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Aegean Explorer - 7 Days

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Kicking off in the powerhouse of the Ottoman empire - Istanbul, pay your respects at Gallipoli, get lost in the impressive Roman ruins of Ephesus and Pergamum, witness the beautiful Aegean Coast and dip your toes in Pamukkale's beautiful cascading mineral pools.

Highlights

Istanbul - Old city, Istanbul, Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, Basilica Underground Cistern and Topkapi Palace
Gallipoli Peninsular - ANZAC Cove, Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair memorials, trenches and battlefields
Troy - Ancient ruins, 9 cities, one on top of the other, dating back to 3000 BC and replica Trojan horse
Stunning Aegean Coast
Roman ruins of Pergamum and Ephesus
Pamukkale - Thermal pools and Roman Hierapolis
Turkish carpet weaving and leather manufacturing houses

Age Policy

16 years with an accompanying adult

Destinations

Turkey
Europe

Tour Types

Small Group
Cultural
Singles
History

Day 1: Istanbul

Saturday. Welcome to Turkey! Arrive Istanbul and included transfer to our hotel. Spend the afternoon at leisure or head out to explore the city. This evening our tip filled welcome meeting takes place.

Location: Istanbul

Day 2: Istanbul

Istanbul. We'll start the day with an exciting tour of Istanbul's old city. We'll make a number of stops on our trip, starting with a visit to the stunning Blue Mosque famed for it’s blue Iznik tiles and unique 6 minarets, we'll continue to the ruinous Hippodrome – now a small park of sorts and once scene of chariot races and political activities in Byzantine times, we'll also discover Hagia Sofia Museum - constructed as a Basilica in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian, Topkapi Palace and the Underground Cistern – an ancient underground water tank - replete with carved and fluted Corinthian columns and a puzzling head of Medusa. Visitors walk on walkways suspended above the shallow water. It’s very cool and peaceful.

Location: Istanbul

Day 3: Canakkale

Istanbul – Gallipoli. Early this morning, we travel to the WW1 battlefields of Gallipoli. Here, we’ll embark upon a guided tour of the region, once the site of fierce fighting and today almost hauntingly beautiful, with its wooded landscape dotted with understated memorials to the war dead. Our guided tour of the region will take in sights such as ANZAC Cove, Lone Pine Australian War Memorial and cemetery, Chunuk Blair New Zealand War Memorial and cemetery, the Nek, Johnston’s Jolly and the many fortified trenches still clearly visible amongst the scrub after all these years.

Crossing the Dardenelles by ferry (offering panoramic views of the entire Gallipoli Peninsular) we proceed to our hotel for a little rest and relaxation.

Location: Canakkale

Day 4: Kusadasi

Gallipoli – Kusadasi. Heading south, we enjoy a guided tour of Homer’s Troy, famed for the Trojan wooden horse and fabled Helen. Continuing to ancient Pergamum - the cultural and political capital of its time, before continuing onto coastal Kusadasi. Make the most of the hotel facilities this evening.

Location: Kusadasi

Day 5: Ephesus

Today, we enjoy a guided tour at the legendary Roman ruins of Ephesus. Positively the best-preserved classical city in the eastern Mediterranean, and among the best places in the world to get a feel for what Roman life must have been like. Ephesus, under the Romans was a vast city with a population nearing 250,000. It became the Roman capital of Asia Minor. We’ll have plenty of time to tour the marble ruins of Ephesus. Be sure to see the famous Library of Celcus, the gymnasium of Vedius and Stadium, the great theatre and stroll the streets in the ruins of this large Roman ruined city. It’s completely fascinating. We’ll see public toilets, a brothel, fountains and various temples. Carpet weaving has long traditions in Turkey and afterward we stop to watch a demonstration of how they are made.

Location: Ephesus

Day 6: Pamukkale

Kusadasi - Pamukkale. Today, after breakfast, we drive to Pamukkale visiting the region’s famed calcium rich terraced pools. Known locally as the Cotton Castles, they are a natural phenomena and gift of Mother Nature.

Pamukkale was formed when warm, calcium rich mineral water cascaded over the cliff edge, cooling and depositing in the process. The calcium built natural shelves and pools on the cliffs, known as travertines. Today, some of the pools are closed. However, areas of the travertines can be walked upon, albeit in bare feet. We can however opt to enjoy a unique and very pleasant dip in the warm waters at the Pamukkale Thermal, with its submerged fragments of fluted marble columns in the centre of the ruined spa town of Hierapolis, which was a was a cure centre founded around 190 BC by the Romans. This evening we have some free time to relax and unwind.

Location: Pamukkale

Day 7: Istanbul

Friday. This morning we make our way to Denizli airport for our flight to Istanbul. On arrival to Istanbul Airport we bid farewell to our group and representative and catch our onward flights.

Note: Please note your internal flight is currently arriving into the new Istanbul Airport airport at approx. 08:50am. Please ensure you book an international flight departing Istanbul after 1pm, allowing for flight delays. If you are departing via Sabiha airport you will need to make arrangements between airports and we recommend booking flights after 2:30pm Alternatively, you could choose to extend your stay by purchasing an additional night's hotel accommodation.

Location: Istanbul

5 breakfasts
6 nights 4 star hotels
Economy class flight from Denizli (Pamukkale) to Istanbul
Guided sightseeing - Istanbul, Gallipoli, Troy, Ruins of Ephesus and Pergamum, Pamukkale Terraces and Hierapolis
Escorted by an English speaking, degree qualified Turkish tour guide
Airport arrival transfer on day 1
All relevant transfers and transportation in private modern air-conditioned vehicles

NB - the following are not included:

-International flights and visa
-Tip for your tour guide and driver. We recommend you allow USD$5 - 7 per day, per traveller as a tip for your guide and USD$2 per day for your driver. Tipping your guide and driver is an entirely personal gesture
-Entrance Fees: USD$85-95pp, paid in local currency

Liza Krassner 30-May-2018

Enjoyed the trip - it was intense with regards to the schedule.The guide was knowledgeable with her history and extremely flexible in dealing with changes and she gets high marks for effort for that.

Rating: 5/5

Faisal Amin 25-Apr-2017

It was my 1st experience with On the Go tours and it was fabulous tour and tour guider "Esra" got good knowledge about wherever we visited sites in turkey.I will recommend on the go tours to everyone.

Rating: 5/5

Ken Meehan 15-Aug-2016

This tour was well organised and well run. Borhan (I think that is the correct spelling) was extremely knowledgeable and very informative. Mustafah, the driver, was an excellent driver and joined in with the group when he could. His 'disco' drive-bys were hilarious. I would recommend this tour to everyone!

Rating: 5/5

Gregory Kemp 02-Jul-2016

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of Turkey. Our guide Reggie was most personable, approachable and knowledgeable. Small tour group of about 12 made for a good group who travelled well together through some spectacular historic sights. Hotels were of an excellent standard and we were most appreciative of a temporary room in Pammukkale, to have a quick shower and ready ourselves for a pick up to the Denizli International Airport . Hotels were generally within easy walking distance to the town and restaurants. We were given enough time to walk around the sights but would have liked have more time at Ephesus. We found the travel times between sights a little long, but understand this was beyond OTG's control. This would be a factor in choosing land tours in the future. All in all a great tour and we would certainly consider booking with OTG in the future. Thank you Reggie for a memorable tour of Turkey

Rating: 5/5

Susan Peatey 26-Jun-2016

Both the tour and especially our guide, Burhan, were fabulous. Burhan could not have been more organized, more supportive, more generous with his time nor more knowledgeable about every aspect of our tour. This was our first with On The Go and it won't be our last .

Rating: 4/5

Palesa Dikgale 19-Dec-2015

I must say I was not looking forward to this trip because I was travelling alone but our Tour Guide and the group I met made it a pleasant one. I really enjoyed my stay in Turkey and the tour itself from beginning to end. I will definitely be doing another tour with on the go in the near future. By the way Burchan is THE best tour guide..

Rating: 5/5

Sharna Burgess 29-Sep-2015

Recep is so helpful, passionate and educational. The best tour leader I have ever had!

Rating: 5/5

Mark and Andrea Folkard 26-Sep-2015

Tour was excellent absolutely fantastic we will definitely visit Turkey again. We particularly want to vote for our amazing tour guide Recep Aydin. His knowledge was brilliant, his attention to detail and care for his group was appreciated and respected. He is a really nice person and he deserves to win tour guide of the year for Turkey. We wish him the best of luck for the future.

Rating: 4/5

Rosemary Morison 25-Sep-2015

Recap was very knowledgeable about the places we visited. Everything was well organized and worked like clockwork. He was friendly and always willing to assist all the travellers. I greatly enjoyed the tour. He is the best tour guide I have ever encountered.

Rating: 5/5

Nicole Long 01-Jun-2015

This was an amazing trip and everything was great. This was my first group tour trip as a single traveler and I am already starting to think about my next trip later this year because it was so fun and learned so much about turkey largely thanks to my tour guide. This trip was very important to me and it 100 percent exceeded my expectation. Thank you so much!!!

Rating: 5/5

Michael Clements 16-Jan-2015

Did everything it said it would, good pace, nice accommodation and coach with wifi etc. Group was more mature than expected. Saw enough of sights of Turkey but missed out on Capaodcia (I realise this is available on the 10 day Turkey tour!) Overnight bus back was a strange way to end tour, would have preferred coach/private transfer as previously.

Rating: 4/5

Vicki Demel 04-Dec-2014

The tour was fantastic! I really enjoyed meeting the other travelers and we saw some amazing sights. Our guide was very informative.

Rating: 5/5

Maree Van Dyk 19-Nov-2014

I spoke to my client and they have traveled quit a lot over the years. This was the best trip by far for them. Everything was exciting the tour guide was amazing and very informative. They enjoyed every second of the trip. They will recommend ON THE GO to all their friends and family.

Rating: 5/5

Gary De Sa' 29-Oct-2014

Sedat was absolutely amazing. He was well informed on everything that he told us about the areas we covered. He was very accommodating for bathroom breaks and making sure we were not on the bus for too long periods of time. He made it feel as if we were a group of friends travelling versus random people from all walks of life listening to a man that is just doing this for his pay. It was a pleasure meeting Sedat and doing the Aegean Explorer tour with him. One of my best parts is even the use of words he used when wanting to take photographs. He would say "Is everyone ok to take our FAMILY photo in this area" The personal touch by using one word made all the difference. I wish Sedat the very best with his career and I truly believe he should be in the running for top tour award. You are a great person...its crazy! can you believe it? (He would know what is meant by these)

Rating: 5/5

Dennis Fearnley 13-Oct-2014

We enjoyed the tour very much, found all the places visited of interest and well explained by our guide. The visit to Galipoli was a worthwhile experience, and had extra significance due to the centinary in 2015. We found the Turkish memorial worth a visit, and well frequented by many Turkish people. The guide had a wealth of information about all places visited, provided appropriate level of information, but could always add more when asked specific questions.

Rating: 4/5

David Pretorius 24-Sep-2014

The tour was great but a little bit hectic - really on the go every day. The hotels were good, except for Hotel Alisha. It was atrocious, filthy and dirty and one couldn't eat the food, it was that bad. Kamel was a great tour guide and I would really recommend him for any tour.

Rating: 4/5

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Dates	Availability
27-Mar-2021 for 6 Nights	99	Visit Website
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Touring with On The Go Tours

From a first foray into Egypt in 1998, On The Go Tours have expanded their operations to more than 60 countries, offering award-winning small group tours to destinations around the world. Their Middle East and North Africa portfolio now includes Jordan, Israel and Morocco, whilst other regions include Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Indian Subcontinent. From Machu Picchu in Peru to the extravagant Taj Mahal in India, On The Go Tours get you to the main sights of whichever destination you choose to visit. There’s also a range of special festival tours, Christmas and New Year adventures and much more, from overland adventures to luxury cruises. They always uncover some hidden gems too, be it canoeing to a local home for lunch in Sri Lanka or riding a rickshaw around the maze of Hutongs in Beijing, China.

With three different ranges of trips to choose from, there’s sure to be something for everyone. Signature tours are everything that makes On The Go Tours special, with local tour guides, small groups and a great quality of accommodation. Essentials tours keep the costs down whilst still delivering true adventure, with a mixture of public transport in Japan and overland trucks in Central Asia, Africa and Latin America. Whilst on their Handpicked tours, On The Go Tours work with local partners to deliver authentic experiences in amazing destinations, from Iceland to the Galapagos archipelago.

Sustainability and environmental awareness are also at the heart of On The Go Tours’ operations. Whether it’s planting trees in Cambodia, donating stationary to a school in India or funding the conservation of endangered Bengal tigers, protecting the regions they visit is at the forefront of the way they do business. Signature tours with On The Go Tours also make use of locally-run hotels and eateries wherever possible, and tour guides are mostly English-speaking locals. Overall, around 70% of travellers holiday funds remain in the destination visited.

This tour is operated by On The Go Tours

6 nights from pp exc.flights; per Night Visit website Award-winning small group tours to destinations around the world.

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