Compare Istanbul & Cappadocia by Heritage Tours Private Travel

Day 1

Accommodation: Park Hyatt - Maçka Palas – park king room.

Arrival at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport, where you will be welcomed by your expert guide, private driver and vehicle and escorted to your hotel.

The very name of Istanbul conjures up images of a majestic skyline of slender minarets, domed mosques and sultans’ palaces that crown the hilltops of this majestic city. It calls to mind a city of intrigue and beauty at the terminus of the Orient Express, and as the place where two continents meet. Once-great, long-vanquished empires and twenty-seven centuries of history are embodied in this great city known at various times as Byzantium, Constantinople and Istanbul – names that recall the fabled wealth, magnificent art and compelling history of this incredible city. Istanbul’s great glory lies in its past, yet thrives on a vibrancy and energy very much rooted in the present.

Check in at the Park Hyatt Istanbul - Maçka Palas, in the fashionable Nisantasi district, known for its great shopping. The hotel is housed in an historic Art Deco building that features sleek, modern interiors. It is only steps away from Nisantasi’s chic boutiques and restaurants.

You will be staying in park king room. Rest and refresh at your hotel.

When you are ready, embark on a half-day of the historic center of Istanbul with your expert guide, private driver and vehicle.

Begin at Topkapi Palace, the legendary home of the Ottoman Sultans, and now one of the finest museums in Turkey. Your visit includes the once secret harems where the sultan’s many concubines were kept.

Enjoy a visit to the famous Spice Bazaar. This colorful, covered bazaar has shops selling all sorts of exotic goodies.

Istanbul has many excellent restaurants. We will send you a list of our favorites and will be happy to make reservations on your behalf.

Day 2

Accommodation: Park Hyatt - Maçka Palas – park king room.

Breakfast at your hotel.

This morning, your expert guide, private driver and vehicle will meet you at your hotel for a full-day tour of historic Sultanahmet.

Your day begins at the magnificent Hagia Sophia. Built at the command of the Emperor Justinian during the Golden Age of Byzantium, Hagia Sophia was the greatest church in Christendom for centuries. Visit the restored second floor to see the spectacular Byzantine mosaics up close.

Continue on to the Blue Mosque - one of the major monuments of Old Istanbul – with six minarets and its famous turquoise tiles.

Near the Blue Mosque is the small but rich Museum of Mosaics, many of which date from the 6th century.

Stroll through the Hippodrome - the center of Byzantine civic life for 1000 years. Over that time, it was home to coronations, Roman chariot races and more than one royal execution.

Explore the mysterious and surreal 6th century cistern under the streets of ancient Constantinople. Supported by over 300 Corinthian Columns and still filled with water, it is so extensive that transport was once small boats.

Your afternoon concludes in the largest covered marketplace in the world - the Grand Bazaar in the heart of old Istanbul, boasting more than 3,000 shops.

Day 3

Accommodation: Park Hyatt - Maçka Palas – park king room.

Breakfast at your hotel.

Enjoy a full-day tour with your expert guide, private driver and vehicle.

This morning you will have the very special opportunity to meet with one of Turkey’s most prominent and distinguished jewelry designers. Don’t miss the private showcase, which includes some of the world’s most profound and unique creations. The Byzantine influence found in the designs will take you back to this lost era.

This afternoon, drive across the first suspension bridge over the Bosphorus to the often overlooked Asian side of the city.

Visit the Beylerbeyi Palace, built by Sultan Abdulmecid on the site of another wooden mansion. The decorations on the seaside façade, the well-kept gardens, the hall with a pool in the central section and the spiral staircase are some of the eye-catching features of the palace.

Continue at the Sakirin Mosque. It is the first mosque in all of Islamic history whose interior was designed by a female.

Discover Kadikoy, a populous cosmopolitan district that is the cultural center of the Asian side of Istanbul.

Late this afternoon, enjoy a private cruise up the Bosphorus. Enjoy a leisurely exploration of this historic waterway between Europe and Asia (two hour cruise).

If you like, the cruise can conclude at the quay of one of the fine seaside restaurants where you can enjoy a relaxing dinner.

Overnight: Park Hyatt - Maçka Palas – park king room.

Day 4

Accommodation: Museum Hotel – deluxe room

Breakfast at your hotel.

This morning, you will be met at your hotel in Istanbul and escorted to the airport for your flight to Nevsehir.

Upon your arrival, you will be met by your expert guide, private driver and vehicle, and will begin exploring the surreal lunar landscapes of Cappadocia.

The so-called fairy chimneys and troglodyte dwellings leave an unforgettable impression upon visitors, no matter the season.

Intermingled in this photogenic world are a large number of monastic cave churches, some dating back to the 3rd century, with frescoes that are often intact. Some are well preserved and well-guarded. Others seem as if you are the first to enter them.

Begin your visit in Goreme Valley, an open-air museum comprised of dozens of early Christian chapels and churches carved from the soft stone and covered with millennium-old frescoes.

Visit the restored “Dark Church” at Goreme – just opened to the public after years of painstaking restoration of the frescoes.

See the natural citadel of Uçhisar, strategically cut into an entire mountainside, with a 60-foot, rock-carved Byzantine fortress on top. Continue to the town of Avanos, set on the banks of the Kizilirmak (also known as the Red River) the longest river in Turkey. The abundance of red clay found within the river gives the region’s renowned pottery its color. Check in at the Museum Hotel in Uchisar. This refined boutique hotel is built in the cave style of the region and is filled with art and a fabulous collection of antiques.

You will be staying in a deluxe room. Overnight: Museum Hotel – deluxe room.

Day 5

Accommodation: Museum Hotel – deluxe room

Breakfast at your hotel.

If you’d like, we would be pleased to make a morning reservation for a one-hour hot air balloon ride.

Enjoy a full-day tour with your expert guide, private driver and vehicle.

Begin your day at Sinasos, Mustapha Pasha in Turkish. The village’s Greek inhabitants left during the population exchange in 1923, but the village remains well-preserved.

From there, visit the village of Soganli, so quiet and undisturbed it’s as if the village has been frozen in time.

Depart for the vast underground city of Kaymakli, a virtual city buried beneath the surface of the earth designed to shelter and protect up to 15,000 civilians against the Arab raids of the 7th century.

Continue to Pasabag Valley, containing some of the region’s most striking fairy chimneys. Here you will see a chapel dedicated to St. Simeon and a hermit’s shelter built into one of the three-headed fairy chimneys.

This evening, enjoy a Mevlana performance of Whirling Dervishes at a 13th century caravanserai outside of Avanos. Round-trip transport is included.

Day 6

Accommodation: Museum Hotel – deluxe room

Breakfast at your hotel.

Enjoy a full-day tour with your expert guide, private driver and vehicle. Begin your day at the untouched site of the Eskigumus Monastery in Nigde.

Journey across the fertile plains to the beautiful sheer-sided canyon of Ihlara. Take a stroll through the valley to see the many rock-carved churches, before visiting the tiny villages of Belisyrma and Selimiye.

This afternoon experience Cappadocia on horseback! Enjoy a guided trail ride while you get an up close look at this region’s very special terrain.

Day 7

Breakfast at your hotel.

This morning, you will be met at your hotel by your private driver and vehicle and escorted to Nevsehir’s airport, where you will board your flight to Istanbul.

Upon your arrival in Istanbul, you will connect to your departing international flight.

Bon voyage!