5 days, 4 nights: Istanbul, Ephesus, Pamukkale

Trip Description

Accomodation

Stay program

• day 1

  Day 1: Arrival in Istanbul

  Arrival in Istanbul. Transfer and check-in at the hotel. Possibility to organize an optional dinner cruise at night.

• day 2

  Day 2: Istanbul

  Departure from the hotel. Start of our visit in the Sultanahmet area. Visit of the Hagia Sophia museum, the largest center of worship in the world between the 6th and 13th centuries. Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet, unique with 6 minarets). Visit of the Hippodrome (at the center of 3 main empires). Visit of the Grand Bazaar, built in 1455, with its 3,000 shops. Lunch. Visit of the Topkapi Palace, the largest palace of the Ottoman Empire. Visit of the Sultan's tombs at Hagia Sophia. Transfer to the airport. Flight to Izmir. Arrival in Izmir. Arrival at the hotel.

• day 3

  Day 3: Ephesus

  Departure from the hotel. Visit of the ancient city of Ephesus, once the Roman capital of Asia Minor. The city had 250000 inhabitants and is said to have been visited by Saint John and the Virgin Mary. Visit of Harbour Street, the theater, Marble Street, the Library of Celsus, the Gate of Mithridates and Mazues, the Commercial Agora, the latrina, the Temple of Hadrian, the Baths of Scholastica, the Fountain of Trajan, Curetes Street, the Fountain of Pollio, the Monument of Memnius, the Temple of Domitian, the Prytaneion, the Odeon, and the State Agora. Lunch. Visit of the House of the Virgin Mary, discovered in the 19th century by following the descriptions of the visions reported by Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824), a Roman Catholic nun and visionary. Visit of the Temple of Artemis, dedicated to the goddess Artemis and considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Transfer to the hotel. Dinner and overnight stay.

• day 4

  Day 4: Pamukkale

  Departure from Selcuk for Pamukkale. Arrival in Pamukkale (Cotton Castle). Lunch. Visit of the white cascades, formed by sedimentary rocks deposited by the water from the hot springs. Visit of the ruins of the ancient city of Hierapolis, founded as a thermal station at the beginning of the 2nd century BC. It was inhabited by the Phrygians, the Seleucids, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Seljuks. Transfer to the airport. Flight to Istanbul. Arrival in Istanbul. Arrival at the hotel.

• day 5

  Day 5: Departure

  Transfer to the airport. Check in for the international flight.