CAPPADOCIA, EPHESUS AND PAMUKKALE TOUR FROM ISTANBUL

ATTENTION:  
This package tour is available starting everyday of the year.
We organize these tours in cooperation with other non-gay tour operators. Remember that  there is no such a big potential for such gay exclusive tours that will be organized everyday in Turkey. Consequently, it is just a coincidence if there will be other gay or lesbian clients at the same time you reserve this tour. The other clients who join these tours are mainly American or European  tourists. Also note that we are a disclosed gay company, and we only cooperate with real gay friendly companies, tour operators, guides and hotels.
 

DAY 1 : ISTANBUL – CAPPADOCIA

This tour package will start with an overnight bus ride to Cappadocia by luxury, air-conditioned coach. Bus ride is especially recommended for people who also want to see the great land panorama of Turkey on the way. Besides this will save you from the cost of 1 night hotel accommodation. Tour buses have Pullman seats and you can sleep comfortably. There will be several stop-over points at some highway cafe-restaurants during the journey for those who like to eat or drink a cup of coffee

Departure at around 19.30 o'clock from a point near our office in Sultanahmet
The departure time may change slightly depending on season but you will be informed of exact departure time after you make your reservation.
 

DAY 2 : CAPPADOCIA

 

Cappadocia balloon flights make you feel like flying over the moon

Your bus will arrive to Cappadocia next day early in the morning.
You will be transferred to your hotel. After you settle up at your hotel and rest a little you will be picked up from your hotel for the below tour:
Full day Northern Cappadocia tour including transfers, guide and entrance fee. This tour will cover the most famous parts of the region such as Goreme Open Air Museum, Zelve, Urgup and Dervent Valley.
Lunch will be served during the tour in a nice Turkish Restaurant.
Transfer back to hotel.
Dinner at your hotel included.
Hotel accommodation in Cappadocia. Private rooms with air condition and bath/WC. Possible hotels are Dedeli Cave or Hisarevi hotels in Urgup. If they are not available similar quality and location hotels will be reserved.


 

DAY 3 : CAPPADOCIA – EPHESUS

One day is never enough to see the wonders of the vast Cappadocia region. You have so many things more to see on your second day that will keep your eyes wide open with amazement.

The second day's itinerary will be like this:

Breakfast in your hotel included
Full day Southern Cappadocia Tour including transfers, entrance fees, guide
This tour will cover Underground city of Derinkuyu or Kaymakli, wonderful Ihlara Valley as well as a caravanserai of Seljuk period, which is the great Turkish Empire before Ottomans.
Lunch included in a typical Turkish Restaurant during the day tour.
Transfer to bus station
Overnight bus to Kusadasi or Selcuk. (Non-smoking new model long distance coaches with air-condition and Pullman seats suitable for sleeping)


 

DAY 4 : EPHESUS

Get ready to visit the city which held one of the seven wonders of ancient times.
Today's program will be as below:.

Arrival to Kusadasi or Selcuk early in the morning and check in to your hotel You will have enough time to settle up and rest before the tour.
Breakfast at Hotel
Full day tour of Ephesus and House of Virgin Mary, including transfers, entrance fees, guide.
Lunch during the tour is included.
Where you visit:
Ephesus - Enter through the Magnesia Gate and begin a slow, downhill walk with your guide into the ruins of this Roman provincial capital. Your route takes you past the Odeum, the Celsus Library, the Temple of Hadrian, the Fountain of Trajan and the Great Theater. The Theater had seating for 25,000, was the site where St. Paul preached to the Ephesians, and is used today for a local spring festival.
House of the Virgin Mary - The Vatican has recognized this small house in the Solmissos Mountains as the final resting place of the Virgin Mary. A small shrine dedicated to St. Mary was found when the ruins of the house were first discovered.
 

Besides being a popular summer resort, Kusadasi is also a major base for visiting many neighborhood ancient sights.

What you see along the way: From Kusadasi, you travel north to St. John’s Basilica, passing the Byzantine fortress at Selcuk and the ruins of the Temple of Artemis. Continue to Ephesus Open Museum then up to the House of Virgin Mary located in Bulbul Mountain. After the visit head for the upper gate of Ephesus. By the end of touring Ephesus, return to Kusadasi.
Special notes: Ephesus requires walking long distances over uneven surfaces

Transfer back to hotel after the tour.
Dinner at your hotel included.
Hotel accommodation in Kusadasi (or Selcuk). Private rooms with air condition and bath/WC. Possible hotels are Atinc Hotel or Polat Beach Hotel in Kusadasi, Cenka Hotel in Selcuk. If they are not available similar quality and location hotels will be reserved. Hotel Upgrade is possible upon request.


 

DAY 5 : PAMUKKALE - ISTANBUL

 

Hot spring pools of Pamukkale are created by nature in thousands of years

This package will not be complete without Pamukkale; another amazing point of interest within Turkey

Breakfast at hotel included
Pamukkale & Hierapolis tour including transfers, entrance fees, guide.
Lunch during the tour is included.
(Visiting the amazing white colored travertines, hot spring pools and water terraces have been created by nature in millions of years on the mountain slopes of Pamukkale and the ancient city of Hierapolis which has the biggest ancient Necropolis in present Turkey with 1200 gravestones)
Transfer to bus station.
Overnight bus to Istanbul. (Non-smoking new model long distance coaches with air-condition and Pullman seats suitable for sleeping)
End of our service with your arrival to the main bus station in Istanbul, next day at around 07:30 am.


 

TOUR PRICE

Tour Price:
360 Euro per person in single room (1 pax)
335 Euro per person in double room (2 pax)
320 Euro per person in triple room (3 pax)

5 % winter discount from November 01-March 31, except Christmas period (December 23-January 03)

Ask for group discount for participants over 7 pax

Above tour prices include:
All taxes.
Accommodation in private rooms at 3 star or equal quality special class hotels.
Mentioned guided day tours with lunch.
Entrance fees for museums
All mentioned meals above in the itinerary
Transportation by non-smoking, air-conditioned long distance bus, with Pullman seats.
All connecting transfers in between the tour period.

Customize this tour package:

Flights:
Instead of overnight bus ride on departure, transfers + 1 hour morning flight from Istanbul to Cappadocia (via Kayseri Airport) next morning (70-100 Euro extra cost depending on season and early reservation)

Instead of overnight bus on return, transfer from Kusadasi + Izmir-Istanbul evening flight (70-100 Euro extra cost depending on season and early reservation)

Instead of Cappadocia-Kusadasi overnight bus, transfers and Kayseri-Istanbul-Izmir connected flight + extra hotel accommodation in Kusadasi will be required . There are no regular direct flights (180-250 Euro extra cost for 2 flights, 2 airport transfers, 1 night 3* hotel, price depending on season availability and early reservation)

Replace:
Either one or both Ephesus and Pamukkale tours can be replaced by Pergamum, Sardis or Priene + Miletus + Didyma tours: http://www.turkey-gay-travel.com/dailytours2.html For Pergamum tour, extra 15 Euro pp required

Add-ons :
Airport transfers from/to hotels in Istanbul for your international flights  - 30 Euro - one way for 1-3 pax
3 star hotel in Istanbul before or after the tour: 50 Euro single, 30 Euro double pp, 25 Euro triple pp.
Istanbul tours: http://www.turkey-gay-travel.com/dailytours1.html
Extra 3 star hotels in Cappadocia, Kusadasi or Selcuk: 45 Euro single, 25 Euro double pp, 20 Euro triple pp.
Hot air balloon flight in Cappadocia (1 hour) at sunrise before the day tours: 180 Euro per person, hotel transfers included

Hotels can be upgraded to 4 or 5 star or equal quality special class boutique hotels, if you pay the extra cost. You can tell us specific hotels you want to stay in each destination.

Click Here for Other Turkey Tour Packages

 

PAYMENT AND RESERVATION

Payment and reservation: We will request 30% of the total tour price for guaranteed reservations. We will send you a detailed reservation contract by e-mail after all details are confirmed mutually.

For payments we accept Maestro, Visa and Master credit cards besides bank transfers. We also accept American express, but in that case we will have to reflect the 7% commission to you, which we have to pay ourselves.

Although not recommended to avoid last minute inconveniences, it is also possible to make an open-end reservation without sending your card information and making an advance payment if you are able to make the payment minimum 2 days before the date of departure in Istanbul


 

EPHESUS

Library of Celcus	Temple of Hadrian	Antic Theater

During both the Hellenistic and Roman periods Ephesus was the most important port and cultural center of the eastern world. The remains of the city are still spellbinding today. Of all the ancient cities of Turkey, Ephesus is the best preserved and most visited in all ages and is as popular as it was in ancient times. This is due to the miraculous discovery of the House the Virgin Mary. The city had splendid buildings and was dedicated to the Goddess Artemis, whose temple was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The main monuments that we will see during the visit of this fascinating city are: the street of Arcadiane, the majestic theatre, marble road, library of Celsus, market place street of the Curettes, baths of Scholastic state agora, prytaneion, odeon. The town of Seljuk, is dominated by a Byzantine citadel close to the basilica of St. John built in the 5th century, on the site of tomb of the Apostle. Seljuk has also an exceptionally fine archaeological museum.
 

Bathing in pools is no more allowed	Ancient graves	Agora entrance of the ancient city

Pamukkale (Hierapolis) is one of the most enchanting and remarkable sights in the whole of Turkey with the great dazzling white plateau, almost 400 feet high, rising in a curtain of stalagmites and shallow pools, giving one into another on hundreds of different levels, and ancient city of Hierapolis located on this plateau. The great baths were constructed in the second century and are so well-preserved that they now serve as a museum. The impressive and recently restored theatre, the Martyrium of St. Philip the Apostle of the 5th century – a colonnaded street erected by Domitian, a monumental gate of the same period, another bath stretching on for over a Mile, the necropolis with a fascinating variety of tombs and sarcophagus are the famous monuments of this antique city.
 

Outer view  of the St Mary's House	Statue of Mary	Basilica of St John

The resolutions of the council of 431 held that the Virgin Mary came to Ephesus. According to them, she came here together with Saint John, four to six years after the death of Christ. After the proclamation of Pope Paul VI in 1967, Pope John Paul II came to Ephesus and declared the House of Mary to be a place of pilgrimage for Christians. The house on the top of Mount Bulbuldag is believed to be the last home of the Virgin Mary. It is a world-famous place of pilgrimage. The structure is a church that dates to the seventh century, and was restored in 1951. The church was supposedly built on top of the house in which the Virgin Mary lived. The structure is cruciform, and has a domed roof. The nave and its apse are accessible from the vestibule. The House of Mary is a place of pilgrimage not only for Christians, but also for Muslims. Muslims use the room to the south, which is believed to be the bedroom of the Virgin Mary, as a prayer chapel. Translations of the Quranic suras that mention Mary are on display here.

This house, where the Virgin Mary is supposed to have lived during her last days, and to have died with Johanna at her side, is situated 7 km south of the antique city of Ephesus in Izmir. The German Nun Katharine Emmerich (1774-1824) described the surroundings of the house from a dream she had.
 

 

Amazing rock formations	Frescoes in a church	Cave house accommodations

In ancient geography, Cappadocia or Cappadocia (Turkish: Kapadokya) was the name of the extensive inland district of Asia Minor (modern Turkey).

Cappadocian region is the place where nature and history come together most beautifully within the world. While geographic events are forming Peribacalari (fairy chimneys), during the historical period, humans had carried the signs of thousand years old civilizations with carving houses and churches within these earth pillars and decorating them with frisks.

Cappadocia contains several underground cities, largely used by early Christians as hiding places before they became a legitimate religion. The Cappadocian Fathers of the fourth century were integral to much of early Christian philosophy. It also produced, among other people, another Patriarch of Constantinople, John of Cappadocia who held office 517–520. For most of the Byzantine era it remained relatively undisturbed by the conflicts in the area, first with the Sassanid Empire and later against the Islamic expansion led by Arabs.

Source: Turkish Ministry of Tourism and Culture