Turkey with Troy: ten days by road to the Dardanelles

Overview

Route: Istanbul›Ankara›Cappadocia›Pamukkale›Ephesus›İzmir›Troy

• Physical level: Moderate
• Languages of the guided visits: Spanish, English

Highlights

• Troy, the city of the Iliad, with the ticket included and the replica of the wooden horse.
• Crossing the Dardanelles on the Çanakkale 1915 suspension bridge, from Asia to Europe.
• Three full nights in Cappadocia: the underground city and Göreme one day, the valleys and Uçhisar the next.
• Atatürk Mausoleum in Ankara, with the ticket included, on the way to Cappadocia.
• Hierapolis and the Pamukkale travertines, with the night in a thermal hotel.
• Ephesus, from Marble Street to the Library of Celsus and the great theatre, with the House of the Virgin Mary.
• The Sultanahmet day at the end of the trip, with Topkapı and Hagia Sophia included and the group already acclimatised.

What is included and what is not

Day by day itinerary

1. Day 1

   Arrival in Istanbul

   Arrival at Istanbul Airport (IST) or Sabiha Gökçen (SAW), depending on the international flight, and meeting with our assistant at the exit of the arrivals hall. Transfer to the hotel, check-in and handover of the tour documentation, with the following morning departure time and the assistance telephone number. Rooms are available from the hotel check-in time; if the flight lands much earlier, luggage can be left at reception. No visits are scheduled on this day, so it is free to rest after the journey or take a first walk around the neighbourhood; the planned hotels are spread between Taksim, Laleli and Karaköy, all within a few minutes of the tram or the metro. Dinner is not included on this day. It is worth reminding passengers that this tour keeps the big Sultanahmet day for the end of the trip: nothing on the historic peninsula is visited on the first day, and that is deliberate, because by day 9 the group is acclimatised and walks better.

   Overnight in

   Istanbul

2. Day 2

   Istanbul: Bosphorus and bazaars

   Breakfast and departure for the Süleymaniye Mosque, the great work of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, with its four minarets and its courtyard open over the Golden Horn. We then walk down to the Egyptian Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar, the second largest and oldest covered market in the city, where the spice, dried fruit and sweet stalls run on under the vaults. Free time for lunch, which is not included. In the afternoon, a Bosphorus cruise on a scheduled ferry: from the water you see the Ottoman palaces and the wooden mansions on both shores, and it becomes clear at once why the city grew where it did. It is a scheduled boat shared with other passengers and the route may vary with the state of the sea. On landing we continue to Beyoğlu, with free time in the Galata Tower area, which is seen from outside. Return to the hotel; dinner is not included on this day.

   Visits

   Süleymaniye Mosque, Spice Bazaar, Bosphorus cruise, Galata Tower area

   Meals

   Breakfast

   Overnight in

   Istanbul

3. Day 3

   Istanbul, Ankara and Cappadocia

   The longest leg of the tour: some 750 kilometres and around nine hours with stops. The departure is very early, before breakfast is served, so the hotel provides a breakfast box. We cross into Asia and climb through the Bolu mountains towards the plateau. At midday, a panoramic drive through Ankara — the capital of the Republic, a city of wide avenues and ministries that surprises anyone arriving from Istanbul — with a stop to visit Atatürk Mausoleum, the Anıtkabir, whose ticket is included. A stop for lunch, not included, and on towards the south-east. Before entering Cappadocia we stop beside the Salt Lake, Tuz Gölü, the shallow lake that in summer leaves a white crust you can walk on in the marked areas. Arrival in Cappadocia in the late afternoon, transfer to the hotel and dinner included. It is a coach day with one large visit in the middle, and it is best presented that way.

   Visits

   Panoramic Ankara, Anıtkabir (Atatürk Mausoleum), Salt Lake

   Meals

   Breakfast, dinner

   Overnight in

   Cappadocia

   Notes for the day: Road: about 750 km, approx. 9 h with stops. Very early departure, with a breakfast box.

4. Day 4

   Cappadocia: underground city and Göreme

   At dawn, anyone who wishes can take the balloon ride over the valleys: it is an optional activity, not part of the programme, and depends each morning on clearance for wind and visibility. After breakfast we visit one of the region underground cities, cut into the soft rock by the Christian communities: several levels of galleries, ventilation shafts, stables, cellars and round stone doors that were closed from inside. The passages are low and narrow, and can be skipped if they are uncomfortable; the ticket is included. In the afternoon, the Göreme Open-Air Museum, the group of chapels and refectories cut into the rock with tenth-century frescoes, also with the ticket included; it is visited on foot, with steps and short slopes, and some chapels hold only a few people at a time, so the group goes in by turns. The day closes at a traditional handmade carpet workshop, an explanatory visit with entirely voluntary buying. Dinner at the hotel and, optionally, a folk show in a cave venue.

   Visits

   A Cappadocian underground city, Göreme Open-Air Museum, carpet workshop

   Meals

   Breakfast, dinner

   Overnight in

   Cappadocia

   Optional activities

   • Hot-air balloon flight at sunrise
   • Folk show in a cave venue
5. Day 5

   Cappadocia: the valleys and Uçhisar

   A second full day in the region, given to the landscape. The morning is spent at the viewpoints over the Avcılar and Güvercinlik valleys, where the fairy chimneys line up and it becomes clear how erosion has worked the volcanic ash: columns capped with basalt, isolated cones and walls hollowed out as dovecotes. From there we drive up to the cave village of Uçhisar, the highest point in Cappadocia, a crag honeycombed from top to bottom in which the rooms and dovecotes can still be made out; the castle ticket is included and the climb has narrow steps, although the view can also be enjoyed from the base. Free time for lunch, which is not included. In the afternoon, a visit to a workshop of jewellery and local stones, with an explanation of the craft and entirely voluntary buying. Return to the hotel and dinner included. It is the day with the least driving on the tour and the best one for walking slowly.

   Visits

   Avcılar and Güvercinlik valleys, Uçhisar village and castle, jewellery and stone workshop

   Meals

   Breakfast, dinner

   Overnight in

   Cappadocia

   Optional activities

   • Hot-air balloon flight at sunrise
6. Day 6

   Cappadocia, caravanserai and Pamukkale

   Departure westwards to cross Central Anatolia down to the Aegean: some 650 kilometres and around eight hours of travel. In the middle of the morning we stop at a Silk Road caravanserai, one of the fortified inns the Seljuks built a camel day apart, with its carved stone portal, its courtyard and its raised mosque in the centre. The rest of the leg includes comfort stops en route and a stop for lunch, which is not included; the landscape shifts from steppe to the valleys of Denizli. In the afternoon we visit Hierapolis, the Roman spa city with its necropolis and its theatre, and the Cotton Castle, the travertine terraces formed by the thermal water running down the slope; they are walked barefoot along the marked areas, on a surface that is uneven, slippery and unshaded. The site ticket is included. Dinner at the hotel in Pamukkale, all of them thermal establishments, so a swimming costume is worth keeping to hand.

   Visits

   Silk Road caravanserai, Hierapolis, Pamukkale and the Cotton Castle

   Meals

   Breakfast, dinner

   Overnight in

   Pamukkale

   Notes for the day: Road: about 650 km, approx. 8 h.

7. Day 7

   Pamukkale, Ephesus and İzmir

   A short leg, some 250 kilometres and around three and a half hours, to Ephesus, the best preserved Greco-Roman city in Turkey. We enter through the upper gate and walk down Marble Street between columns, facades and pedestals to the Library of Celsus, the image everyone recognises, and go on to the great theatre, which once held twenty-five thousand spectators. The paving is the original, uneven and unshaded, and the route runs gently downhill; closed shoes and water. We then drive up to the House of the Virgin Mary, on the mountainside above the site, a place of worship where silence is requested and the visit is short. The tickets for Ephesus and the House of the Virgin Mary are included. Before reaching the hotel we stop at a regional leather goods outlet, an explanatory visit with entirely voluntary buying. Night on the coast, in İzmir (Aliağa), with dinner included at the hotel.

   Visits

   Ephesus (Marble Street, Library of Celsus, great theatre), House of the Virgin Mary

   Meals

   Breakfast, dinner

   Overnight in

   İzmir (Aliağa)

   Notes for the day: Road: about 250 km, approx. 3 h 30.

8. Day 8

   İzmir, Troy and Istanbul

   The day that gives the tour its name, and also the second longest: some 620 kilometres and around eight hours with stops. An early start northwards along the Aegean coast to the site of Troy. The visit takes in the superimposed layers of city, the walls and the stone ramp, and ends beside the replica of the wooden horse that stands at the entrance; the site ticket is included. It is worth setting passenger expectations: Troy is not a monumental site like Ephesus but a mound of archaeological levels, and what the visitor takes away is the story, so the guide matters more here than the stones. We then continue to the Dardanelles and cross from Asia to Europe on the Çanakkale 1915 suspension bridge, the longest in the world. Through Thrace we reach Istanbul in the late afternoon, in the inbound traffic, and transfer to the hotel. Lunch and dinner are not included on this day.

   Visits

   Troy and the replica of the wooden horse, the Dardanelles, Çanakkale 1915 bridge

   Meals

   Breakfast

   Overnight in

   Istanbul

   Notes for the day: Road: about 620 km, approx. 8 h with stops. Early departure.

9. Day 9

   Classic Istanbul

   A full day on the historic peninsula, and the last of the tour. We start at Topkapı Palace, the sultans residence for four centuries: the successive courtyards, the kitchens, the Council chamber and the treasury, where the eighty-six carat Spoonmaker Diamond is displayed; the ticket is included. We continue to Hagia Sophia, which had the largest dome in the Christian world for almost nine hundred years and is now a working mosque, with a separate route for foreign visitors through the upper galleries; the ticket is included as well. Free time for lunch, which is not included. In the afternoon we walk the Roman Hippodrome, with its obelisk and serpent column, and the Blue Mosque, with its İznik tiles; the Blue Mosque is visited as a working place of worship and its access is not among the programme tickets. The day closes in the Grand Bazaar, with time to walk its covered streets and no obligation to buy. The whole day is on foot over uneven stone. Dinner is not included.

   Visits

   Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia, Roman Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar

   Meals

   Breakfast

   Overnight in

   Istanbul

10. Day 10

    Departure

    Breakfast at the hotel or a breakfast box, depending on the flight time, and transfer to the airport at the time stated in the tour documentation, calculated on the international flight and the expected traffic; in Istanbul a generous margin is advisable, because both airports are a long way from the centre. Our services end with the transfer. Because the tour closes in Istanbul and not at a provincial airport, the last day does not force an early-morning domestic flight and the departure is adjusted to each passenger flight. If the international flight is at night, the room is released at the hotel check-out time, luggage can be left at reception and the transfer is scheduled for the afternoon. To extend the stay, extra nights can be added in Istanbul, in the same planned hotels, or a full-day excursion to the Asian side or to old and modern Europe. All of this is set out in the quotation.

    Meals

    Breakfast

Expected hotels

Hotels as listed or similar; the final confirmation is given in the quotation.

Operational notes

• This is a scheduled tour operated with shared services: the coach, the licensed guide and the visits are shared with other passengers who have booked the same programme, whether through your agency or another. What is not shared is the room, or the arrival and departure transfers in Istanbul, which are handled with an assistant. Coach seats are not numbered and daily rotation is recommended.
• Timings are the group timings. Each morning departure time is set by the day operation and announced the evening before; on a scheduled tour one passenger delay affects the whole coach, so keeping to the timetable is part of the tour conditions.
• On scheduled programmes the order of the visits may be adjusted according to local operating conditions, while keeping the content and the level of the services booked. In Istanbul, some legs may be covered on foot or by public transport depending on the traffic.
• In high season some legs may be shared with other Spanish-speaking groups. The guide remains a licensed, Spanish-speaking guide on every scheduled visit.
• The tour is run entirely overland, with no domestic flights. There are long transfer days with early starts and comfort stops en route; the mileage and approximate time are stated on each day of the itinerary.
• The tour has three long road days: Istanbul to Ankara and Cappadocia, some 750 kilometres; Cappadocia to Pamukkale, some 650; and İzmir to Troy and Istanbul, some 620. All three start early, and on the first the breakfast is provided as a box because the departure is before the hotel service.
• Troy is an archaeological site of superimposed layers, not a monumental ensemble: the interest lies in the sequence of cities and in the story, and the route is open-air and unshaded. The replica of the wooden horse stands beside the entrance and is the group photo point.
• The Bosphorus cruise operates on a shared scheduled boat. The route or the vessel may change because of weather and, exceptionally, the service can be suspended in rough seas.
• Hagia Sophia is a working mosque. Foreign visitors follow a separate tourist route through the upper galleries, while the ground floor is reserved for prayer. That route closes during the five daily prayers and, at Friday midday, for a longer period. The visiting arrangement and opening hours depend on current regulations and may change without notice; if access is restricted on the date of the visit, the monument is explained from outside.
• Mosques require shoes to be removed and shoulders and knees covered; women are required to cover their hair. Bringing your own scarf is advisable, although the busiest mosques usually lend one at the entrance.
• Working mosques close to visitors during the five daily prayers and, in particular, around the Friday midday prayer. When a visit coincides, the commentary is given outside or the day is reordered.
• Museums and archaeological sites may have a weekly closing day and different summer and winter opening hours. The final itinerary is adjusted to the opening calendar in force on the travel dates.
• During the religious holidays (Ramazan Bayramı and Kurban Bayramı, whose dates move with the lunar calendar) museum and shop hours change, monuments are busier, and domestic flights and roads fill up.
• The Cappadocia balloon flight is an optional activity and is not part of the programme. Flights are confirmed before dawn and are cancelled by the operator for wind or visibility, so booking it for the first available sunrise is advisable. If it is cancelled for safety reasons, the amount is refunded in full.
• The Turkish night show in a cave venue is an optional activity and is not part of the programme. It is booked with the reservation or locally through our own team, and its cost is stated in the quotation.
• The Pamukkale travertines are walked barefoot along the marked areas. The surface is uneven and slippery, and there is no shade along the route.
• Ephesus is walked on original marble paving, uneven and unshaded; the Cappadocia valleys on dirt paths. Moderate walking level and closed shoes throughout the tour.
• Between June and September the midday heat is intense at open-air sites. Visits are concentrated early and late in the day, and water, a hat and sun protection are advisable.
• The programme includes explanatory stops at craft workshops (carpets, leather or ceramics), which are standard on this kind of tour. The visit is informative and any purchase is entirely voluntary.
• The hotels listed on this page are the ones planned. If they are not available on the travel dates, they are replaced by another establishment of similar or higher category in the same town, with prior notice to the agency.
• Triple rooms generally consist of two standard beds plus an extra bed, and are subject to availability. Most hotels in Turkey do not accept four people in a standard room.
• A valid passport, the visa or electronic authorisation and compliance with entry requirements are the traveller responsibility. They depend on nationality and should be checked well in advance.

Best time to travel

Recommended months: April, May, June, September, October

Gallery

Frequently asked questions

Booking conditions

Deposit

30% of the total when the booking is confirmed. For bookings made 30 days or less before departure, the full amount at confirmation.

Balance

The remaining 70%, no later than 31 days before departure.

Payment methods

Bank transfer or credit card. Card payments carry a 3% surcharge; charges applied by the issuing bank are borne by the client.

Cancellations

More than 90 days before departure: handling fee only, plus penalties on services already issued · 89–61 days: 25% · 60–31 days: 50% · 30 days or less and no-show: 100%. Reductions in places follow the same scale. Refunds within 10–14 business days of written cancellation.

Read the full booking conditions

Credentials

Legal name

Colorido Tours Turkey Turizm Ticaret Ltd. Şti.

TÜRSAB licence

A-12116

Office

Istanbul

Operating scope

Turkey only. Egypt, Jordan and the Greek islands only as extensions of a Turkey itinerary.

Guides

Licensed guides in Spanish and English

24/7 emergency line during the trip

+90 544 533 53 55

Who handles your request

Your request is handled by our reservations team, and the same person follows the file from quotation through to operation on the ground.

How to verify us

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