Treasures of Turkey
From Istanbul to the Turquoise Coast, by land and by sea.
This fifteen-day journey traces Turkey at its most complete: the skyline and bazaars of Istanbul, the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia, the marble streets of Ephesus, and the coves of the Turquoise Coast explored from the deck of a traditional wooden gulet. It is paced to let each place breathe, guided throughout by licensed local experts.
You travel with an English-speaking licensed guide, private air-conditioned transport, boutique and cave hotels ashore, and five nights aboard a crewed gulet with a private chef.
Istanbul, both halves of it
The Hippodrome, Hagia Sophia, the Grand Bazaar and a private evening on the Bosphorus, in a city that has been the capital of three empires.
Five nights under sail
Unpack once. A teakwood gulet with her own captain and cook, and coves along the Turquoise Coast that can be reached no other way.
Ephesus, read properly
The Terrace Houses and what is left of the Temple of Artemis, with a licensed guide who can tell you which stone belongs to which century.
The Mediterranean table
Meze, bread out of the oven, and fish you pick yourself at the Fethiye market, cooked around whatever you do and do not eat.
Cappadocia, and the balloons if you want them
The underground city of Derinkuyu, a valley of fairy chimneys on foot, and the frescoed rock churches at Goreme.
Ordinary Turkish life
Herb tea with yoruk herders on the hill above Lydae, lunch in a village house, a rug coming off the loom in front of you.
The 15-day itinerary
Day 1 Arrive in Istanbul Istanbul
Arrive at your leisure, or arrange a private airport transfer. Settle into your hotel and join the group in the afternoon for a welcome briefing, then dinner at a nearby restaurant.
Day 2 Hippodrome and Blue Mosque Istanbul
The Byzantine Hippodrome, the six-minaret Blue Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar, with fish sandwiches by the water and the Spice Market in the afternoon. Close the day with a private Bosphorus cruise.
Day 3 Topkapi Palace and Hagia Sophia Istanbul
Ottoman grandeur at Topkapi Palace, the Byzantine marvel of Hagia Sophia, and the underground Basilica Cistern. In the evening, seafood and meze at a lively meyhane.
Day 4 Fly to Izmir, on to Kusadasi Kusadasi
A short morning flight to Izmir, then the hillside village of Sirince for lunch and fruit-wine tastings. Reach Kusadasi for sunset over the Aegean.
Day 5 Kusadasi and Ephesus Kusadasi
The Greco-Roman city of Ephesus, including the Terrace Houses and the Temple of Artemis, with insight into its religious history and early Christian communities.
Day 6 To Marmaris and board the gulet Gulet
Scenic coastal roads to Marmaris, pausing at ancient Didyma and the Temple of Apollo. Meet your captain and crew, settle aboard, and set sail for Ekincik Cove.
Day 7 Aboard: Ekincik, the Dalyan delta and Kaunos Gulet
A morning under sail brings us into Ekincik Cove, one of the last shores where loggerhead turtles still come up to lay. There is time to swim and a long lunch on deck before a shallow local boat carries us into the reed channels of the Dalyan delta, under the Carian rock tombs cut high into the cliff face, to the harbour city of Kaunos: Greek temples, Roman baths and a Byzantine church inside one enclosure, with herons and kingfishers working the water all around it. An afternoon walk back through pine forest and olive groves returns us to the gulet, and we stay the night at anchor.
Day 8 Aboard: Aga Limani, Lydae and the sunken bath Gulet
We cross to Aga Limani, the harbour of nets, and climb the peninsula to Lydae, an unexcavated Lycian settlement that can still only be reached from the sea. Its only inhabitants now are yoruk herders, and if they are camped nearby there is usually tea brewed from the hillside herbs before we walk on to what is left of a temple to Apollo. The gulet comes round the headland to collect us. In the afternoon, the half-submerged pool the boatmen call Cleopatra's bath, then a quiet cove for the night.
Day 9 Aboard: Gemile Island and the Oludeniz shore Gulet
Breakfast, an early swim, and a short passage to Gemile Island, where a fourth-century monastery falls down the hillside to the water in ruined terraces. We walk up through its chapels and tombs, then sail along the shore by the lagoon at Oludeniz. The afternoon is for swimming, snorkelling or doing nothing whatever. We watch the sun go down over the gulf and stay the night in the lee of the island.
Day 10 Aboard: Kayakoy and the Fethiye fish market Gulet
Ashore for Kayakoy, the village of some three thousand Anatolian Greeks that has stood empty since the 1920s: hundreds of roofless stone houses on a hillside, two churches, a school. A walking path drops from there through the flora of the riviera to Soguksu Cove, where the gulet is waiting. In the late afternoon we come into Fethiye harbour and walk the fish and produce market, where the day's catch is chosen for the farewell dinner.
Day 11 Disembark in Fethiye, on to Antalya Antalya
Goodbye to the captain and the crew after breakfast. The road east follows the Lycian coast to Antalya, with a stop at Termessos in Gulluk Dagi National Park: a third-century fortress city on a mountainside, its theatre cut into the slope above the pine forest. We reach the old town of Antalya in the late afternoon and eat where the town eats.
Day 12 Aspendos and the Koprulu canyon Antalya
Aspendos holds one of the best preserved Roman theatres anywhere, and it is still used for performances rather than kept behind a rope. From there the road climbs into Koprulu Canyon National Park, past rivers, waterfalls and the karst pillars the guides call the devil's rocks. Dinner tonight is your own, and your guide will point you at the places worth walking to.
Day 13 Over the Taurus to Cappadocia, by way of Konya Cappadocia
North through the Taurus mountains, with a pause in Konya at the Mevlana museum, where Rumi is buried and the Mevlevi order kept its house. Cappadocia comes into view in the late afternoon, and the night is spent in a cave hotel. Dinner is Anatolian and cooked nearby.
Day 14 Derinkuyu, the Goreme frescoes and a loom Cappadocia
Anyone who wants the balloons is up before dawn for them. Later, the underground city of Derinkuyu, cut level upon level into the rock and lived in for centuries; then a walk through a valley of fairy chimneys and cave dwellings; then the Goreme Open-Air Museum, whose rock-cut churches keep frescoes a thousand years old. The day closes at a weaving cooperative, watching a rug being made by hand.
Day 15 Fly back to Istanbul
After breakfast, a transfer to Kayseri or Nevsehir for the flight to Istanbul, where the journey ends. If you would rather not stop there, we are glad to arrange onward nights in the city or a private extension built around what you have just seen.
What is included
- Nine nights in boutique and cave hotels, five nights aboard a crewed teakwood gulet
- Fourteen breakfasts, thirteen lunches and thirteen dinners, with bottled water
- Soft drinks throughout the cruise, plus two glasses of local wine or two local beers per person each day on board
- Two domestic flights in economy: Istanbul to Izmir, and Cappadocia to Istanbul
- An English-speaking licensed local guide for the whole journey
- Private air-conditioned transport with a professional driver, fuel included
- All entrance fees, admissions, parking, baggage handling and harbour embarkation
- Tips at the hotel and restaurant meals that are included
- Taxes, including VAT and the two per cent accommodation tax
Not included
- International airfares, airport taxes and fuel surcharges
- Alcoholic drinks beyond the daily allowance on board
- A Turkish visa where your passport requires one, obtainable at evisa.gov.tr
- Gratuities for the guide, the driver and the gulet crew
- Personal expenses such as laundry, telephone calls and the minibar
- Travel and health insurance
I had an absolutely positive experience in Turkey booking a custom trip with Runner Tourism. Mert organized an excellent itinerary for our group of six friends which included the highlights in Istanbul, Ephesus and Cappadocia. Mert and Mehmet were extremely knowledgeable, helpful and delightful as our guides.
Jane Arhart California, USA
What travellers usually ask
What is the group size?
Private journeys are your party only. The set departure is capped at fourteen and usually runs closer to eight.
Do you arrange flights?
Domestic flights inside the itinerary, yes. International flights we leave to you, because you will almost always find a better fare from your own city than we can.
Shape this journey around you
Travel the route as it stands, or make it private on your own dates. Add days, change the pace, combine it with the Greek islands. Tell us what you have in mind.