ARCHAEOLOGICAL TURKEY 

12 Day Fully Guided Tour​

​

This comprehensive archaeological tour of Turkey not only includes the well-known and impressive remains of ancient Anatolian Civilisations as Hittites, Hattis, Frigians, Persians, Greeks, Romans & Byzantines, but also New discoveries in Göbeklitepe which is the starting point of the history with oldest religious sanctuaries. An exclusive tour to the ancient ruins, sites and landmarks in Turkey, including local and regional museums that display archaeological artefacts and collections.

 

Every step taken in Turkey is a step upon layers and layers of history - few places in the world can boast as many places that bear witness to the presence and culture of humanity. Visiting archaeological sites is an exciting part of a vacation in Turkey - and these visits are more fun and instructive when guided by an expert. We have the right guided archaeological tour for you - book on Turkeyvacations.us

​

• The very well-planned and wide-ranging itinerary

• Private & Guided Tour -  just for your party. ( It is NOT a shared / group tour )

• Outstanding, incorporating history, culture, place, and natural environments

• With the variety of accommodations 

• Extremely helpful Tour Guide - thoughtful about all of the travel details, knowledgeable, good humored.

​

HIGLIGHTS​

PRICING :  From (Custom Trip)

(based on two travelers) with 5 Star Hotels

​

​Tour Name: ARCHAEOLOGICAL TURKEY 

Tour Type: Private & Guided Tour -  just for your party. ( It is NOT a shared / group tour )

Tour Start & End Point: Istanbul

Tour Duration: 12 Nights / 13 Days

Operates: All year - round

Transport: Minivan / Minibus / Coach

Stay:  According to your preferences ( in a 3 star, 4 Star, Boutique, 5 Star or Deluxe Hotels)

 

DAY 01: ARRIVE IN ISTANBUL

Your guide will meet you inside the arrivals hall, assist with luggage and escort you to the vehicle.

Transfer you to your hotel.

Night in Istanbul (Meals: No)

​

DAY 02: ISTANBUL - OLD CITY

A day simply filled with classical Istanbul places!

Your private guide will pick you in the morning & go to Old City.

Our first stop is The Hippodrome of Constantinople -  It was the heart of Old City as the “Largest Hippodrome of The Ancient World” built as an arena for chariot races and Olympic games.

Today we also visit the Hagia Sophia, the Church of Divine Wisdom. Once a Pagan temple, converted to first Church by Constantine the Great, later restored in the 6th century by Justinian I as the largest basilica in the Christian world, Sultan Mehmet II converted it into an Ottoman imperial mosque After the Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453. It Is a masterpiece of Roman & Byzantine architecture.

Istanbul Archaeological Museums - consist three major sections; The Archaeology Museum, The Museum of the Ancient Orient, The Tiled Pavilion ( ceramic & tile museum ) - hold outstanding collections of ancient art from the Middle East & Anatolia (ancient Turkey), Hellenistic, Roman & Byzantian Ages.

Basilica Cistern, One of Istanbul’s most prominent structures, was built by the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian in the 6th Century. The largest surviving Byzantine cistern in İstanbul, it was constructed using 336 columns, many of which were salvaged from ruined temples and feature fine carved capitals.

Night in Istanbul (Meals: B)

​

DAY 03: ISTANBUL to ANKARA

Morning pick up from hotel & drive to Ankara. After Lunch we visit;

* Anatolian Civilizations Museum; The Turkey’s best collection of the Paleolithic era, and continue chronologically through the Neolithic, Early Bronze, Assyrian trading colonies, Hittite, Phrygian, Urartian, Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuq and Ottoman periods, ancient art is beautifully displayed in Ankara‘s Museum of Anatolian Civilisations.
* Ankara Citadel; built by the Galatians in 3’th C BC, with over 20 towers, inner & outer walls dominant to panoramic view of capital city of Ankara.

* The Roman baths - were constructed during the time of Emperor Caracalla in honor of the god of medicine, Asklepios. The unusually large complex has three main divisions: a frigidarium (cold room), a caldarium (hot room), and a tepidarium (warm room)

* Temple of Augustus - in Ankara was erected after the conquest of Central Anatolia by the Roman emperor Octavian Augustus in 25 BCE. Temple has a Corinthian order surrounded by 8 pillars on short sides and 15 pillars on long sides. 

Night in Ankara (Meals: B-L-D)

​

DAY 04: HATTUSHA & YAZILIKAYA

Morning pick up from hotel & drive to Bogazkoy. 

* Hattusha; was the capital of the Hittite Empire 2300 years ago, and is a striking mountainous, isolated sight today with its defensive walls, with their ceremonial gateways and concealed postern tunnel, which wrap around the scattered ruins, are the most impressive remaining feature.

* Yazilikaya; shrine of Yazilikaya, formed out of the convergence of two natural ravines and the largest known Hittite rock sanctuary. The purpose of the shrine remains a mystery, although we can speculate that it was used for annual cult celebrations or even as a royal funerary site.

Optional Night Activitiy : Turkish Night Show in a Cave Restaurant - Folk dances and Belly Dance show

Night in Ankara (Meals: B-L-D)

​

DAY 05: CAPPADOCIA

Optional Day Activitiy; Balloon Flight Tour -  It offers sweeping views of the rocky landscape of Cappadocia. 

Early morning pick up from hotel & visit;

Pigeon Valley - offers views of fairy chimneys in many colours, Uchisar Castle and the famous flat top-stone houses. It has wonderful views of thousands of hand-carved pigeon nests lie on the hills.​

Goreme Panaorama Hill over The Goreme National park is in the middle of combinations of several valleys. It has a vast view of town of Goreme & surrunding valleys ( Pigeon Valley, Rose & Red Valleys, Swords Valley with a mesa hill of Aktepe)

GOREME OPEN-AIR MUSEUM - Cappadocia’s main attraction – a monastic complex famous for the fresco-adorned rock-cut churches and monasteries, rectories, and cave dwellings of Roman & Byzantine ages, It was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1970's. 

Avanos - is a pretty town on the banks of the Red River (The longest river in Turkey) famous for a tradition of pottery, ceramics & tile making which dates back to Hittite ages ( 2000 B.C) You can see pottery being made, including the old techniques, and even make some yourself on the potter’s wheel. Carpet-weaving and tapestry-making are equally important local skills in the town.​

Optional Night Activitiy : Whirling Dervishes Night Show, in an 13 th C Caravansarai built on Silk Road

Night in Cappadocia (Meals: B)

​

DAY 06: CAPPADOCIA TO SILK ROAD & KONYA

Continuing our way west,

Underground City, We visit one of the best examples of underground dwellings could house more than 40.000 people. Top levels are even dating back to 3000 B.C. Later with the arrival of early Christians seeking freedom & shelters during the age of persecution, Underground cities got bigger & deeper with their living rooms, storage rooms, several air chimneys, indoor water wells, church , winery, labyrinth of tunnels and blind passageways, cemetery and even stables for animals.

Sultanhani Caravanserai; built on historical Silk Road with its spectacular Seljuk architecture to Konya.,,

Mevlana Museum, the former dervish hall that now holds the tomb of Mevlâna, dervish cells, kitchens, Mevlevi musical instruments, calligraphy specimens, and various fabrics, old books, carpets section and nearby Sultan Selim Mosque.

Neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük - is one of the most important, and largest, Neolithic settlements on earth. About 9500 years ago, up to 8000 people lived here, and the mound comprises 13 levels of buildings, each containing around 1000 structures.

Night in Konya (Meals: B&D)

​

DAY 07: MERSIN ( West Cilicia )

Continuing our way south to Mediterranean Coast,

Alahan Monastery (5th century AD. Christian Monastery at the mountain of Isauria in Southern Asia Minor) later we visit

Uzuncaburc (An ancient Greek city and Bishopric in the Roman Province of Isauria)
Photo Stop at Kızkalesi (Ancient Armenian Castle known as Korykos )

The Caves of Heaven and Hell (Cennet ve Cehennem), are worth a visit as natural & historical phenomena, Temple of Zeus & the Byzantine chapel in the cave’s mouth are visited.

Night in Mersin (Meals: B&D)

​

Day 08: TARSUS & ADANA

Continuing our way south to Mediterranean Coast,

TARSUS, is an ancient Hellenistic & Roman age city on the alluvial plain of ancient Cilicia, the birthplace of St. Paul (Acts of the Apostles 22:3). Tarsus remained as a lively/active Mediterranean port city for hundreds of years during the Byzantine period as well, It is still an important historical town for the Christian history. Cleopatra’s Gate, The Church of St. Paul, The Roman Road, St. Paul’s Well, Tomb of St. Daniel are visited in Tarsus.

Stone Bridge - Roman bridge spanning the Seyhan River in Adana that was probably built in the first half of the second century AD. The bridge was a key link in ancient trade routes from the Mediterranean Sea to Anatolia and Persia. 

Anavarza - The Ancient City of Anavarza was established in the center of ancient Cilicia. It’s no surprise that famous physician and pharmacologist Dioscorides was born in this area which has a rich flora and natural resources, perfect for pharmacology! In a region full of beautiful mountain top castles and ruined Roman cities, Anavarza is certainly one of the most beautiful, and most interesting. What makes Anavarza so spectacular is that the site combines an awe-inspiring mountain top castle with a vast ancient ruin.

Night in Gaziantep (Meals: B&D)

​

Day 09: GAZIANTEP & BIRECIK

Continuing our way to South East Turkey;

* Gaziantep - is a city with the more exotic flavors of the Middle East. There's one Turkish word you should learn before visiting Gaziantep: fıstık (pistachio). This city has hundreds of pastry shops producing the world's best pistachio BAKLAVA ( For us - It is the king of all World desserts ) 
In Old city: We walk around the Old fortress, caravanserai and lovingly restored old stone houses, Covered bazaars & The Coppersmiths’ Bazaar  ( where Coppersmiths and other artisans work at their crafts in the narrow streets)
* Zeugma Mosaic Musuem – one of the best mosaic musuem in the World. It is housing mosaics from Roman and Byzantine era* The traditional bazaars and Hans such as the copper Smith bazaar, the tobbacco bazaar, and the old  bazaars etc..* Baklava taste –the king of all Turkish desserts ( Gaziantep is the home of Baklava – you can buy the best ones in Bazaar area )• Birecik which is famous with its bald-ibis ( Kel aynak ) birds. These birds are living only in Bilecik in the world. There is not many of them left. There is a Breeding farm of Bald-Ibis birds.

Night in Sanliurfa (Meals: B&D)

​

Day 10: NEMRUT MOUNTAIN

Start the day  early in the morning. We drive up to mount Nemrut. We get off on the skirt of teh mountain and walk up to the summit for 45 minutes. ( It can be cold, windy & snowy on top, So clients must have winter clothing and hiking boots )
* Mt. Nemrut - Mountain-top sanctuary of the 1st century BC situated on the eastern Taurus Mountain with head statues on its summit. Watch the beautiful sun rise between the colossal size statues and heads of the kings and Gods. Arrival to east terrace see the sun rise and the colossal statues of the gods and goddess. Visit the West terrace of the temple. Time to walk around and take pictures. 
* Arsemia, the summer capital of the Commagene Kingdom
* Cendere Bridge, a roman bridge built by Roman emperor - Septimius Severus on Euphrates River.
* Karakus hill, a tumulus as a tomb of royal family of Commagene 

* Ataturk Dam - The biggest Dam of Turkey which was built on Euphrates river. We have a photo stop with an amazing view of the river.

Night in Sanliurfa (Meals: B&D)

​

Day 11: GOBEKLITEPE - URFA & HARRAN

* Gobeklitepe Temple – it have been popularly declared the "World's Oldest Temple."  & dates from 11,000+ years ago. 7,000 years before Stonehenge, before even the invention of agriculture.
* Harran which is a village of Spellbinding Mud-Brick "beehive like " houses mentioned in the book of genesis where Abraham spend last years of his life. Visit the ruins of Harran including city walls, oldest Islamic university and the castle dated to 8 C AD, and back to Urfa.
* Abraham’s Cave - where it is believed Prophet Abraham was born and the Pond of Holy Carp where the prophet was thrown into the fire and the fire converted to water and burning fire wood to fish according to an Islamic legend, than walk around Oriental Covered Bazaar and see the most tradtional bazaar which has arabic influence.

Night in Sanliurfa (Meals: B&D)

​

DAY 12: RETURN FLIGHT TO ISTANBUL

Pick up from your hotel 2.5 hour in advance your flight & transfer to airport. We take a flight to Istanbul.

Optional Tour for Afternoon: Bosphorus Cruise - Spice Bazaar - Rustempasa Mosque & Grand Bazaar Tour

Night in Istanbul (Meals: B)

​

DAY 13: DEPART ISTANBUL

Pick up from your hotel 4 hour in advance your flight & transfer to airport.

​

Inclusions

• Expertise of Our travel specialists

• All accommodations - 5 star or Deluxe Resorts

• All ground transportation and airport transfers in Istanbul

• Domestic Flight Tickets (Sanliurfa to Istanbul)

• Private Guide in your preferred language (English, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, French)

• Sightseeing, visits, and entrance tickets/fees

• Listed meals only

• All parking tickets and petrol.

• All taxes

 

Exclusions (Not Included)

• All Drinks & Lunches (We let Customers have the total freedom to choose their lunch, our guide will show the local restaurants)

• International airfare for Turkey

• Dinners in Istanbul Hotels

• All personal expenses.

• Services of local porters in hotels, receptions, and other staff 

• All customary tips to Guide & Driver

• Optional Tours

​

* Please contact us with your dates and airport information in order to get an exact quote. We can of course customise this itinerary for you.