East Turkey Tour

Eastern part of Turkey is not one of the main touristic areas in Turkey, so it always surprises visitors with its cultural and historical richness, with places like Gobekli Tepe – the oldest religious construction yet discovered in the world, Gaziantep and its world famous cuisine, multi – cultural Antakya and Mardin...

East Turkey tour is a unique and unforgetable experience

Eastern Turkey Itinerary

Day 1: Adana-Tarsus-Adana

  • Pick up from Adana airport and drive to Tarsus, the birth place of Saint Paul.
  • Arrive to Tarsus and visit to the well of Saint Paul and the Cleopatra Gate.
  • Lunch in Tarsus and drive back to Adana.
  • Overnight stay in Adana

Day 2: Antakya

the church of Saint Peter

  • Breakfast and departure to the Biblical city Antakya. Its museum has one of the richest Roman mosaic collections of the world.
  • Outside the city there is the cave of Saint Peter.
  • Overnight stay in Antakya

Day 3: Gaziantep

  • Arrival to Gaziantep.
  • There we will visit the mosaic museum which houses a collection of mosaics from the now sunken city of Zeugma.
  • We will visit the citadel and the Old Town of Gaziantep.
  • Overnight in Gaziantep.

Day 4: Urfa

gobeklitepe

  • After breakfast we will drive fom Gaziantep to Urfa.
  • We will visit the ancient town of Harran with its “Beehive” houses.
  • Then the archaeological site at Gobekli Tepe to visit what is considered to be the oldest religious construction yet discovered.
  • Overnight in Urfa

Day 5: Adıyaman Kahta

  • From Urfa we depart for Nemrut.
  • En route, we will stop at the Ataturk Dam, the keystone in the South East Anatolian Project (GAP).
  • Overnight stay in Kahta.

Day 6: Nemrut and Arrive to Mardin

turkey tour nemrut

  • We will visit the summit of Nemrut for sunrise.
  • We visit the ancient funerary monument at the summit of mt. Nemrut in Adiyaman.
  • With a brief stop in Diyabakir we carry on to Mardin.
  • Overnight stay in Mardin

Day 7: Mardin - Tatvan

  • After breakfast we will visit the ancient Saffron Monastery, an important religious site for Syriac Christians.
  • From Mardin we proceed to Hasankeyf on the River Tigris and down the Bitlis Gorge to Bitlis.
  • Overnight in Tatvan.

Day 8: Ahlat - Van

ahlat

  • Depart from Tatvan to Van, on the way visiting Seljuk monuments of Ahlat
  • The great volcano crater of Nemrut
  • Along the shore of the Lake Van proceed to Van.
  • Overnight stay in Van.

Day 9: Van City Tour

  • Sightseeing in the Van region including a visit to the 17th century fortress of Hosap, sitting astride the ancient Silk Road into Persia and the Orient.
  • In the afternoon we will visit the island of Akdamar in Lake Van and the 10th century Church of the Holy Cross.
  • Overnight in Van.

Day 10:  Biblical Mountain of Ararat and Arrive to Kars

ishak pasha palace

  • On to Ishak Pasha Saray, passing the Biblical mountain of Ararat to Dogubeyazit.
  • Overnight stay in Kars.

Day 11: Kars Tour and Erzurum

  • In Kars we visit the ancient Armenian city of Ani on the Arpacay River
  • Then proceed via the First World War battlefield site of Sarakimis and the Aras River valley, sightseeing in Erzurum.
  • Overnight in Erzurum.

Day 12: Georgian Valleys - Hopa

  • We depart Erzurum for Hopa via the spectacular Georgian Valleys, Ishan and Artvin.
  • Overnight in Hopa.

Day 13: Monastery of the Virgin Mary in Trabzon

  • From Hopa we drive along the Black Sea border to Sumela.
  • Visiting the cliff side monastery of the Virgin Mary at Sumela in the Altindere national park before proceeding to the 14th century Byzantine church of Hagia Sofia overlooking the Black Sea.
  • Arriving to Trabzon and overnight there.

Day 14: Fly to Istanbul

  • Transfer to airport and fly to Istanbul

Some Questions

What should I do in Turkey for 14 days?

If you have already visited Turkey and its top attractions in Istanbul, Cappadocia and Ephesus area, but would like to come again, we would strongly recommend you to explore Eastern Turkey. If you have 2 weeks for this trip, traveling from Adana to Trabzon, you can cover some of impressive places like Tarsus - birthplace of Paul, the Biblical city of Antioch, the oldest temple in the world - Gobekli Tepe, Biblical mountain of Ararat and the unique Sumela Monastery...

How much money would I need for 14 days in Turkey?

The budget you would need depends on the time of year, your sightseeing plans etc. Prices in Turkey are generally lower than in Wester countries, and Eastern Turkey is much cheaper than other parts of the country, as it is not very touristic.

Which is the best month to visit Turkey?

Summer can be very hot and winter very cold, rainy and snowy in Turkey. The best time to come would be March to May and September to November. Spring and autumn are pleasantly warm, room rates in hotels are average and sites are not too crowded.

The Best Turkey Travel Guide for You!

Our Turkey travel guides are locals who have very good knowledge not only about the sights in the area, but also about the history of Christianity.

They are all fluent in English, and some of them guide also in other languages.

Have the best experience in Turkey with our expert local guides...

Testimonials

  • My family and I visited turkey at the end of 2010..we were very impressed with our tour guides Mr Nizam Adsiz as as well as Mrs Aylin Sekban.. Both spoke good english and we managed to develop a friendship with both of them which made the tours more enjoyable. Will definitely be going back to Turkey.
    Moolaam
  • We have just arrived from Turkey, we had an splendid adventure from Efesus to Capadoccia, visiting wonderful cities and archeological sites. Pamukkale, Afrodisias, Sagalassos….Konya, everything was wonderful Ertunga, Blüent and Mustafa made our journey fantastic.
    Maria Graciela G-Mexico City, Meksika
  • Ertunga is a great guide, super friendly, very big knowledge of the area and very pleasant to be around. He arrived with a driver and a Mercedes van, good space for the 3 of us. He made the tour as we went along, so we did see exactly what we wanted, and as our son is only 4 years old, we did have to speed up some places. All made possible by Ertunga, though I am sure he could tell much more in each place, since his knowledge seems extreme. Be sure to book with Ertunga.
    NipeOdense
  • Amazing guide with a lot of patience and a wealth of information about every sight we visited. Would definately recommend him highly for a smaller or a larger group.
    Aslam K
  • Turkey wouldn’t be the same without Ertunga…he treated us just like family and was the best private tour I could ever have !!!
    Bilman420

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FAQ About Our Turkey Tours

Most of our Turkey tours are private. We do not have definite departure dates for any of our tours, as we usually customize tours depending on your requests in the inquiries. Of course, if you have a group – we can always arrange your tour in Turkey.

Depending on your itinerary, available time and distances between sights it can be ground transportations only, or combination of ground transportation and domestic flights.

Depending on the size of your group, we can use Mercedes Vito or Mercedes Sprinter. All our vehicles are new (model 2016 or newer), comfortable and air-conditioned. You can see our vehicles

It depends on your itinerary… If you plan to fly between areas, in each one you will have a local guide; in that way you can get the best experience in each area and also avoid some extra costs (hotel accommodation and domestic flights for guide). If you plan to have a ground transportation, you will have a same guide during entire trip (in some small places it is not possible to find a local guide) and that is something that some of our guests prefer…

Prices depend on the size of your group and services that are included. For example, some guests prefer to arrange accommodation on their own. The itineraries listed on our site are there just to give you idea about how much you can see during your trip. Depending on your specific ideas and thoughts, we customise your trip and send you price offer…

Once we receive an inquiry, we can send you itinerary option with price in 24 hours, as latest. Afterwards, depending on your ideas and suggestions we can change some details until we have the options that you want to book.

You can pay via bank transfer, credit card or cash. We also accept PayPal / Payoneer deposit payments. You should pay 20% deposit when you decide to book; balance can be paid during your stay in Turkey.

Once you decide to book a tour with us, you should pay 20% deposit and it is refundable for 30 days from the date it is received. If you decide to cancel the trip afterwards, we will not be able to refund your deposit.

Please visit www.evisa.gov.tr to get all information and obtain electronic visa if necessary.

During your tour you will eat like a local. Local beer and wine are optional and at your own expense. We can arrange vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free meals if requested.

Normally it is 15 kg checked laggage and 8 kg in cabin, but for our guests we arrange eco flexible tickets so your baggage allowance would be 20 kg + 8 kg in cabin.

You are strongly advised to buy travel insurance before you arrive to Turkey. Our vehiches have full traffic insurance, but we can’t arrange your travel insurance. You can choose one of many travel insurance policies in your country…

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