From Mesopotamia to Asia Minor

Breakfast at the hotel. We will have an excellent street photography day in Istanbul streets. We will start with Sultanahmet Square to photography Blue Mosque from outside  and a short visit inside. Then walk to Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace for visiting.  At the end of  the day enter the Grand Bazaar and stroll through the narrow streets to discover goldsmiths, copper-workers which are still working in tiny workshops. When you will arrive at the spice bazaar, your guide will show you where people are doing queuing to buy the famous Turkish coffee, then will guide you in and around of this typical market. Stop in front of the European Station which was the terminus of the Orient-Express, named in the novel The Crime of the Orient-Express of Agatha Christie. 

Meals: Breakfast Overnight : Istanbul 

Our morning drive takes us from Istanbul to Anatolia landscapes. We will first go to Nallihan to photography its green eroded landscapes. We can also capture some local birds around the wetland.  Continuation to Beypazarı that still preserves the magical atmosphere of an Ottoman town. Houses like white boxes lean against the slope, their plaster facades delineated by dark wood beams and adorned with wooden doors and windows. Named the town of carrots and nurturing a deep respect for the orange vegetable, nearly 70 percent of Turkey’s carrots are grown in Beypazarı. 

Overnight:  Beypazari 3*** Hotel  Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

After breakfast continuation to Tuz Gölü to photography the lake. Lake Tuz is the second largest lake in Turkey with its 1,665 km2 (643 sq mi) surface area and one of the largest hypersaline lakes in the world. (It exceeds our imagination; 1500 kms2 of salt and twice as large as Singapore).

Continuation to Cappadocia to visit one of the largest underground city of the region.  

Sunset Shots

Overnight:  Cappadocia 4**** Hotel  Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Departure after-noon to visit Goreme Valleys and its open-air churches carved in volcanic rocks. 

Sunset Shots

Overnight:  Cappadocia 4**** Hotel  Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

After breakfast early departure to South Eastern Turkey (550 km) Road to Mount Nemrut. Candid shots during trip.  Overnight: Kahta Hotel 3*** Meals: Breakfast – Dinner

Night photography(Sky trail or Milky Way if the weather permits) and Sunrise at Mt Nemrut . (2134 meters/7000 feet , it will be cold!)  Continuation to Şanliurfa.  Overnight: Sanliurfa Hotel 3*** Meals: Breakfast – Dinner

After breakfast we’ll begin our idyllic journey to Harran. You wonder, “What is the history of Harran?” You open the Torah, and see that Harran was mentioned as the city of Abraham. If you delve into ancient times, you will come across the great temple of the Moon God, Sin. If you ask the ancient merchants about Harran, they will tell you that Harran is the trading center of the world. You will encounter Islamic footprints. With every step you take, a seal of every country appears. The blood shed from swords starts speaking… Thousands dead…you are walking in a land that was once a Seljuk state, an Ottoman city…”

After photographing Harran City , we will visit Göbekli Tepe Antique City Göbeklitepe. Ten kilometers from Urfa, an ancient city in southeastern Turkey, Klaus Schmidt has made one of the most startling archaeological discoveries of our time: massive carved stones about 11,000 years old, crafted and arranged by prehistoric people who had not yet developed metal tools or even pottery. The megaliths predate Stonehenge by some 6,000 years. The place is called Gobekli Tepe, and Schmidt, a German archaeologist who has been working here more than a decade, is convinced it’s the site of the world’s oldest temple.

Overnight: Sanliurfa Meals: Breakfast – Dinner

Breakfast and drive to Gaziantep. (150 km) .On the road visit of Zeugma Antique City (UNESCO World Heritage List) situated on the Legendary Euphrate River. Zeugma is home to archaeological remains that reflect the complicated, sometimes ambiguous, yet extremely varied character of the ethnicities which mingled within the city to form new syntheses. In the Hellenistic Era the city was called “Seleukeia of Euphrates”. The ancient city of Zeugma, originally, was founded by Selevkos Nikador, one of the generals of the Alexander the Great, in 300 B.C. Continuation to “Slow City” Halfeti (Cittaslow Halfeti ) which has the potential to become one of the world’s most interesting slow cities with its historical heritage and unique culture..

Rumkale and the other cultural treasures at Halfeti take visitors on a journey to the splendor of the past. In addition, it is great experince to see the specific black rose of Halfeti. Fruits and vegetables including bananas, grapefruit and dates flourish in the region’s Mediterranean climate. We will have time to visit Old Halfeti streets until sunset and blue hours.

 Continuation to Gaziantep for overnight 3*** and dinner. 

Visit of Antep Old city and continuation to Adana (famous also for its kebaps)  to visit Old Town.  The historical Kazancilar Carsisi (Boilermakers’ Bazaar), located in the same area as the clock tower, houses some of the most popular restaurants. Opportunity for street photography . 

Overnight: Adana 3*** Meals: Breakfast – Dinner

After breakfast drive to Konya (345 km) to visit the city of Whirling Dervishes Founder, Mevlana and its museum. On the road candid shots (Taurus mountains.)

Overnight: Konya 4**** Hotel Meals: Breakfast Dinner 

Drive to Pamukkale. Visit Cotton Steps – a UNESCO heritage site that has been believed to have healing thermal water. Overnight: Pamukkale 4**** Meals: Breakfast – Dinner

Breakfast. Drive to Selcuk 200 km – Ephesus . Visit the Ephesus Ruins – the city that was dedicated to Artemis I the Odeon, Temple of Hadrian, the House of Love, the Library of Celsus, the Agora .Then proceed for Virgin Mary House – has been believed it is the final resting place of the mother of Jesus  Proceed for Izmir . Overnight: İzmir 4**** Hotel Meals: Breakfast – Dinner

Breakfast . Drive to Pergamon ( Bergama ) region and visit the ruins of Asklepion which is the first hospital of Asia Minor in human history . Then continue to Troy , visit the famous city that evokes the poetic name of Homer’s Iliad. Continue to Canakkale .  Overnight:Çanakkale Hotel 4**** Meals: Breakfast – Dinner.

After breakfast drive to Bursa to visit Green Mosque and Mausoleum, continuation to Istanbul.  Overnight: Istanbul Meals: Breakfast

After breakfast transfer to the airport for your onward flight. End of our services.