tours beyond Turkey - mainland Greece and Aegean Turkey

day 1 - Athens --- Welcome get together. Dinner follows briefing & tour introduction.

day 2 - Athens --- Stronghold of the people of Attica, Athens and the harbor city of Piraeus. Through our day in Athens, you will explore the Museum of Archeology, renowned Acropolis, vivid square Syntagma and Ommonia, and the never sleeping district of Plaka...

day 3 - Athens - Delphi --- A scenic drive thru the mountain range of Attica. As we arrive in Delphi we will have free time before dinner to explore the town.

day 4 - Delphi - Meteora --- Ancient Delphi was one the two major oracle centers of the known world. One way or another the name of this city is related to almost all major settlements on both banks of the Aegean. An outstanding view, and a unique location. The museum has distinguished archeological finds.

day 5 - Meteora --- Massive rocks pointing towards the sky, on top of each, a beautiful Orthodox monastery is located! Unique landscape!

day 6 - Meteora - Thessaloniki --- The day will be crowned by a visit to Vergina, the burial site of Phillip, father of Alexander The Great. Unique architecture, and a well thought project to preserve and display the site. Thessaloniki is a coastal town of the southern Balkans. Here we visit the citadel, Ottoman castle, Jewish neighborhood, Aya Yorgi Cathedral, and the Archeological Museum.

day 7 - Thessaloniki - Canakkale --- Today we drive to Greek - Turkish border via Kavala, a charming fishermen's town of northern Aegean, ending the day in Canakkale. En route we visit the WW1 memorials on the Gallipoli peninsula.

day 8 - Canakkale - Pergamon --- The day starts with Troy, the legendary city in Homer's epic, the Iliad. Later in the day we drive to Pergamon. The ruins of the spectacular Acropolis is 1,000 feet above the contemporary town of Bergama and command an extraordinary view in nearly all directions. We will also visit Aesclepion, the ancient medical center.

day 9 - Pergamon - Ephesus --- Izmir is the major metropolitan of Turkey on the Aegean. After a brief orientation we will visit the local museum of archeology, ancient Agora and the Medieval castle overlooking the city. On our way to Kusadasi, we'll visit ancient Metropolis which is one of the best preserved Hellenistic cities in Anatolia.

day 10 - Ephesus - Istanbul --- Today we'll explore the ancient site of Ephesus. Recently some of the terrace houses that belonged to the wealthy families of Roman Ephesus were restored and are now open to public visit. Our next stop will be the museum of archeology in Selcuk. Excursion to nearby Sirince village will conclude the day. We take the late afternoon flight to Istanbul.

day 11 & 12 - Istanbul --- Two full days of sightseeing; tour includes Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, cruise on the Bosphorus, Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market.

day 13 --- Tour is over after breakfast.

Individual pre- & post- tour extensions are available to alternative destinations in Greece and/or in Turkey

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