Compare tours through Turkey and you will find the transcontinental country offers much more than ‘just’ the magical city of Istanbul, with unique UNESCO natural wonders, stunning coastlines and ancient historic sites. We’ve compiled a list of the best of the best to help you choose the perfect itinerary for you. Take a look and start daydreaming about kebabs, hookah pipes and magnificent mosques.
Electric Istanbul
The former seat of the Ottoman Caliphate, sitting on the continental divide between Asia and Europe with an epic skyline dominated by mosques and striking historic sites standing guard over the Bosphorus – Istanbul is architecturally magnificent, packed with culture, and alive with one of the largest populations of any city in the world. Apple tobacco smoke of hookah pipes enjoyed at outdoor cafes lingers in the evening air, while Kervanseray belly dancers ply their trade and men with moustaches sit in clusters absorbed in conversation.
Hushed reverence in the Blue Mosque, Istanbul
Open doors to all, Istanbul’s central mosque derives from the rule of Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I, and is resplendently decorated with 20,000 handmade blue Iznik tiles (hence the name).
Cavernous Hagia Sophia
Eastern Orthodox church for a thousand years, Ottoman mosque for five hundred years, Atatürk’s museum for nearly one hundred years – Hagia Sophia is the essence of Istanbul’s changing landmark architecture, with Byzantine and Christian mosaic decoration inside.
Hot air balloon in Cappadocia
Witness extraordinary ‘fairy chimneys’ naturally formed from soft volcanic rock, alongside wondrous gorges and subterranean cities. At dawn, float above from the basket of a hot air balloon, gazing over this remarkably unique ethereal land.
Remember at Gallipoli
Amongst the many Turkish WWI battlefields and memorials commemorating over 100,000 casualties, there is Gallipoli, an Australian and New Zealand rite of passage to remember the ANZAC troops who bravely fought in April 1915. Lest We Forget.
Ancient Ephesus
Consistently polled as one of the best-preserved cities of ancient civilisation, the gates of intact ruins of Asia Minor’s greatest city offers archaeological rapture. Walk past the colonnaded Library of Celsius, temples and Roman amphitheatres, tracing the footsteps of apostle St. Paul and Alexander the Great.
The ‘cotton castle’: Pamukkale
The bright white ‘cotton castle’ spectacularly spills thermal springs over tufa limestone pools, watched over by the ancient thermal spa city of Hierapolis, which has drawn on the mineral-rich water’s healing powers for millennia.
Relax at a hamam
Lie back on marble for the revitalising Turkish hot bath – the cleansing sauna, lathering and scrubbing experience that the Ottomans have sworn by for centuries. You won’t find a dry skin cell in the house.
Sail the turquoise coast
Sail on board a traditional gulet boat and hit up all the Turkish delights of the southern peninsula. Start and finish in Bodrum, home to the 15th century Castle of St. Peter, plus a smattering of good restaurants and raving nightlife all by the harbour.
Strike a bargain at the bazaar
Haggle till your heart’s content, playing the game with some cheeky traders in the cacophony of carpet and kilim colour, sugar-cubed tea sets, nazar ‘evil eye’ pendants and knock-off clothing. It’s all in a day’s work in the cluttered stalls of the Grand Bazaars omnipresent in every Turkish city.
Live the legend in Troy
Uncover the epic stories of UNESCO World Heritage Listed Troy, where the Trojan horse defied King Priam to be retold over thousands of years from Homer’s Iliad classical poems.
