Departures: May, June, September & October
Turkey is a photographer’s dream–it is a country where Europe meets Asia! This trip has been designed for you photo buffs that want more of a less structured photo tour. There are ample opportunities to shoot. Discover the must see palaces and mosques, take a private cruise on the Bosphorous and explore the cultural melting pot neighborhoods for Fener and Balat. Visit the hidden monastic valley of Pasabag and photograph the young ladies weaving rugs in one of the local municipality carpet cooperatives. Explore Ortahisar and Avonos. Photographic Wonders of Turkey is for curious travelers who enjoy photography.
Note: An escort will accompany you but photography is on own–there is no photo guide.
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ITINERARY
Day 01 – Arrival in Istanbul
Our staff will meet you at the Ataturk Airport and drive you to your hotel. Enjoy dinner in the roof restaurant of your hotel, overlooking to Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.
Overnight in Istanbul – Arcadia Blue Hotel or similar (D)
Day 02 – Istanbul
For you photographers, your tour begins with the old town, including Underground Basilica Cistern, largest surviving Byzantium Cistern and domed Basilica of St. Sophia that has inspired architects and religious leaders for over fifteen hundred years. Constructed in 326 by Constantine the Great, it has been a cathedral, a mosque, and now a museum. Continue our day with tasting of Turkish Delicacies and embarking on a private cruise of the Bosphorus, along the way, viewing the Dolmabahce Palace and the Beylerbeyi Palace, a nineteenth century palace on the Asian side of Istanbul. In the evening we will have a night shoot of amazing views of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. Overnight in Istanbul (B, D)
Day 03 – Istanbul – Fly to Cappadocia
Enjoy a half day tour with ample options for photography of the neighborhoods Fener and Balat, once the focal point of the social and cultural lives of Greek, Jewish and Armenian minorities, now host a Muslim population, many of whom have migrated from other cities and rural areas and do not have enough economic resources for the preservation of the architectural structures, and for the renovation and maintenance of the old buildings. Then visit the Spice Bazaar where the scent of hundreds of spices permeates the air before being driven to the airport to fly to Cappadocia.
Overnight in Cappadocia – Yunak Houses or similar (B, D)
Day 04 – Cappadocia
Optional: In the early morning you may take a Hot Air Balloon ride over the lush countryside.
After breakfast, visit the hidden monastic valley of Pasabag and photograph the young ladies weaving rugs in one of the local municipality carpet cooperatives, a carpet farm where you will get the chance to explore the district from a cultural perspective. Then explore the fascinating Goreme Valley. The lunar like landscape of this region is eerie, yet beautiful. Over thousands of years, the rain has eroded this landscape to give rise to strange rock formations known as “Fairy Chimneys”. Many of these have homes and churches carved into them. Some of the grottos are magnificently decorated with colorful frescoes depicting biblical scenes. In the evening we will shoot Uchisar Castle in the sunset.
Overnight in Cappadocia (B, D)
Day 05 – Cappadocia
Today discover Ortahisar Village and Avonos Village where there is still ceramic art dating from 12th B.C. to 3rd B.C. periods. You can photograph the Pottery Master. After a cooking class with locals, explore the Kaymakli Underground Cistern. Around the sixth century the Christian inhabitants of this region began to tunnel into the soft volcanic rock of large hill. As deep as two hundred and seventy five feet with eight different levels, several thousand people lived in this subterranean city. In the evening we will have an opportunity-taking photo of Whirling Dervishes after the ceremony that will be private for us. Overnight in Cappadocia (B, D)
Day 06 – Cappadocia – Aglasun (330 Miles)
Traveling west, we will break our journey in Sultanhan Caravanserai, one of the big Seljuk Caravansaries of Anatolia.
Overnight in Aglasun – Sagalassos Lodge Hotel or similar (B, D)
Day 07 – Aglasun – Pamukkale (130 Miles)
Enjoy a half day tour of the Sagalassos, whose human settlement goes back to eight thousand BCE and became the important urban center of Pisidia, and was particularly favored by the Emperor Hadrian, who named it the “first city” of the province and the center of the imperial cult under the Roman Empire. Then drive to Kaklik Cave, created by an underground stream. Overnight in Pamukkale – Colossae Hotel or similar (B, D)
Day 08 – Pamukkale
Spend the morning exploring and shooting Hierapolis, a magnificent natural formation unique all over the world. Over the last fourteen thousand years, calcium rich water from an underground thermal spring has flowed over the mountainside and slowly solidified, creating Shallow White Basins and Twisted Stalagmites. Then explore Laodicea, which became one of the most important and flourishing commercial cities of Asia Minor where large money transactions and an extensive trade in black wool were carried on, towards the end of the Roman Republic and under the first emperors. Also see one of the Seven Churches of Revelation. Overnight in Pamukkale (B, D)
Day 09 – Pamukkale – Kusadasi (4 hours driving)
Today you drive northwest to Birgi Village, famous with Ottoman houses, the wandering musicians, the friendly faces, the street cats, the inquisitive children and the hospitable folk. Many ample photography opportunities Next stop is Tire, one of the most important weaving centers of the Ottoman Empire. Photograph the craftsmen of Beledi weaving, twofold weaving process using silk and cotton and invented in 1500 A.D. and Saddle Maker.
Overnight in Kusadasi – Double Tree Hotel or similar (B, D)
Day 10 – Kusadasi
Yur tour takes you to Ephesus, the largest ancient city ever uncovered, including amphitheatre that can still hold twenty four thousand spectators, marble covered streets, gymnasiums, baths houses, public latrines, the library of Celsius, the temple of Artemis and House of Virgin Mary, where she is believed to have spent her last few days. Overnight in Kusadasi (B, D)
Day 11 – Kusadasi – Pergamum – Assos (4,5 hours driving)
Today drive north to Bergama where you can photograph the barber, bakery and people in the coffee shop and continue to Pergamum, which was once ruled by Alexander the Great. Famous for the invention of parchment paper, Pergamum had a library containing 200,000 books. Lunch will be in the local pide (Turkish pizza) restaurant in which you will have a chance to photograph the pide chef, moving around his marble worktops to take perfectly round little patties of dough, to knead them before adding toppings before he whisks them into wood fired ovens.
Overnight in Assos – Kervansaray Hotel or similar (B, L, D)
Day 12 – Assos – Troy – Istanbul (6 hours driving)
Today you return to Istanbul, exploring Troy; one of the oldest discovered sights in Asia Minor with its 9 different settlements and related 30 cities on the way.
Overnight in Istanbul – Arcadia Blue Hotel or similar (B, D)
Day 13- Istanbul
Enjoy a full day tour of the unique Blue Mosque whose interior walls are covered with twenty thousand blue Iznik tiles and the magnificent Topkapi Palace once home to the great Sultans, filled with treasures and antiquities including twelve thousand pieces of fine Chinese porcelain. Lunch will be in Konyali Restaurant having view of Marmara Sea and the Bosphorus before you visit Suleymaniye Mosque. Continue shooting in the Grand Bazaar. Built in 1457, it is famous for its selection of goods and is the largest bazaar in the world with over four thousand shops. Your farewell dinner will be in one of the famous restaurants of Istanbul. Overnight in Istanbul – Arcadia Blue Hotel or similar (B, D)
Day 14 – Depart Istanbul
After breakfast, you are driven to the airport for your flight onward or home bound. (B)
