Turkey 2025

Depart the USA on your overnight flight for Istanbul

Flight Information TBA

Meet our representative and transfer to your hotel.

This evening, get to know your fellow travelers for a welcome dinner with wine at a local restaurant and briefing with your guide.

Overnight: Sofitel Istanbul Taksim or similar
Meals: Dinner

• Visit the Sultanahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque)
• Marvel at the Hagia Sophia, famous for its massive dome and Byzantine architecture
• Enjoy a guided tour of Topkapı Palace including the Harem

This morning, visit some of the unique and iconic sites in the city. Start your tour at the Sultanahmet Mosque, known as the Blue Mosque for the tiles and paint adorning its interior. Built between 1609 and 1616 on the site of several previous palaces, the mosque is considered the last great mosque of the classical period, and even today, it is a truly epic sight. More than 200 stained glass windows admit natural light, thick carpets cover the floors, and the walls are decorated with intricate tile work and verses from the Quran, many by Seyyid Kasim Gubari, the most excellent calligrapher of his time.

Later, visit nearby Hagia Sophia, also known as Ayasofya, built by the emperor Justinian I between 537 and 543 AD. The Hagia Sophia is famous for its massive dome and Byzantine architecture, which inspired much of the Blue Mosque. Built as an Orthodox Basilica, the Hagia Sophia later became a mosque and finally a museum in 1935. Spend the remainder of the morning at the Grand Bazaar, one of the world's largest and oldest covered markets. The bazaar opened in 1461, and there are over 1200 stores, many of which are grouped by type of goods, with particular areas for leather coats, gold jewelry, and other wares.

This afternoon, enjoy a guided tour of Topkapı Palace, the residence of the Ottoman Sultans for over 400 years. The palace became a museum of the imperial era in 1924, and the complex has hundreds of rooms and chambers, the most important being accessible to the public today. In addition, the palace houses an extensive collection of porcelain, robes, armor, and Ottoman miniatures and jewelry.

Overnight: Sofitel Istanbul Taksim or similar
Meals: Breakfast

• Transfer to the airport for your flight to Cappadocia
• Pay a visit to the pottery makers in the city of Avanos

Enjoy an early breakfast before transferring to the airport for your flight to Cappadocia. 

Visit the pottery makers in the city of Avanos on the banks of the Kizilirmak River, where the red clay from the riverbanks is excellent for traditional household pottery, bricks, and roof tiles. Continue to your hotel for check-in and dinner.

Overnight: Utopia Cave Cappadocia or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

• Visit the Open-Air Museum of Göreme
• View the fairy landscapes and rock castles of Avcilar, Dervent Valley, Pidgeon Valley, and Uçhisar Foldings
• Cooking class with a local family followed by dinner

Cappadocia is the land of fairy chimneys and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Weather permitting, you may choose an optional balloon ride in the early morning.

Later, visit the Open-Air Museum in the Göreme, where early Christian churches are decorated with frescoes. Enjoy the magnificent fairy landscapes and rock castles of Avcilar, Dervent Valley, Pidgeon Valley, and Uçhisar Foldings.

In the early evening, join your fellow travelers for a hands-on cooking class with a local family. Learn about their traditions as you prepare your meal together. Start with Turkish tea, visit their organic garden, then prepare your dinner, including a delicious dessert.

Wake up early to embark on a hot air balloon ride! Float silently over the unique rock formations and rich fertile valleys of Cappadocia, all set against the dramatic volcanic landscape that formed the region over two million years ago. (Subject to weather conditions.)

Overnight: Utopia Cave Cappadocia or similar
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner

• Explore one of the famed underground cities of Cappadocia
• Visit Sultanhan, a “caravanserai” (caravan palace)
• Visit the Mevlana Museum in Konya
• Continue to Pamukkale for your overnight

Explore one of the famed underground cities of Cappadocia, carved out of the soft tuff. Early Christians built these structures as a refuge from the persecution of the Roman Empire. With several floors, tunnels, and rooms spanning for miles, they could shelter thousands of people with their livestock and food stores. In addition, they had living quarters, churches, storage rooms, stables, wells, ventilation systems, and wine and oil presses!

Continue your journey to Konya. En route, visit Sultanhan, a "caravanserai" (caravan palace) built as a resting place for the camel caravans, with a stone-paved hallway and other impressive fortifications. Upon reaching Konya, the capital town of Konya province, you'll visit the Mevlana Museum, where Rumi, a Sufi mystic, poet, and the founder of the Mevlana "Dervish" order, is buried.

Later continue to Pamukkale for your dinner and overnight

Overnight: Doğa Thermal Health & Spa or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

• Explore the city of Hierapolis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Visit the Roman city of Aphrodisias
• Transfer to the beach resort town of Kuşadası

Leave the coast for Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish. The city contains hot springs and stunning white terraces that look like ice, created by carbonate minerals left by flowing water. Visit the city of Hierapolis, also a UNESCO World Heritage site, where the hot springs have been used as a spa since the second century. See the great baths constructed without the use of cement. The town was also settled by Jews from Babylon and Mesopotamia, exiled by Antiochus the Great.

Later, visit the Roman city of Aphrodisias, whose extensive excavation was funded by the National Geographic Society. Ancient artists produced sophisticated statues inspired by Aphrodite, goddess of love and marriage, for whom the town was named. Visit the Temple of Aphrodite and the local archaeological museum, which houses a beautiful collection of the art of Aphrodisias.

Continue to Kuşadası on Turkeys Aegean coast for dinner and overnight. The area has been a crossroads of art and culture since it was founded 5000 years ago and was the final destination of medieval caravan routes from the Orient.

Overnight: Charisma De Luxe Hotel or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

• Explore Ephesus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Balance of the day at leisure, or join an optional excursion

Today, visit the glorious city of Ephesus, the capital city of the Roman Province of Asia Minor, founded over 4,000 years ago. The Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is represented by one column and fragments of a frieze. Walk through the ancient streets to view the magnificent structures such as the Library of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian, and the Great Theater. Ephesus is also the town where St. Paul and St. John lived during the first century. Continue to the House of the Virgin Mary, where Mary spent her last years living near a grove of olive trees. A visit is considered a pilgrimage by the Vatican. Afterward, join an optional excursion to the Ephesus Museum and Şirince or return to the hotel. Enjoy the evening at your leisure, perhaps dine at one of the many local restaurants.

Overnight: Charisma De Luxe Hotel or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

• Discover Pergamon, the capital of a once powerful kingdom
• Continue to Asklepion, a famed ancient medical center
• Take an evening flight back to Istanbul

This morning, visit the ruins of Pergamon, the capital of a powerful kingdom during the Hellenistic period in the first century. Visit the Acropolis structure, which houses the Temple of Trajan, the Sanctuary of Athena, and the Altar of Zeus. When papyrus became scarce, the Pergamenes invented a new writing material made of fine calfskin called pergamena (parchment), a predecessor of vellum. The Library of Pergamon, built by King Eumenes II and containing as many as 200,000 volumes, was second only to the library of Alexandria, Egypt.

Continue to the nearby Asklepion, a famed ancient medical center built in honor of Asklepios, the god of healing. It was also the site of the world's first known psychiatric hospital. In the ancient world, this was where famous people wanted to attend for bathing treatments, interpreting dreams, and drinking the water from the sacred fountain.

In the evening board your flight back to Istanbul

Overnight: Sofitel Istanbul Taksim or similar
Meals: Breakfast

• Explore Istanbul independently, or join an optional tour to Dolmabahçe Palace
• Join your fellow travelers for a Bosphorus dinner cruise with music and dance

Spend your last day in Istanbul doing some last-minute shopping or independent exploration. Alternatively, join an optional tour of Dolmabahçe Palace. This evening, meet with your fellow travelers for a Farewell Dinner Cruise on the Bosphorus, with live entertainment.

Overnight: Sofitel Istanbul Taksim or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Transfer to the airport and board your return flight to the USA.

Meals: Breakfast

Flight Information TBA

Full Package Price

• $5,399 per person (double occupancy)
• $6,399 per person  (single occupancy)
   

Land Only Package 
(flights and transfers NOT included)

• $4,699 per person (double occupancy)
• $5,699 per person  (single occupancy)

Note: In the Land Only package you will make your own flight arrangements and transportation to/from the hotel upon arrival and departure. Overton Travel can assist you with these arrangements upon request.

Payment Schedule

• Deposit: Due at time of booking:   $500 (non-refundable)
• Installment #1: June 30, 2024      $650
• Installment #2: July 30, 2024      $650
• Installment #3: August 30, 2024    $650
• Installment #4: September 30, 2024 $650
• Installment #5: October 30, 2024   $650
• Installment #6: November 30, 2024  $650
• Installment #7: December 30, 2024  $650
• Installment #8: Final Payment: January 30, 2025 Remaining Balance

All group seats on the flights included in the Full Package are in Economy Class.

Please contact Overton Travel at the time of booking if you would like to upgrade your seat.

Upgrades to Business Class seats can be done, based on availability at the time of booking.

Specific seats on the flight cannot be guaranteed.

Seats are assigned by the airlines for group bookings. If you would like a specific seat, you can:

1. Book your flights individually with the airline. Do not book the group flights as part of the Full Package.  OR
2. Contact the airline directly after you receive your travel document to request a specific seat. Also note, that some airlines do not assign seats in advance for group bookings, and seats will be assigned at the airport upon check-in.

TBA

We encourage all travelers to purchase a travel protection plan at the time of initial trip deposit. 

Overton Travel uses Travel Insured International. Click here to review and purchase a travel protection plan from them: Travel Protection

You can purchase travel protection through the supplier used by Overton Travel or any other supplier you choose.