About this trip

Best of Turkey & Bulgaria Tour

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive Istanbul

Welcome to Turkey. Arrive in Istanbul Airport ( IST ) or to Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport ( SAW ) , Our representative will meet you at the airport with your name sign and private transfer to the hotel for overnight stay in Istanbul.

Day 2: Full Day Istanbul Tour (B)

09.00 a.m. After breakfast pick up from hotel and our journey begins in Istanbul, the only city in the world situated on two continents. Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul - it's three names span more than 2600 years, nearly 1600 of them as the capital of two of the greatest empires the world has known, Byzantine and Ottoman. We visit the Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Hippodrome, where chariot races and the Byzantine riots took place. Visit the Grand Bazaar for shopping (Egyptian Spice Bazaar will be visited instead of Grand Bazaar on Sundays) . Overnight in Istanbul.

Day 3: Istanbul to Cappadocia by flight - Cappadocia Tour (B)

Early morning pick up from hotel and transfer to Istanbul airport for flight to Cappadocia . Arrival to Cappadocia. Our Tour guide will meet you at the airport and start for Cappadocia tour. First meeting with Cappadocia, visiting Three Sisters Fairy Chimneys in Urgup which are the most popular and seen on advertisements. That's why people carved some pigeon houses to keep them in certain places. You will see that the houses for the pigeons are like the houses for the people. Then we descend into the center of the earth in the Ozkonak Underground City one of the largest and the deepest of 200 others in Cappadocia. After the tour program transfer to your hotel

Day 4: Full Day Cappadocia Tour (B)

Optional Hot Air Balloon Experience. In the morning, first meeting with the lunar landscape of Cappadocia: rock formations beyond belief in Devrent valley; a journey in the past with its troglodyte houses, visit to Pasabag "fairy chimneys" where the voice of wind mixes with the "songs of fairies" near Zelve. Lunch break in Avanos, center of terra cotta work of art since 3000 BC and a demonstration in a traditional pottery workshop. Afternoon, visit the famous Goreme Open Air Museum and see the best examples of Byzantine art in Cappadocia in rock-cut churches with frescoes and paintings (10th to 13th century). Continue to Uchisar Rock-Castle to have a panoramic view of the valleys of Cappadocia. After the tour program transfer to your hotel. Stay overnight in Cappadocia.

Day 5 : Cappadocia - Konya - Pamukkale (B, D)

Early departure for Pamukkale. Arrive in Konya and visit the Mausoleum of Mevlana, the world-wide famous mystic. Drive to Pamukkale and overnight in a Thermal Hotel in Pamukkale. Swim in thermal pools till 22.30

Day 6 : Pamukkale - Kusadasi (B, D)

In the morning visit the famous white travertine cascades and the ancient Hierapolis with the Theatre, Apollo Temple and magnificent Necropolis, the graveyard. Then drive to Kusadasi and overnight.

Day 7 : Kusadasi - Ephesus - Istanbul by flight (B)

First visit the Artemis Temple where is one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World. Continue to Ephesus, Walk through history along marble streets lined with wonderful public buildings, among them The State Agora, Odeon, Memnius Monument, the Temple of Domitian, , Polio Fountain, Curetes Street, The Trajan Fountain, The Baths of Scholastica, Hadrian Temple, Latrina, Celcus Library, the gate of Mihridates and Mazues, Commercial Agora and The Grand Theater are two of the most impressive buildings in Ephesus. Grand theatre was built in 3rd century B.C and it was later expanded to 24.000 spectators by the Romans in the 1st century A.D.After Ephesus, Visit House of Virgin Mary. This house is located on the Aladag Mountains 5 miles from Ephesus. At the third Ecumenical Council of 431 in Ephesus, it was claimed that Mary came to Ephesus with St. John in 37 A.D. and lived there until her death in 48 A.D. After the discovery of the house, the Archbishop of Izmir declared it a place of pilgrimage in 1892. On July 26, 1967, Pope Paul VI visited this place and prayed here. After Ephesus tour Drive to Izmir airport for our flight back to Istanbul. Arrival to Istanbul, met by our representative and transfer to the hotel for overnight

Day 8: Istanbul - Sofia (flight not included) (B)

After breakfast check out from the hotel and private transfer to Istanbul airport for your flight to Sofia Bulgaria. Arrive at Sofia Airport. Our representative will meet you at the airport with your name sign and transfer to the hotel for overnight stay in Sofia.

Note: Istanbul- Sofia flight is not included in the package price. It can be booked as part of your international flights.

Day 9: Sofia Tour (B)

After breakfast, walking city-tour of Sofia – the capital of Bulgaria. One of the oldest cities in Europe, with more than 7,000 years of history, it was called ‘My Rome’ by the Emperor Constantine the Great. Visits to the Ruins of Serdica – Roman fortress walls, St. George Rotunda - the oldest building in Sofia, St. Sofia Church - the oldest active church which gave the city its name, St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral /1912/ - one of the largest Eastern Orthodox Cathedrals in the world, the biggest on the Balkans, the National Theatre /1907/, the Presidency and many more historic sites from ancient times alongside the modern sights of cosmopolitan city life. Free time to explore the city on your own. Overnight: Sofia

Day 10: Sofia- Rila Monastery- Plovdiv -350km (B)

After breakfast, departure to the Rila Monastery, included in the UNESCO List of World Heritage, the biggest in Bulgaria and on the Balkans, the most visited tourist site in Bulgaria. Tour of the monastery with its lavish collection of precious old icons, manuscripts etc. An inaccessible fortress from the outside, it reveals a totally different world behind its heavy gates - exquisite architecture with arches and columns, 1,200 outdoor murals, sunlit verandahs and old fountains. The monastery museum contains over 41,000 exhibits altogether. Drive further to Plovdiv – the second-largest town in Bulgaria and European cultural capital for 2019. Plovdiv is the oldest continually inhabited city in Europe, older than Rome and Athens, and contemporary to Troy and Mycenae. Existing as a settlement about 8,000 years ago, it became a town 3,000 years ago during the Trojan war. Free time to explore the longest pedestrian street in Europe – 1750m. Overnight in Plovdiv.

Day 11: Plovdiv- Kazanluk – 180km (B)

After breakfast, city-tour of the ancient Plovdiv where you will find lasting and indelible marks from the Thracians, Romans, Byzantines, Turks and Bulgarians. Walk along the Old town with its unique charm – narrow cobbled streets that admire the silence and tranquility of this historic town, elegant old buildings with painted facades /19thc./, the Roman Theatre /2ndc./, built by Emperor Trajan, the Roman Stadium /2ndc./, built by the Emperor Hadrian – one of the largest and most impressive structures from the time of the Ancient Rome on the Balkans, and the Ethnographic exhibition. Drive away for a visit of a private, family-run Rose Oil Distillery, built in 1991 and located in a beautiful rose garden, with selected rose varieties. Visit of the local Ethnographic Museum where you will see the oldest method for extracting rose oil more than 350 years ago, you will see the modern methods of extracting rose oil, you will feel the spirit of the old tradition and taste some of the delicious rose jam, rose liqueur or rose brandy. Drive further to Kazanluk – small town located in the world’s only ‘Valley of Roses’ famous also as the ‘Valley of the Thracian Kings’. Overnight in Kazanluk

Day 12 : Kazanluk- Veliko Turnovo – 150km (B)

After breakfast, city-tour of Kazanluk exploring the world famous Thracian heritage. Visits of the local History Museum where the finds from the ancient Thracian town Seuthopolis and the Thracian tombs around are exposed. The unearthed ancient gold funeral mask is as important a discovery as the treasures of Agamemnon and Tutankhamen. Visit of the ancient Kazanluk Tomb /4th -3rdc.BC/, UNESCO site. It is a masterpiece of Thracian architecture and painting, offering unique insight into the life of the ancient Thracians. Stopover for a visit of Shipka Church – erected near the town of Shipka, below the famous pass in the Balkan Range and dedicated to the liberation from Ottoman rule. The church is constructed by a Russian architect in Byzantine style in its Russian cathedral version. Drive further to Etur architectural and ethnographic complex - the unique in South-Eastern Europe open-air museum. The lifestyle and old Gabrovo crafts from 18th-19thc. have been brought back to life here. Master-craftsmen fashion beautiful gold, silver, copper, leather and wooden articles right before your eyes from early morning until late in the night. Continue to Veliko Turnovo - the symbol of the glory of the Second Bulgarian Empire and ancient medieval capital /12th–14thc/, announced recently as Cultural capital of the Balkans. Overnight in Veliko Turnovo.

Day 13: Veliko Turnovo – Sofia – 260km (B)

After breakfast, drive away for a visit of Arbanassi village. Its flourishing as a trade and craftsmen’s centre, with monumental houses and churches with rich interior decoration, wood-carving and mural paintings, was built between 16th-18thc. The Arbanassi-type houses may be characterized as dwellings-fortresses. They inspire awe with their austere appearance – high solid walls, heavy gates, iron grids and secret-hiding places. Tour of the village including visits of Konstanzliev’s house /19thc./ with museum collection and Church of Nativity /17thc./ priceless treasure-trove of Bulgarian National Revival culture. Drive back for a sightseeing tour of Veliko Turnovo – with its stone houses perched one above the other over the banks of the Yantra River. Visits to the Tzarevets Hill with ruins from the Royal Palace, the Mediaeval Fortress, the Patriarchal Cathedral and the Balduin’s Tower where the Emperor Balduin I of Constantinople died in prison. Walk along the Samovodene market - the place where skillful master-goldsmiths, potters, wood-carvers and weavers sell exquisite objects in the small restored workshops. Drive further to Sofia. Overnight in Sofia.

Day 14: Sofia (B)

After breakfast, drive away from the city to the foot of Vitosha Mountain for a visit of Boyana Church and National Museum of History. Boyana Church /UNESCO site/ - unique monument with wonderful frescoes /13thc./. Created by a Bulgarian artist, the realistic style of painting surpassed the Italian Renaissance by a century. The portraits of Sebastocrator Kaloyan and his wife Dessislava are the oldest realistic images of monumental art in Medieval Europe, created before the Italian Renaissance, before Giotto. Nearby is situated the National Museum of History – one of the largest history museums on the Balkans. The collection of 650,000 exhibits covers the history of Bulgarian lands from the Stone Age till the end of 19thc. The oldest crafted gold in the world, created by the oldest civilization in Europe, founded on the territory of Bulgaria (Varna area), the world’s famous Thracian golden and silver treasures, ceramics, bas-reliefs from Bulgarian medieval capitals, etc., make a visit worthwhile. Drive back to the city center for last minute shopping. Overnight in Sofia.

Day 15: Sofia - Departure (B)

Check-out and transfer to airport for your flight back home.

End of Services

Turkey part can be also operated in reverse itinerary (Istanbul- Ephesus- Pamukkale- Konya- Cappadocia- Istanbul) depending on hotel availabilities and other operational conditions. All sightseeing stays same.

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