Tour Duration: 10 nights Airports: Dalaman/Kayseri or Ankara. A four night extension enables you to visit Ankara and the Hittite sites

travel from Neolithic times to Early Christianity

You are met at the airport by our representative. You spend the first three nights in the Old Port area of Antalya. From here you can visit Perge, Aspendos, Termessos and other Pamphylian sites you will find in the itinerary notes.

On the fourth morning you head inland as did Alexander of Macedon and St Paul. You spend the next night in the Lakes District before continuing to Konya. This now large city winessed the the birth of the Sufi School of ‘Mevlana’ Celalledin Rumi. Only 50 km away is the earliest known large Neolithic settlement, equally mystic in its own setting. You then travel through terrain which heralds one of the most extraordinary geological features in the world; a land of volcanic tuff known over the milleniums and as ‘Cappadocia’. Bordered by the longest river in Turkey this area became a Roman out-post and home to early Christian monastery life. The eroded tuff formations which had been dug out to form underground cities over the previous millenium now become spires and dovecotes. The troglodyte interiors are covered with early frescoes and wall paintings, many of which evaded the Iconoclastic era. St Basil and St Gregory lived and wrote here. Today Cappadocia maintains its traditional lifestyle where subsistence farming survives amidst the extraordinary landscape.

The driving instructions we provide give detailed information on all the sites to visit as you travel inland. We suggest 3 nights in Antalya, 1 night at the Lakes, 2 at Konya and 4 nights in Cappadocia.

A 4 day extension enables you to visit the Hittite Kingdom and the capital Ankara, where the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations completes the tour.

However you can yourselves decide on the length of stay in the different areas, and discuss your plans with us before making decisions. Your accommodation throughout your tour is pre-booked and mainly in small hotels. We find that the friendliness and service in these ‘special accommodation’ category hotels far outdo that of the larger five star complexes. Throughout your stay you can contact us on local landline or mobile phone..