2024 - Flying Explorer Tour
2024 - Flying Explorer Tour
2024 - Flying Explorer Tour
17 Days Starting and ending in Istanbul
Visiting: Istanbul, Çanakkale, Kuşadası, Pamukkale, Fethiye, Antalya, Konya, Cappadocia, Van
Tour operator:
Tour code:
FCEX
Guide Type:
Fully Guided
Group size:
2 - 20
Age range:
8-99
Tour operated in:
EnglishTour Overview
This 17 day tour, starts and ends in Istanbul, Turkey.
Highlights
Itinerary
Day 1 : Istanbul
Location: Istanbul
Accommodation: Point Hotel Taksim (Boutique)
Accommodation Name: Point Hotel Taksim (Boutique)
Welcome to Istanbul! You will be transferred to your hotel and the remainder of the day is yours free to explore at your own pace.
Day 2 : Istanbul Old City
Location: Istanbul
Accommodation: Point Hotel Taksim (Boutique)
Accommodation Name: Point Hotel Taksim (Boutique)
Meals Included: Breakfast
After breakfast, you enjoy a fully guided tour of the only city to span two continents, visiting the Blue Mosque, St Sophia Museum, Topkapi Palace (including Hagia Irene and the Harem) and the Hippodrome.
Cruise between two continents on the stretch of water that separates Europe from Asia in the afternoon with a 1 hour Bosphorus cruise by public ferry where your guide will explain the historical sites along the way.
Day 3 : Gallipoli Battlefields
Location: Çanakkale
Accommodation: Hilton Double Tree Canakkale (5 star)
Accommodation Name: Hilton Double Tree Canakkale (5 star)
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner
Today we visit the WW1 battlefields of Gallipoli including Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair Memorials, ANZAC Cove, The Nek, Johnston's Jolly, original trenches and tunnels.
Day 4 : Troy, Acropolis Of Pergamon
Location: Kuşadası
Accommodation: Ilayda Avantgarde Hotel (Boutique)
Accommodation Name: Ilayda Avantgarde Hotel (Boutique)
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner
Step back in time today as we visit Troy where we will explore the ancient city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the new, award winning, Troy Museum. We continue on to Bergama and up to the magnificent acropolis of Pergamon. Its impressive temples and library made it a renowned cultural and political centre in its time.
Day 5 : Ephesus, Sirince, Kusadasi
Location: Kuşadası
Accommodation: Ilayda Avantgarde Hotel (Boutique)
Accommodation Name: Ilayda Avantgarde Hotel (Boutique)
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner
Absorb yourself in history today with a guided tour of Ephesus a once a bustling trade hub and religious center, Ephesus today whispers of ancient marvels, from site of the Temple of Artemis to the Library of Celsus's grand facade and the grand amphitheatre.
Carpet weaving has long traditions in Turkey and at the carpet village we learn how the carpets are made by hand and what determines their value.
We continue on to the former Greek village of Sirince, famous for its fruit wines. Here we will visit a local vineyard and learn about local production techniques. You will taste 3 local wines from the region at the garden of the vineyard before returning to our hotel.
Day 6 : Aphrodisias, Pamukkale
Location: Pamukkale
Accommodation: Adem Pira Hotel (4 star)
Accommodation Name: Adem Pira Hotel (4 star)
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner
After a leather shop visit, we will head to Aphrodisias the ancient city dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of Beauty, Love and Fertility, also famous for its school of sculpture, we visit the stadium, which is the best preserved in Anatolia, the Temple of Aphrodite, the Tetrapylon, theatre and the Museum. Then, we continue to Pamukkale.
Day 7 : Hierapolis, Salda Lake
Location: Fethiye
Accommodation: Marina Boutique Hotel (Boutique)
Accommodation Name: Marina Boutique Hotel (Boutique)
Meals Included: Breakfast
This morning we will explore the magnificent white calcium terraces, known as Travertines, in Pamukkale where we also tour the ancient city of Hierapolis. Take a dip, amongst ancient columns, in the hot springs that were used in Roman times for their therapeutic powers.
Then we will head to Salda Lake, is known as Turkish Maldives. It is a mountain lake and located in the mountains before we travel down to South.
Day 8 : Fethiye
Location: Fethiye
Accommodation: Marina Boutique Hotel (Boutique)
Accommodation Name: Marina Boutique Hotel (Boutique)
Meals Included: Breakfast
Today, you are free to explore the town at your own pace and there is also optional tours and activities.
Optional tours and activities; 12 island boat trip and Saklikent Gorge tour
Day 9 : Kayakoy, Antalya
Location: Antalya
Accommodation: Mediterra Art Hotel (Boutique)
Accommodation Name: RuinAdalia Hotel (Boutique)
Meals Included: Breakfast
This morning we head to Kayakoy. The morning light provides excellent photos of this deserted Greek village. Afterwards we drive to the resort town of Antalya. We will visit the Antalya Museum with its wealthy collection from the ancient cities around the Antalya Province.
Day 10 : Perge, Aspendos
Location: Antalya
Accommodation: Mediterra Art Hotel (Boutique)
Accommodation Name: RuinAdalia Hotel (Boutique)
Meals Included: Breakfast
We will visit Perge a famous antique site, early in the morning. After Perge we drive to Aspendos which has the best preserved 2nd Century Amphitheatre in Turkey. We return back to Antalya city in the afternoon and the remainder of your day is free.
Day 11 : Konya, Silk Road, Sille
Location: Konya
Accommodation: Novotel Konya (4 star)
Accommodation Name: Novotel Konya (4 star)
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner
We will visit the mausoleum of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi with its accompanying Mevlana museum. We continue along the ancient Silk Road visiting the former Greek village Sille.
Day 12 : Cappadocia, Sultanhani Caravansary, Underground City
Location: Cappadocia
Accommodation: Gamirasu Hotel (Boutique Cave)
Accommodation Name: Gamirasu Hotel (Boutique Cave)
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner
Today we head to Cappadocia, visiting Sultanhani Caravansary, an ancient Silk Road stop off for merchants and traders. Later we explore the many levels of an underground city.
After checking into our hotel we visit a traditional Turkish home for dinner. Here you can do a course and help cook if you wish.
Day 13 : Goreme Open-Air Museum
Location: Cappadocia
Accommodation: Gamirasu Hotel (Boutique Cave)
Accommodation Name: Gamirasu Hotel (Boutique Cave)
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner
Marvel at the lunar landscape of Cappadocia today as we visit the Goreme Valley Open Air Museum and the fairy chimneys. We then visit Pigeon and Red Valley, followed by Cavusin village and lastly Avanos town where we will learn about hand-made pottery.
Day 14 : Cappadocia, Van
Location: Van
Accommodation: Van Life Hotel (Boutique)
Accommodation Name: Van Life Hotel (Boutique)
Meals Included: Breakfast
Departure in the morning from Cappadocia, we head to Ankara for our direct flight to Van. On arrival to Van Airport, you will meet with your tour guide. Before we go to our hotel, we will explore the Citadel with its three thousand Urartian fortress of Van and witness the extraordinary sunset.
Day 15 : Van, Akdamar Island
Location: Van
Accommodation: Van Life Hotel (Boutique)
Accommodation Name: Van Life Hotel (Boutique)
Meals Included: Breakfast
After breakfast, we will travel by ferry stopping at Akdamar Island to see a spectacular 10th century church built by an Armenian king, if there is time swim in Lake Van.
Then, we will drive back to city centre to visit the largest Urartu Museum in the World. Artifacts from the Paleolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Urartian, Persian, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Seljuk, Turkish-Islamic, and Ottoman Periods are exhibited in chronological order taking our visitors on a unique historical journey.
After the museum visit Van Cat House. Van cats are relatively large, have a chalky white coat, sometimes with ruddy coloration on the head and hindquarters, and have blue, amber eyes or one eye of each colour. This variety has been referred to as "the swimming cat", and has been observed to swim in Lake Van.
Day 16 : Van, Dogubayazit, Ararat, Istanbul
Location: Istanbul
Accommodation: Point Hotel Taksim (Boutique)
Accommodation Name: Point Hotel Taksim (Boutique)
Meals Included: Breakfast
After breakfast, we leave for Dogubayazit via Muradiye and the Bendimaahi Falls. In Dogubayazit, we visit the spectacular Ishak Pasha Palace, 1685 - 1784, which has a unique fusion of architecture from Seljuk, Ottoman, Georgian, and Armenian - Persian styles.
In the afternoon we skirt around the western edge of Mt Ararat. Mt. Ararat is one of the great natural spectacles of the world. The name Ararat derives from the Bible (Jeremiah 51:27) and is a transliteration of 'Urartu' the name foreigners gave to this region and its inhabitants in Biblical times.
In the afternoon we will drive to Igdir Airport for our flight to Istanbul.
Day 17 : Istanbul
Accommodation: ()
Meals Included: Breakfast
After breakfast our tour concludes and we say goodbye to our new friends and are transferred to the airport for your onward flight.
What's Included
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Meals
16 breakfasts, 0lunches, 7dinners -
Professional English-speaking tour guide for the duration of the tour
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Transportation in a fully air-conditioned, non-smoking vehicle
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Domestic flight between Ankara and Van and transfers
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Domestic flight between Igdir and Istanbul and transfers
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Tips except Driver and Guide
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Istanbul - Bosphorus Cruise
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Wine Tasting
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Cooking Course
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Entrance fees
What's Not Included
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Suggested optional activities
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Tips - Driver and Guide
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Compulsory Travel Insurance
Meals
16 breakfasts, 0 lunches, 7 dinners
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Low Deposit
Fez Travel requires a minimum deposit of 150 GBP per person or the full booking value, whichever is less, with the final balance not due until 56 days before departure.