Classic Tours

Turkey’s Classic Sites

Most all of our Turkey tours are private customized itineraries that generally contain two or more of the following classic locations here in Turkey. Take a look at the Turkey tour descriptions and short videos that will give you some insight on how to organize your tour and how long you might want to stay in each location. Then quickly fill out the form here to the right and we will customize an itinerary for you to review.

ISTANBUL

Istanbul is located in the center of the Old World, and is one of the world’s great cities, famous for its historical monuments such as the Hagia SophiaBlue Mosque, and the Topkapi Palace just to name a few. On a tour of Turkey you need at least two days to see the classic sites here in the old city of Sultanhamet, take a Bosphorus cruise and enjoy the Grand Bazaar. An extra day or two will allow you enough time to see other sites such as Dolmabahce Palace, Chora Church, Suleymaniye Mosque or one of the various museums.

ISTANBUL

CAPPADOCIA

Cappadocia lies deep in the heart of Turkey, where people settled in lunar-like landscapes and burrowed their houses and churches into stone cliffs and built cities underground. Where else in the world can you float over beautiful fairy chimneys in a hot-air balloon in the morning, admire Byzantine frescoes in the afternoon and sample fine food and wine at night? Here you can also take a spectacular hike through a rose-tinted gorge, indulge in a frenzy of shopping at a covered bazaar dating from Ottoman times and see dervishes whirl in an atmospheric caravanserai. I recommend two days on your Turkey tour to explore this area, but you will not find a shortage of things to enjoy if you can squeeze three or four days into your itinerary.

CAPPADOCIA

EPHESUS

The western or Aegean region of Turkey contains such treasures as the ancient city of Ephesus and many other Greek Roman sites such as the beautiful city of Hierapolis which is called Pamukkale here in Turkey today. There are many other interesting day tours that can be arranged to ancient sites such as Pergamon, Priene, Miletus, and Didyma. I recommend a minimum of two full days in the area but if these classic ancient Greek sites are of particular interest then 3-4 days would allow time to explore more than just Ephesus and Pamukkale.

Ephesus, Turkey: Ancient City

ANTALYA

Antalya is the “capital” if you will of the Turkish Mediterranean Coast. With dramatic sea and mountain views it’s a sprawling modern city with a small, charming historic center called Kaleici nestled in the same ancient harbor that the apostle Paul used on his journeys. This Antalya region has long, sunny beaches to the east and west with classic ancient Roman cities scattered along the coastline. I recommend at least 2-4 days here in Antalya area so that you will have enough time to enjoy the blue Mediterranean, explore beautiful ruins along the coast, visit Saint Nicholas’ hometown, sail over the ancient city of Kekova in the beautiful Kekova Bay, and stay in one of the many small coastal towns such as the charming town of Kas with its beautiful peninsula.

ANTALYA