TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Visit to Istanbul city, trans- fer to Taksim. Panoramic tour of the city, we are in a city built on two continents. On our tour we will enter the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent (the largest in Istanbul), we will visit the walls, the golden horn, the fishing district and admire the exterior of Hagia Sophia. At the end of the afternoon, we will provide a trans- fer to the neighborhood of Taksim, the most com- mercial and local area of the city. Time for dining in one of its many restaurants, you can also take the old tram that crosses the area or approach the nearby Galata Tower.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Visit to Topkapi palace, boat trip on the Bosporus, dinner included in Ankara. Early in the morning we will include the entrance and visit to the Topkapi Palace, which was the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire with its magnificent courtyards and pavilions. After that, we will take a boat trip on the Bosporus of about two hours. We will travel on a private boat for Europamundo travelers. The Bosporus is a strait that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marma- ra separating Istanbul into two parts: European and Asian. We will enjoy watching the animation of the strait with all its boats, we will pass under the two bridges that connect Europe and Asia and we will ad- mire the palaces of the sultans, the typical wooden houses, the Ottoman villas. We will disembark on the Asian side and we will have time to walk through the neighborhood of Uskudar, with its large mosques, where Yemi Valide, the maiden´s tower and its quiet streets are a stand out. Time for lunch. In the afternoon we continue our route to the Anatolian peninsula. Arrival in ANKARA, dinner included. Free time in the afternoon.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Visit of Ankara, beautiful landscapes in Cappadocia, dinner included. After breakfast we include a visit to Ankara, the cosmopolitan capital of Turkey, with more than 5 million inhabitants and a lot of cultural life with its performing arts center, which houses the State Ballet and Opera, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra and many national theater companies. We will visit the impressive Mausoleum of Ataturk, the powerful castle of Ankara, whose first construction was 8 centuries be- fore Christ. We also include the entrance to the Mu- seum of Anatolian civilizations that allows us to understand the different cultures that left their mark on Turkey. At the end of the morning, we will stop at a large shopping mall, with different choices of food in its food court. After lunch we continue to the region of Cappadocia, on route we will stop next to the SALT LAKE, with its incredible landscapes and visit HACIBEKTAS, with the utmost respect to the pilgrims (appropriate clothing and silence suggested during the visit). This sanctuary houses the tomb of Hacibecktas, a Sufi mystic of the thirteenth century. Continuation to NEVSHEIR -dinner included-.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: landscapes of spectacular shapes. Picturesque towns. Dinner included. Full day in the fantastic region of CAPPADOCIA, with its lunar landscapes, its churches and troglodyte villages. We will discover the GOREME Valley with its open air museum and its churches carved into the rocks, entry tickets included. We will visit UCHISAR, a natural fortress. In KAIMACLI we will visit the underground city that could house 30,000 people. Returning to Avanos we stop at PASABAG, the valley of the fairies, we will walk in this spectacular natural area. Free time and dinner included.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Ihlara Valley, Caravanserai, Konya. Dinner included. At the far end of Cappadocia, we will visit the IHLARA Valley; known for the freshness of its waters, its churches and villages excavated in the rock. Then we continue our route, with a stop in an old CARAVANSERAI from the 13th Century before arriving in KONYA where we visit the Mausoleum of Mevlana. Here we will learn about the sect of the Dervishes (entrance included). Dinner included. At night, we suggest that you attend the dance performance of the whirling dervishes in the cultural centre.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Fantastic Cotton Castle at the end of the day. Dinner included. We take a scenic road between the lakes, and get to know EGRIDIR, a beautiful town next to a large lake, with its walls and mosques. There’s time to have lunch. We then continue to PAMUKKALE-Hierapolis, whose calcareous waters have created the Cotton Castle (entrance included). Dinner included.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Ephesus. Dinner included. We leave for EPHESUS, the best preserved ancient city of Asia Minor; 2000 years ago it had a quar- ter of a million inhabitants. We see the house of the Virgin Mary, the Basilica of Saint John and the impressive ruins of Ephesus (entrance included). We then go on to KUSADASI, a popular coastal town with a lot of atmosphere, commercial life and a small castle. Dinner included.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT: Interior of Anatolia. Hanging bridges crossing the Sea of Marmara and the Bos- phorus Strait. We leave for the city with the fourth largest population in Turkey: IZMIR. We make a brief visit with our guide to this city considered the most west- ernized and modern city in the country in terms of values, ideology and lifestyle. We then return to inland Turkey. Stop en route for lunch before reaching BURSA, the fourth largest city in Turkey, whose historic centre has been declared UNESCO World Heritage, with its traditional commercial districts, mosques, religious schools, public baths … The green mosque stands out. Arrival in ISTANBUL at the end of the day. End of our services. Please, check the time of your flight in case you might need an additional night.