TURKISH TREASURES

Our trip begins from Ankara, which is the second most important city in Turkey. Culture and history are interlaced through the streets of it. Upon arrival, we will meet our tour guide and get transferred to our hotel. We will have the rest of the day exploring the city to enjoy local foods and visit markets.

Before hitting the road to Konya (270 km), we will go to visit Ataturk’s Mausoleum (Turkish: Anitkabir), the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the leader, founder, and the first President of the Republic of Turkey. Next, is the Anatolian Civilizations Museum (Turkish: Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi), a fantastic museum with relics from over 8,000 years ago. Then, we will visit Ankara Castle (Turkish: Ankara Kalesi), which overlooks the city and the historic houses of old Ankara. Later, located in the heart of the city, we can see the Local Bazaar and Column of Julian (Turkish: Julian Sütunu) next to each other. We will check into our hotel in Konya in the evening.

Today and after breakfast, we will go to the city’s primary tourist attraction which is the final home of Rumi, with its Turquoise-Domed Tomb which is called Mevlana Museum. Every Saturday, there are Whirling Dervish spiritual performances at Rumi’s Cultural Centre. Next, we will be amused by the artifacts collection depicted at Konya Archaeological Museum. We will also discover the Konya Butterfly Botanical Garden, where a great diversity of butterflies and different tropical plants are gathered together.

We will pack our bags this morning and depart to Mersin (350 km). On the way, we will stop by Alahan Monastery (Turkish: Koja Kalessi), a stunning piece of Byzantine art and architecture. This complex, with its monuments and churches, is one of the best preserved sites in this region. After arriving in Mersin and checking into the hotel, we will take some rest and get ready to go to Mersin Marina to enjoy the view of the sunset.

This morning we will go to Mersin Museum of Archeology (Turkish: Mersin Arkeoloji Müzesi) and Mersin Naval Museum (Turkish: Mersin Deniz Müzesi) which are located next to each other. In the first one, we will pass through a time tunnel with various stages and in the sec-ons, historical battleship models and paintings from important wars. In the afternoon, we will go Adana (85 km).

Today and after breakfast, we will leave Adana to head to Gaziantep (225 km). Gaziantep Castle (Turkish: Gaziantep Kalesi) is an important landmark of this city left from Roman Empire, where today is Gaziantep Defense and Heroism Panoramic Museum. One of the most popular places visited by tourists in this city is Coppersmith Bazaar (Turkish: Bakırcılar Çarşısı), a historical market of coppersmith shoppers. Our last stop is Zeugma Mosaic Museum, the biggest mosaic museum in the world.

After breakfast, we will leave this city and go to Şanlıurfa (150 km). After arrival and checking into our hotel, we will go to Göbekli Tepe, the oldest temple in the world, where was designated as a UNESCO world heritage site in 2018 and dates back between 9,500 and 8,000 BCE. For our free time in the evening, we can wander around at Şanlıurfa Bazaar.

This morning, we will visit Şanlıurfa Archaeology and Mosaic Museum, a place where artifacts from Şanlıurfa and its surroundings with a rich history are exhibited and has an international importance. Later, we will visit Halfeti. It is one of the most unusual cities in Turkey as the old part of the town has been mainly submerged in the water after the construction of a dam. Although part of Halfeti is lost underwater, it still owns very rich cultural heritage and beauties.

We will be transferred to Şanlıurfa Airport to catch our flight to İstanbul Airport and from there we will take our flight back home.