kusadasi: Upon your arrival at Denizli Bus station at around 07:00, you will be greeted and transferred to the hotel to wait for the tour group and to have breakfast (with time allowing – subject to extra charge). Departure for the tour at around 09:00 for the tour of Pamukkale, which is the center of natural thermal spring waters with healing properties. Due to the chemical properties in the water, pure white colored travertine and stepped water terraces have been created on the mountain slope. It is for its resemblance to cotton piles that it is called Cotton Castle  in Turkish. Visit the travertine and the ancient city of Hierapolis which has the biggest Necropolis with 1200 gravestones in Anatolia. The Roman Pool also is one of the highlights of the site and still in use (Entrance is optional with self-payment at site. Please have your towels and slippers with you). There shallow thermal waters ripple over a wonderful scattering of ancient roman ruins that lie beneath. After the tour, you will be transferred to Kusadasi which is about 4 hours of journey and will be dropped at your hotel. Accommodation in Kusadasi. (lunch on the tour)

Day 7: Ephesus Ancient City and Virgin Mary’s House: (check out from your hotel in the morning) You will be picked up from your hotel at around 09:00 for the full day Ephesus Ancient City and Virgin Mary’s House Tour. You will visit Ephesus, which is known to be the Commercial, the Religious and the Social Center of Antiquity, and one of the Highlights of any Visit in Turkey. After the lunch, you will drive to Temple of Artemis (Diana), the site of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world; House of Virgin Mary, probably where She spent recent years of Her life; Isa Bey Mosque, this impressive mosque from XIV. Century A.D. is unlike any other you will see in this country. After the tour, you will be transferred to the bus station to take an overnight bus back to Istanbul. (your bus tickets will be handed over to you when you are dropped off at the bus station – breakfast at hotel, lunch on the tour)

Day 8: End of the tour: You will arrive at Istanbul Esenler Bus station at around 07:00. Upon your arrival, you may use the public transportation to get to Istanbul Airport or Sultanahmet area.