Do you want to get close to the stones? Do you want to get under the skin of ancient cultures and distant civilisations? Join us on the exciting tour of Turkey’s ancient and Megalithic sites.

Minimum participants 2 people, maximum 12 people.

• 1
  Day 1 - Konya

  Arrive Konya. Settling in and orientation meeting.

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• 2
  Day 2 - Visit Çatalhöyük and Konya

  Konya, the capital of the Selcuk Sultanate of Rum and the home of the Sufi Order of Whirling Dervishes is our jumping off point to visit Çatalhöyük. Established in approximately 7500 B.C. Çatalhöyük is thought to be the oldest genuine urban settlement yet to be identified making it the Genesis of Civilisation.

  B.D.

  Overnight Konya.

  

• 3
  Day 3 - Ankara

  Travel to Ankara, visiting enroute the Sultanhan Caravansaray along this branch of the Silk Road.

  B.D.

  Overnight Ankara.

  

• 4
  Day 4 - Ankara. Museum of Anatolian Civilisations and Anitkabir

  The museum of Anatolian Civilisations, one of the World’s Premier Museums, covering the history of Anatolia from Neolithic to Ottoman Times. The museum accommodated in an Ottoman era Caravansaray is adjacent to the Citadel of Ankara and possesses a commanding view of the entire city. After lunch we will visit Anitkabir, the Mausoleum of Ataturk, this building and its complex is an extraordinary fusion of architectural styles found in Anatolia is probably as close a you will get to the look of a Temple precinct of the First Millenium B.C.

  B.D.

  Overnight Ankara.

  

• 5
  Day 5 - Boğazkale. Alacahöyük and Yazilikaya

  We leave Ankara for the Hittite Fortress town of Alacahöyük and then the sacred Hittite Rock Sanctuary of Yazilikaya.

  B.D.

  Overnight Boğazkale.

  

• 6
  Day 6 - Hattuşa.

  We will spend the morning exploring the extensive site of Hattuşa, the Capital City of the Bronze Age Civilisation of the Hittites with this Megalithic defensive walls and many temples with complex astronomical alignments.  In the afternoon we will depart for Cappadocia.

  B.D.

  Overnight Cappadocia. 

  

• 7
  Day 7 - Ancient Underground Cities, Rock Churches and Monasteries

  We will explore the ancient underground cities and shelters of Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı, where the regions inhabitants would escape to in times of trouble. In the afternoon we will investigate the Rock Churches and Monasteries of the region including the Ihları Valley and the Selime Monastery carved out of the living rock from a cave complex originating in the 8th Century B.C.

  (Optional balloon flight across the enchanted landscape of Cappadocia. Early start!).  Please book early to avoid disappointment.

  B.D.

  Overnight Cappadocia.

  

• 8
  Day 8 - Cappadocia to Gazientep

  After a hearty breakfast we take our leave of the Fairy Chimneys and unique geological formations of Cappadocia and head for Gaziantep, an important stop on the Silk Road, where we will visit the Zeugma Mosaic Museum.

  B.D.

  Overnight Gaziantep.

  

• 9
  Day 9 - Şanlıurfa and Göbekli Tepe

  We depart Gaziantep for another important Silk Road destination, the ancient city of Urfa before continuing to visit the extraordinary Neolithic Ritual complex at Göbekli Tepe, 10,000 B.C.  From Göbekli Tepe we will visit its sister site currently undergoing excavation, Karahan Tepe. From Karahan Tepe we return to Urfa for a free evening to relax and enjoy the tranquil atmosphere of the Pools of Abraham.

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  Overnight Şanlıurfa.

  

• 10
  Day 10 - Nemrut Sanctuary: Mountain of the Gods

  After an early morning start at the amazing Archaeological Musem in Şanlıurfa, we will depart this ancient city and make our way to Adiyaman via the Ataturk Dam and onto Nemrut, Mountain of the Gods. Enroute we will visit the Karakuş Tumulus, where the women of the Kommagene Dynasty were buried.

  B.D.

  Overnight Adiyaman.

  

• 11
  Day 11 - Across the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers

  Today we will cross the Euphrates River and the northern rim of Mesopotamia, stopping at the ancient city of Diyarbakir on the River Tigris for lunch in the Ottoman Hasan Pasha Caravansaray before heading on to Tatvan on the western shore of Lake Van.

  B.D.

  Overnight Van.

  

• 12
  Day 12 - Urartu

  When we leave Tatvan we will skirt of the southern shore of Lake Van before heading to the Urartian Fortress of Çavuştepe.

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  Overnight Van.

  

• 13
  Day 13 - Van Citadel

  After a traditional Van breakfast, we will visit the Citadel of Van established in the mid 8th Century B.C. and very possibly the longest continually used Fortress in the World, having seen military action as recently as 1922.  The Citadel has stunning views of Lake Van. From the Citadel we visit the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum adjacent to the Citadel which contains artefacts from the Neolithic to Ottoman times but featuring particularly an incredible collection drawn from the Urartian period.

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  Free time in Van.

  Overnight Van.

  

• 14
  Day 14 - Departure

  Depart from Van airport.