Itinerary

Day 1, Istanbul

Upon arrival you’ll be met and transferred to your hostel. Stay overnight. Rest of the day is free to explore Istanbul on your own.

Day 2, Istanbul City Tour, Bosphorus Cruise

Full day tour including a visit to Topkapi Palace Museum,residence of the Ottoman Sultans between 1453–1852 (excluding harem). Your last stop will be the famous Grand Bazaar, the world’s largest and oldest covered market with over 60 streets. Continue to cruise along Bosphorus cruise enjoying the strait that separates Asia and Europe. Stay overnight.

Day 3, Istanbul – Cappadocia

Morning after the breakfast, pack your bags and depart to explore the new city Cappadocia. Get transferred to the airport and take a flight to Kayseri. On arrival you will be picked up by our representative to get a transfer to the Cappadocia hotel. Check in and relax. Stay overnight.

Day 4, North Cappadocia Fairy chimneys and Open Air Museum Tour

At 09:15 AM be picked up from your hotel for the tour at 09:30 AM. Your tour will start at Uchisar Castle constructed on the highest point of the region. It has a totally distinct castle form, including graves, tunnels and churches, which you cannot come across at any other place in the world. At Göreme Open Air Museum, it is especially important to understand the influence of religion, especially Christianity, on the region. For good reasons, it is the most famous attraction, a complex of several painted cave churches carved out by Orthodox monks between 900 and 1200 AD. Çavusin old village, an old Greek village, will be the next place on the tour. Çavusin is a village about 4 kilometers from Göreme. The old village is largely deserted because the area has been plagued by rock falls. At Çavusin, visit the Church of John the Baptist which probably dates from the 5th century with paintings from the 6th, 7th and 8th centuries. The view of Rose Valley is excellent from this village.

Pasabagi is the best place to see three-headed fairy chimneys. Pasabag, the Pasha’s Vineyard, is surrounded by incredible natural rock formations; a spectacular scene. Have a 1-hour lunch at the Han Restaurant, a cool and popular place in the region. Start with soup and then have self-service. Since the Hittites in 2000 BC, people could get red clay (terra rosa) around Kızılırmak River which is the longest river in Turkey and white clays (caulin) from volcanic hills. They could use the clay for their daily life, shaping it by hand on the spinning wheels. The ruins at Devrent are spread over three valleys, which also house several pointed fairy chimneys with large stems.

The “fairy chimneys” with caps, mainly found in the vicinity of Ürgüp, have a conical-shaped body and a boulder on top of it. The cone is constructed from tufa and volcanic ash, while the cap is of a harder, more resistant rock such as lahar or ignimbrite. The fairy chimneys, the symbols of Ürgüp, are called holy spirit chimneys. The mother, father and son fairy chimneys stay together. At the carpet factory, every carpet, with its patterns, resembles a collection of messages, beliefs and symbols. Every pattern that is woven into a carpet is a picture of a feeling, a desire or a wish. Every carpet represents a living history from the early ages to the present in which women have patiently and untiringly written their joys and sorrows in amazing codes and magic letters which are to be read line by line. Your tour will finish at 05:30 PM and you will be dropped off back to your hotel.

Stay overnight.

Day 5, Cappadocia Hot Air Balloon Tour with Breakfast & Champagne and Certificate (Optional)

Enjoy an unforgettable hot air balloon flight with a unique experience, in a unique destination in the world. Soar above the scenic Cappadocian landscape during this sunrise hot-air balloon ride, with an included buffet breakfast after you land. Hear about the region from your pilot, enjoy a traditional champagne ceremony, and go home with a commemorative flight certificate. 
After the flight, get transferred to your hotel, Stay overnight.

Day 6, Cappadocia – Departure

Transfer to the airport for your return flight home.