• 2 Dinner (D)
• 10 Breakfast (B)
• 1 Lunch (L)

• Istanbul: Get on foot, and explore the vibrant corners of Istanbul. We’ll check out the spice market, the epic blue mosque, Hippodrome, and even the Grand Bazaar.
• Istanbul: No better way to kick off the trip than with a delish rooftop dinner with your new crew. You’ll get a taste of Turkish delight too, because starting sweet will always be the move.
• Troy: A treat for the history buffs. Spark your imagination as you visit the mythological Horse of Troy with a local guide. 
• Canakkale: Roam through Canakkale’s streets and soak up that laidback harbour-town vibe. We’ll also stop at the Trojan Horse monument from the movie ‘Troy’ for a quick photo op.
• Ephesus: Grab your camera, it’s time for some bucket list ticking. See the Temple of Artemis and finally understand what all the fuss is about. 
• Oludeniz: Head to Oludeniz (AKA the famous Blue Lagoon), for that unreal turquoise water and mountain backdrop combo. Kick back by the shore, then watch paragliders drift overhead like they own the sky. Cue the camera roll.
• Konya: Meet Mustafa, a respected local Sufi figure, at his lodge, Hichane, for a Sufi Talk that’ll unpack the philosophy behind the whirling dervishes. Expect stories, real local insight, and music too. He’ll share his world as a ney (AKA Persian flute) player and community leader. All in an underground space that makes this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience feel seriously special.
• Konya: We’ll be welcomed into a local homestay in Konya to share traditional Turkish food, warm hospitality, and an easy, authentic cultural exchange around the table. It’s a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience you won’t wanna miss.
• Cappadocia: Take a trip to the Middle Ages, checking out a series of churches built into volcanic rock. Trust us when we say, it’s simply sublime.
• Cappadocia: There’s no better place to see live pottery than here on this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Come join a demo at the Chez Galip’s pottery workshop – a UNESCO recognised artist for popularising Avano’s pottery heritage. You’ll learn the traditional techniques of shaping clay and even the firing process. 
• Cappadocia: Lace up! We’ll head out on an easy-to-moderate morning hike through Cappadocia’s Red Valley, passing by epic volcanic landscapes and honey-coloured rock formations. Don’t forget sun protection, and plenty of water.

Stroll the harbourfront promenade of Canakkale and feel the maritime pulse of this laid-back strait-side town. Pause for photos at the cinematic Trojan Horse monument, a striking prop from the 2004 film that nods to the region’s enduring myths.

Take in views across the Dardanelles and hear about Ottoman-era forts that once guarded this critical waterway. Cafés, fishing boats, and sea breezes complete an easygoing slice of local life.

Cross continents by water with a scenic ferry across the Dardanelles, watching the Gallipoli Peninsula unfold to one side and Asia to the other. Sea air and gulls accompany views of Kilitbahir Fortress and shoreline villages.

Absorb the strategic weight of this fabled channel—from classical tales of the Hellespont to the 1915 campaign—while enjoying a tranquil maritime interlude between Europe and Asia.

Join the ANZAC Day Dawn Service on the ANZAC Cove shoreline, a solemn gathering marked by silence, reflection, and the sounding of the Last Post. As the first light touches the ridgelines, remember the young lives shaped by the 1915 landings.

Continue to national commemorations—often held at Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair—to hear readings, hymns, and official tributes. The setting, ceremony, and shared remembrance make this a deeply resonant moment of pilgrimage.

Walk marble avenues to the Library of Celsus and ascend the tiers of the Great Theatre at Ephesus, once the glittering capital of Roman Asia. Colonnades, fountains, and mosaics reveal daily life in one of antiquity’s best-preserved cities.

Visit the evocative remains of the Temple of Artemis, remembered as one of the Seven Wonders. Your guide brings merchants, philosophers, and imperial processions to life amid sun-warmed stone and olive-scented breezes.

Walk the snow-white Pamukkale travertine terraces, where mineral-rich waters create rippling pools against a wide Anatolian horizon. Gentle pathways lead between gleaming cascades and shallow basins that seem sculpted from cloud.

Explore the UNESCO-listed Hierapolis above the cliffs—amphitheatre, necropolis, and colonnaded streets—once famed for curative thermal pools. The union of geology and Greco-Roman spa culture makes this a uniquely photogenic wonder.

Savour a postcard pause at the Blue Lagoon of Oludeniz, where calm, turquoise water meets a ribbon of pale sand beneath pine-studded slopes. Cameras love the colour gradient and the mountain backdrop.

Watch paragliders overhead tracing gentle arcs across the sky while you capture the coast’s turquoise water and Mediterranean serenity from one of Turkey’s most celebrated beaches.

Meet a local guide of the Mevlevi order for an intimate Sufi Talk that explores the philosophy behind whirling dervish traditions. In a characterful lodge space, stories flow alongside the breathy, meditative tones of the ney flute.

Learn how Rumi’s teachings shaped Konya’s spiritual life and how music, poetry, and turning symbolize a search for divine love. The atmosphere invites reflection as much as curiosity.

Share a generous homestay dinner in Konya, tasting family recipes—think warm soups, fresh salads, savoury bakes, and fragrant stews—served with heartfelt Turkish hospitality.

Conversation at a shared table opens a window onto everyday life in central Anatolia: markets, schooling, traditions, and seasonal festivals. A warm, human connection complements the region’s monuments and museums.

Explore the Goreme Open-Air Museum, a valley of rock-cut churches and monastic refectories frescoed with saints, angels, and biblical scenes. Soft volcanic tuff shelters centuries of devotion and artistry.

Learn how hermit communities carved chapels and cloisters into the landscape, preserving vivid Byzantine frescoes that still glow under gentle light. The site exemplifies Cappadocia’s marriage of geology and spirituality.

Watch a master at work during a live pottery demonstration with Chez Galip, the UNESCO-recognised artist who helped popularise Avanos’s ceramic traditions. Clay spins to life under steady hands and a foot-powered wheel.

Hear how red river mud from the Kizilirmak has shaped Avanos ceramic heritage since Hittite times. Techniques, glazes, and motifs reveal a craft refined over millennia—and tempt you toward a keepsake.

Stretch your legs on a Red Valley hike, weaving among rose-tinted cliffs, vineyards, and fairy chimneys carved by wind and water. Trails unfurl panoramic shelves and tucked-away chapels in a landscape shaped like sculpture.

Learn how eruptions and erosion created otherworldly tuff formations, while stops at panoramic viewpoints invite photos and quiet awe. Terrain is easy to moderate with plenty of visual reward.

Pause at shimmering Lake Tuz, a vast salt pan where the sky mirrors at your feet. Step onto the salt-crusted shore and frame horizon-wide reflections that play with scale and light.

Hear how seasonal evaporation leaves crystalline flats and, in warmer months, pink hues from microalgae. The sense of space and silence pairs perfectly with contemplative photography.

Cruise Fethiye’s bays on a relaxed day at sea, dropping anchor for swims in sapphire coves and sunning on deck between courses of a fresh onboard lunch. Expect an easy rhythm of water, warmth, and scenery.

This optional boat cruise with lunch features refreshing swim stops in turquoise coves and unhurried time with sun on the deck. Offered at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Taste village flavours at a BBQ dinner in Kayakoy, set near stone houses and quiet lanes shaped by history. Grilled meats, salads, and warm flatbreads arrive family-style under lantern light.

The ghost-village setting evokes the 1923 population exchange and the region’s intertwined cultures. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Lift off at dawn on a sunrise hot air balloon flight, drifting above canyons and chimneys as the landscape blushes with first light. Watch balloons filling the sky while valleys ripple below like a relief map.

The golden light over Cappadocia makes for transcendent photos and gentle exhilaration. Weather-dependent; offered at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Cook alongside local hosts in a volcanic grotto, mastering doughs, meze, and slow-simmered stews in a hands-on cooking class. The cave setting keeps the air cool as aromas bloom from clay pots and spice.

Savour the fruits of your work—Anatolian flavors rooted in tradition—around a shared table. Offered at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Gather for a final feast featuring a colourful meze spread, charcoal-grilled kebabs, and syrupy sweets. Toast the journey with a glass raised to new friendships and shared adventures.

This optional farewell dinner captures the city’s mood one last time—ambient music, lively conversation, and toasting new friends. Offered at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Explore Istanbul’s historic peninsula on a guided city walk, pausing to admire the Blue Mosque with its Iznik tiles and cascading domes. Trace imperial footprints at the Hippodrome and breathe in the saffron-and-rose aromas of the Spice Market before navigating the vaulted alleys of the Grand Bazaar.

Hear how Constantinople became modern Istanbul as you pass minarets, fountains, and caravanserais. Practical tips from your guide help you return confidently for souvenirs, Turkish tea, or a deeper dive into the city’s layers of Byzantine and Ottoman heritage.

Taste your way into Turkey with a convivial welcome dinner on a city rooftop, swapping first impressions over meze, succulent grills, and seasonal salads as the lights of Istanbul glow around you.

Sample a Turkish delight tasting—pistachio, rose, and pomegranate—while learning how this storied confection sweetened Ottoman courtly life. The skyline views add a celebratory mood and set the tone for a trip built on flavour, conversation, and shared discovery.

Discover the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Troy on a guided tour, walking past ancient ramparts and city gates that inspired the legendary Trojan War. View layers of settlement that reveal millennia of human history in this fabled corner of the Aegean.

Hear how archaeologists—from Schliemann onward—untangled myth from material culture. Peer over the plain of the Scamander River and imagine chariots, warriors, and the echo of Homer’s epic verses.

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