DAY 01: SATURDAY / ARRIVE ISTANBUL
Meet and greet. A short orientation tour. Then transfer to the hotel for a welcome briefing. Evening is free. Overnight in Istanbul.
DAY 02: SUNDAY / ISTANBUL
Discover the Byzantine and Ottoman treasures of Istanbul. Visit the Royal TOPKAPI PALACE, home of the Ottoman Sultans, the BLUE MOSQUE, unique with six minarets, the Roman HIPPODROME SQUARE and the ST.SOPHIA CHURCH which is considered one of the world's greatest architectural marvels. Return to the hotel. Evening at leisure. (Breakfast)
DAY 03: MONDAY / ISTANBUL - TROY - CANAKKALE
Drive to GALLIPOLI, through the European lands of Turkey. Cross the Dardanelles Strait by ferryboat. Visit ancient TROY; see its legendary walls and the replica of the wooden horse. Dinner and overnight in Canakkale. (Breakfast & Dinner)
DAY 04: TUESDAY / PERGAMON - IZMIR
Drive to Bergama. Visit the ACROPOLIS, the steepest theater of the ancient world, the Temple of Trojan, Library. Lunch at a local restaurant. Then visit ASCLEPION, the ancient healing center and the RED BASILICA which is one of the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse. Evening at leisure. Overnight in Izmir. (Breakfast & Lunch)
DAY 05: WEDNESDAY / EPHESUS - IZMIR
Leave for EPHESUS, cradle of early Christianity. Visit the HOUSE OF THE VIRGIN MARY, the ancient Ephesus, the ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM and the TEMPLE OF DIANA which is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Return to Izmir. Evening at leisure. Overnight in Izmir. (Breakfast & Lunch)
DAY 06: THURSDAY / SARDES - PAMUKKALE
Drive to SARDES capital of ancient Lydia. Visit the Temple of Cybele which later became a church, the famous SYNAGOGUE from the third century, the Gymnasium and the new excavation area. See the Golden River Pactalos. Lunch en route. Proceed to Pamukkale for dinner and overnight. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
DAY 07:Â FRIDAY / HIERAPOLIS - APHRODISIAS - ANTALYAÂ 
Morning tour of PAMUKKALE, noted ancient spa, where pure white travertine's forms frozen waterfalls. Observation of carpet weaving at one of the local workshops. Drive to APHRODISIAS, the city of the Goddess of Love; see the well preserved stadium, the Odeon, the theater and the agora. Continue to Antalya for dinner and overnight. (Breakfast & Dinner)
DAY 08: SATURDAY / ANTALYA
Full day excursion to the ancient Pamphylian, Hellenistic and Roman cities of PERGE and ASPENDOS and to the award winning ANTALYA ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM. Dinner and overnight. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
DAY 09: SUNDAY / ANTALYA - KONYA - CAPPADOCIA
Early departure to KONYA. Visit the Mevlana Museum, 13th century Whirling Dervish Monastery. After lunch continues to CAPPADOCIA where nature has scoured surrealistic moonscape shapes and where the persecuted Christians dug underground cities and churches during the 9th century. Dinner and overnight in Cappadocia. Tonight, an OPTIONAL Folk and Belly Dance Show at one of the cave restaurants in Cappadocia. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
DAY 10: MONDAY / CAPPADOCIA
Full day Cappadocia visit, including Goreme Open Air Museum, Avanos the pottery making town, the natural citadel of Uchisar and the underground city of Kaymakli. Dinner and overnight in Cappadocia. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
DAY 11: TUESDAY / CAPPADOCIA - ANKARA
Morning sightseeing in Cappadocia. After lunch, visit the Agzikarahan Caravanserai from the Selcuk period. Drive to Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, via Salt Lake. Evening at leisure. Overnight in ANKARA. (Breakfast & Lunch)
DAY 12: WEDNESDAY / ANKARA - BURSA
Visit the ANATOLIAN CIVILIZATION MUSEUM and the MAUSOLEUM of Kemal Ataturk in Ankara. Drive to BURSA. Dinner and overnight. (Breakfast & Dinner)
DAY 13: THURSDAY / BURSA - ISTANBUL
Visit the Green Mosque, the Green Tomb and Bursas colorful Silk Bazaar. Drive to Istanbul. Rest of the day is free at leisure. Overnight in Istanbul. (Breakfast)
DAY 14: FRIDAY / ISTANBUL - END OF THE TOUR
Escorted transfer to Istanbul airport for flight back. End of our services. (Breakfast |
Tour Rate Includes: -Â Â Â Â - 13 nights hotel accommodation at mentioned hotels (or similar),
- All transfers,
- Daily breakfast,
- 7 lunches, 7 dinners,
- Transportation by A/C bus or A/C van depending on size of group,
- English speaking professional tour guide throughout,
- Entry fees to sites and museums mentioned in the program,
- Portage at hotels,
- Tips to hotel and restaurant staff,
- Service charges & local taxes
Tour Rate Excludes; |
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
On our price lists you will find regular tour rates. The main difference between private and SIC tours is that there might be some other participants as well in a regular tour whereas private tours are made without any others rather than the clients who have booked it. Though private tours are relatively more expensive they are more convenient for the people who are keen on their privacy.
For the private tour rates pls. contact us.
All the tour rates include guidance in English, air-conditioned transportation, admission fees and taxes
The included meals are identified by letter codes in the tour descriptions as shown below : -
(B) = Breakfast    (L)= Lunch           (D)= Dinner
All the minimum 2 day tour rates include accommodation at the designated hotels on the specified basis. On our tours, no breakfast on the first day and no dinner on the last day are served unless otherwise noted.
At regular tours the latest pick up time on the tour commencement day is 10h00 and the earliest drop-off time is 17h30.
25 % discount is made for children between 03-10 years old while 00-02 years old ones are free. (It applies if the children share the same room with their parents for the accommodation portion. No child discount for the independently booked rooms for the children)
Smoking is strictly prohibited in the tour vehicles.
On some certain periods like New Year's Eve, Religious and National Festivals, Conventions, International Competitions, Special Anniversaries, etc. almost all the hotels apply surcharge. The same surcharged amount will be added on to our rates and you will be informed about these along with our confirmation message.
Though our guides show the utmost care to follow the itineraries in the same sequence there might be alterations in the sequence of the visits to the scheduled sites and no refund can be demanded for that reason unless any sites or museums are missed.
Timings given for the daily tours are approximate ones and they are all subject to change. Pick-up times may vary depending on the number of the participants and hotel locations.
Airport Transfer Problems:
Due to the delays emerging from lost luggage problems at the planes or passport problems at the customs Stic holidays cannot be held responsible and the guests can be waited up to maximum 30 minutes on the regular tours if some other participants are already awaiting in the tour vehicle. However, if there are no other participants waiting or it is a private tour then our team will do their best to assist the problem to be settled.
Those who have lost luggage problems sometimes do not get through the customs and inform our staff promptly about the case by just waiting inside for quite a while. This could make our staff think that our guests were not at the plane as all the other passengers of the same plane were already out. Therefore we kindly ask our guests to go out of the customs and inform our staff that they are still awaiting inside before inquiring the issue as otherwise our staff can leave the terminal after having waited 30 minutes further to the leave of the last passenger of the same plane and no refund is given on such a case.
While our team is already waiting at the airport, some guests may have difficulties in spotting them on arrival to the airports due to the extreme crowd despite their names are written on the boards that are held by our staff and also due to the early landings of the planes. If the guests take a taxi to their hotel without extensively looking for our staff and calling our office promptly no refund will be given in case our staff is still at the airport. Similarly, all the guests who arrive at the airport earlier than the scheduled time are supposed to contact our office as our staff arrives to the airport 15 minutes ago prior to the scheduled landing time of the planes. For the delayed flights our staff can wait up to maximum 2 hours. For further delays our guests are expected to take a taxi to their hotel without any refund from our side. However, if the delays are advised to us in advance then there is no problem at all as our transfer service will be amended accordingly.
Guaranteed departures are valid in case the guests join the tour on the very first day of the tour. Demands for joining to these tours at a different stage and location are needed to be confirmed by us since a private rate will be applied if there become no other participants on these tours. Additionally, further to our confirmation, if the already available participants cancel the tour and consequently no more people join the regular tour then Stic Holidays keeps the right to cancel the arrangements for the clients who will join the tour at a different stage rather than the original commencement date or to charge on private basis.
All our regular tours are carried out with minimum 2 participants. For only one traveler no guarantee is given and this should be inquired in advance. Even if payment is made for total 2 persons in lieu of 1 single person this is not acceptable.
If the services are not cancelled prior to 48 hours ago prior to the commencement date full invoice amount will be charged. Some hotels may also charge cancellation fee for the bookings canceled within the last 30 days prior to the check-in date. If such a remark is noted on our confirmation sheet this hotel fee will also be charged in full. |
