Istanbul to Fethiye in 6 days: how the west-coast tour works
The Istanbul to Fethiye Tour is the first leg of our line across Turkey. Six days, five hotel nights, one small group and a guide every day. It is sold on its own, and it is also the opening section of every longer route that starts in Istanbul.
The logic of the route
Turkey's biggest sights sit along one line down the west coast: Istanbul at the top, Gallipoli and Troy at the Dardanelles, Pergamon and Ephesus on the Aegean, and the Lycian coast at the bottom. Driving that line south means every day ends somewhere new and you never double back. It also means the tour finishes in Fethiye, which is exactly where the gulet cruise begins - so if you want to keep going, you simply walk down to the harbour on Saturday morning.
Departures are on Mondays from April to October, and every published date is guaranteed to run.
Day by day
Day 1 - Istanbul. We collect you from the airport or your hotel. In the evening the group meets in the hotel lobby, walks through Taksim and Istiklal Street, and has the option of a Turkish tavern night in the Cicek Pasaji (Flower Passage): mezes, grilled fish or kebabs, raki and live music. It is the easiest way to meet the people you will spend the week with.
Day 2 - the old city and the Bosphorus. A full guided day: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market, moving by tram and on foot. Late afternoon we board a Bosphorus cruise and see the city from the water - palaces, wooden mansions and the bridge that links Europe and Asia. Second night in the same Istanbul hotel.
Day 3 - Gallipoli. We drive down to the Dardanelles and spend the afternoon on the battlefields of 1915 with the guide: Anzac Cove, the Ariburnu cemetery, Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair, The Nek and the Turkish memorials. Night in Canakkale.
Day 4 - Troy and Pergamon. Morning at Troy - the wooden horse, the walls and the nine layers of city. Then Pergamon: the acropolis, the Temple of Trajan, the library site and the steepest theatre of the ancient world. Night in the Kusadasi / Selcuk area.
Day 5 - Ephesus, then the coast. A full visit to Ephesus: Curetes Street, the Hercules Gate, the Terrace Houses and the Library of Celsus, plus the single column that remains of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders. In the afternoon we drive south to Fethiye for the night.
Day 6 - Fethiye. The tour ends after breakfast. Dalaman airport is about 50 minutes away, or stay on for the cruise.
What is included
Five nights in boutique and 4-star hotels (two in Istanbul, one each in Canakkale, Kusadasi / Selcuk and Fethiye), breakfast and dinner, all transport, a licensed guide every day and the entrance fees on this leg. Optional extras are the tavern night and a Turkish bath.
Who it suits
Anyone who wants the big historical sights done properly in under a week, and anyone building a longer trip: add the gulet cruise for a full week at sea, or carry on by bus to Pamukkale and Cappadocia with the All Around Turkey Tour.