Off the Beaten Track

Southeast & Eastern Turkey

Duration: 10 Days / 09 Nights
Highlights: Istanbul, Van, Akdamar, Tatvan, Mardin, Diyarbaki, Harran, Urfa, Mt. Nemrut, Kahta
Departure Dates: Everyday
Note: All tour packages are modular & you can use these itineraries as a starting point & we can help modify the itineraries to accommodate your personal requirements & desires to find your perfect holiday.



Day 01 : Istanbul Arrival
Arrival to Istanbul Airport & meet for transfer on to the hotel. Rest of the day is then at leisure.
Overnight in Istanbul.

Day 02 : Istanbul
After breakfast, begin with a visit to Topkapi Palace, the main residence of the Ottoman Sultans, with its jewel encrusted treasury & elegant four courts. Nearby, we take a stroll through the ancient Hippodrome, once the sporting ground of chariots & political riots. After a lunch break, visit Hagia Sophia Museum, once the largest church in the world for 1000 years. Then visit the Blue Mosque, designed with 6 delicate minarets & a striking blue Iznik tiled interior. Finally, visit the Grand Bazaar, where you can shop or haggle with local merchants over merchandise. Overrnight in Istanbul.
   
Day 03 : Istanbul
Pick up from your hotel lobby, with a small group we head to explore the bustling Egyptian Spice Market of 17th century origin. Next we take a ferry up Istanbul's winding Bosphorus strait. You will see, Ottoman summer mansions & the beautiful Ortakoy mosque, the defensive Rumeli Fortress, all alongside passing fishing boats, yachts, huge cargo ships & tankers. After a lunch break back on shore, we will visit the interior of the sumptuously decorated Dolmabahce Palace, the 19th century lavish Ottoman residence on the Bosphorus. Returning back to hotel for overnight stay.

Day 04 : Istanbul / Van
Early morning flight from Istanbul Ataturk airport toVan. Arrival & transfer to hotel. After check in & relaxation, enjoy a half-day tour of Van. First visit the Archaeological Museum which houses mainly Urartian remains. Then drive to the Citadel of Van where you will enjoy the most beautiful sunset over Lake Van. Overnight in Van.

Day 05 : Van
We will visit the mountaintop ruins of Cavustepe (a Urartian fortress) & Hosap Castle. On our way back to Van we will stop to see local artisans creating traditional rugs & learn about Turkish, Armenian, Kurdish, & Azerbaijani rugs & kilims. Returning to Van, we will travel by ferryboat across Lake Van, stopping on Akdamar Island to see a spectacular 10th century Armenian Church of the Holy Cross, eat a lunch of local fish & swim in the lake.

Day 06 : Van / Mardin
After stopping for refreshments in Tatvan, we will drive to Mount Nemrut crater & have a picnic lunch by the Crater Lakes. We will then visit the tombs of Seljuk Kings in Ahlat & continue to the town Hasankeyf for lunch. In Hasankeyf (soon to be submerged under a lake) we will visit some of the many caves & the ruins of the medieval Byzantine city. On our way west to Mardin for dinner, we will stop in Midyat to see Mor Gabrial Monastery.

Day 07 : Mardin / Diyarbakir
After breakfast we will explore for Mardin. This town had a large Christian community & there are still some Syrian Christian families & churches . On the out skirts is the monastery of Deyru-zaffaran in which Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is still used as the liturgical tongue. We will leave from Mardin to Diyarbakir. The Tigiris (Dicle) flows by the mighty black walls of Diyarbakir. We will visit the famous city walls, our tour will continue at Ulu Mosque which was converted from church to mosque in 639 A.D. Overnight in Diyarbakir.

Day 08 : Diyarbakir / Urfa / Harran
After breakfast we will leave for Urfa. Our first stop is Harran. Harran, 50 kilometers south from Sanli Urfa, is one of the oldest continuously occupied settlements on the earth, with its bee-hive like mudbrick houses. Here was the Temple of Sin (erroneously called the first university ), famous
throughout the ancient world for its star readers & savants. We will enjoy with Halilurahman Mosque & Ulu Mosque which was first built as a synagogue then converted to a church called Kizil Church. Overnight in Urfa.

Day 09 : Urfa / Mt. Nemrut / Kahta
After breakfast we will depart for Kahta. On the way you will see Ataturk Dam. We have a fabulous countryside trip to Mount Nemrut. On this summit lies a 2000 year old memorial sanctuary for an obscure Commagene King, with huge statues of gods & kings, their heads toppled by earthquakes & scattered on the ground. Overnight in Kahta.

Day 10 : Adiyaman / Istanbul
Mornining transfer to Adiyaman Airport for Istanbul flight. Transfer to hotel upon arrival, overnight in Istanbul.