MAGICAL SOUTH EAST ANATOLIA AND CENTRAL TURKEY (8 NIGHTS / 9 DAYS)

DAY 1 - ANKARA

Upon arrival at Ankara Airport, our guide and driver will pick you up for a tour of the city's important sites.

Anatolian Civilisation Museum and Ataturk Mausoleum.

Turkey’s capital and second largest city. 

Our first stop will be the fascinating  Hittit Museum of Anatolian Civilisations (The Hittite Museum) with its display of treasures and artefacts from the Assyrian trade colonies, the mightye Empire, and the Phyrgian and Urartu civilisations.

Lunch in local restaurant.We also visit the Mausoleum of Ataturk. This magnificent tomb is in memory of Kemal Ataturk, commander of the Army for National Independence and the founder of the modern Republic of Turkey. 

You will be absorbed by the fascinating, life size depiction of life in the trenches, from the Turkish perspective, during the Gallipoli War. 

Drive to hotel for dinner and overnight.

DAY 2 - ANKARA - CAPPADOCIA

After breakfast at our hotel...we drive to Cappadocia on the way we will have lunch.

Upon arriving cappadocia we visit Kaymaklı Underground City .

During the Hittite era, as successive armies swept across Asia Minor, underground cities were built as a uniquely defensible community, approximately eight stories underground. 

We can explore some of the hundreds of rooms, wandering the many narrow, sloping passageways between kitchens with enameled food storage areas, water cisterns, stables, and living spaces—all well ventilated by air shafts. 

At one time, several thousand people lived here 

Than we drive to hotel for dinner and overnight.

DAY 3 - CAPPADOCIA

After breakfast at our hotel

Cappadocia is one of Turkey’s most fanciful and recognizable landscapes,

Today you may have an Optional Hot Air Balloon tour and during this optional hot-air balloon flight, we’ll soar over its amber terrain and fairy-tale chimneys, savoring a unique panorama in the quiet, rosy light of dawn.

We’ll drive to the famous Goreme “open-air museum,” a group of ancient churches carved from the rock. Most of these chapels have colorful frescoes inside, which date from the tenth to the 13th centuries. 

Than we drive shortly to Uchisar Castle which is the panoramic watching point Cappadocia. 

Many rooms, steps, tunnel and galleries inside the castle.

Lunch in a local restaurant.Avanos, the latter providing us with the opportunity to purchase some of the hand-turned pottery and tile that has been shaped here for millennia and some of the techniques still used date back to Hittite times to 2000 BC. 

This afternoon we visit Zelve open -Air Museum.This nature site is the perfect place to take photos of remarkable landscape of tufa cones.

Return to hotel for dinner and overnight.

DAY 4 - CAPPADOCIA

After breakfast at our hotel

We'll see more of this scenic area of Cappadocia.

Such asPasabag Highly remarkable earth pillars can be seen here, in the middle of a vineyard, hence the name of the place which means: the Pacha's vineyard. 

Pacha means "General", the military rank, in Turkish and it is a very common nick name. 

This site is also called Monks Valley.See another interesting rock formation called Dervent valley The small fairy chimneys in the valley form a lunar landscape, or moonscape, by their strange look. 

The valley also has many animal shaped rocks. It looks like a sculpture zoo made by nature After lunch we have the unique opportunity to get acquainted with the old turkish carpet-making tradition of Anatolia. 

This afternoon we have hike to Rose Valley is a large valley located between Goreme and Cavusin villages, and it is divided into many smaller valleys: Gulludere, Kizilcukur, Meskendir and Zindanonu valleys. This beautiful valley gets its name from the rose-colored rock that varies in hue and intensity depending on time of day, season and weather conditions. 

Return to hotel or before dinner we have an optional Whirling Dervishtour,you can be witness the "Ritual of Sema." 

The Semazens, also called “whirling dervishes,” believe that the fundamental condition of our existence is to revolve. 

Dinner and overnight.

DAY 5 - CAPPADOCIA - GAZIANTEP

After breakfast at our hotel

Drive to Gaziantep ,on the way to see Gümüşler Monastry near Nigde.

This is a monastery church carved from the rock in Gumusler, This 10th century monastery is entered via a vaulted door. 

The church is situated to the north side of the courtyard, while rooms carved from the rock line the rest of the courtyard. 

It is built on a closed cruciform plan, and has a central dome, four columns, cross vaults and three apses. After tour drive through Taurus Montains where we have lunch in a local restaurant. 

Continue to Gaziantep.

Overnight in G.Antep.

DAY 6 - GAZIANTAP - ADIYAMAN

After breakfast at our hotel

One of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. 

Antep was known, historically, for its pistachios and olives—Gazi, which means “victorious,” was added to the city’s name in 1921. 

Now one of Turkey’s most vibrant cities, it is a shining example of a place that has been evolving for thousands of years. 

We’ll visit the Zeugma Mosaic Museum of Gaziantep—the world’s largest collection of mosaics features relics from Zeugma, a nearby Roman city whose villas included stunning floor mosaics. 

Then we’ll tour Gaziantep’s Old Town, exploring stone houses and the market, where perhaps you’ll find some of the city’s signature products—copperware and colorful “Yemeni” slippers. 

Lunch in a local restaurant in Gaziantep. Next we drive to Adiyaman. Dinner is at our hotel this evening in Adiyaman.

DAY 7 - ADIYAMAN - URFA

After breakfast at our hotel, we depart for Mount Nemrut, one of Turkey’s most breathtaking destinations. 

We enjoy a picnic lunch before ascending the renowned mountaintop to the UNESCO World Heritage Site where Antiochus I of the Kingdom of Commagene erected a temple and some dozen gigantic statues of both himself and various ancient gods. 

Some speculate this was an attempt to unite his multi-faith kingdom while others consider it an extremely narcissistic attempt at immortality. 

This is also believed to be the final resting place of Antiochus I, although archaeologists have never been able to locate his tomb.

The bodies of the colossal statues stand, somewhat deteriorated, with their beautifully carved heads laying scattered at their feet around the haunting peak of Mount Nemrut. 

This affords us a rare opportunity to get up and close and see the detail of such ancient and grand statues.

Than drive to Urfa for dinner and overnight.

DAY 8 - URFA

After breakfast at our hotel

Transfer to Gobeklitepe, is a hilltop sanctuary erected on the highest point of an elongated mountain ridge in southeastern Turkey, some 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) northeast of the town of Şanlıurfa(formerly Urfa / Edessa) : It is the oldest human-made religious structure yet discovered.

The site, currently undergoing excavation by German and Turkish archaeologists, was most likely erected by hunter-gatherers in the 9th millennium BCE (c. 11,000 years ago). 

We tour the village of Harran, where Abraham is said to have lived nearly 4,000 years ago. 

We then return to Urfa, where we’ll have time for visiting Abraham's lake with fish and Abraham's Cave where it is believed he liveved there for some years after he was born.

After exploring its Arab Quarter and Old Town we return to our Hotel.

DAY 9 - TRANSFERT AİRPORT FOR FLY BACK 

After breakfast at our hotel Transfert ai̇rport for fly back 

Included

* Hotel pick up-drop off

* Hotel with half board (Only breakfast at the hotel is included )

* Guidance

* Entrance fees 

Excluded

• Flight tickets (International & National) 

* All meals and drinks are not included.Only breakfast at the hotel is included

Important information

Please note that all times are approximate and subject to change.

The Guide may make corrections and adaptations in the course of the tour program according to the conditions and situations of the planned places of visits

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