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Black Sea & Eastern Turkey Tour
This is a 15-day tour that takes you to all the highlights of the Black Sea region and Eastern Turkey.
This is a private tour and the departure date can be any day.
Tour Type Group Size Price
- Private Tour 2 people 8085 USD per person
- Private Tour 3 people 6380 USD per person
- Private Tour 4 people 5530 USD per person
- Private Tour 5-6 people 5025 USD per person
- Private Tour 7-9 people 4435 USD per person
- Private Tour 10-12 people 4000 USD per person
- Private Tour 13-16 people 3910 USD per person
Add - Ons and Reductions
- Single supplement 710 USD
- Infant discount (0-2) 100 %
- Child discount (2-12) 50 %
Included services
- Domestic flight tickets as described in the itinerary
- Accommodation including breakfast
- Transportation with an A/C luxury minivan
- Professional guiding
- Lunches and dinners as described in the itinerary
- Admission fees to the museums and sights
- Taxes
Excluded services
- International flight tickets
- Drinks
- Tips
Day 1: Arrive Trabzon – Sumela Monastery
We arrive at Trabzon Airport in the late morning, meet our guide, and drive to the . As we park our vehicle on the skirts of the hill upon which the monastery is built, we first have lunch at a restaurant and then take a 30 minutes hike up to the monastery, following a narrow hike path covered with pine trees. After our visit, we hike back and drive to Trabzon, spending the rest of the day at leisure. Dinner in Trabzon.
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Day 2: Trabzon
We check out, and visit before driving to the . As we are done with our visits in Trabzon, we drive to Rize, following a spectacular road with tea gardens on our right and the Black Sea on our left. After lunch at a local restaurant, we visit a tea factory around Rize and drive back to Trabzon. Dinner in Trabzon.
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Day 3: Trabzon - Erzurum
On our way to Erzurum, we leave the Black Sea Coast, and start driving inland. We have lunch on arrival in Erzurum. This is Turkey"s highest elevated city, built at 1853 m (6200 ft.). More important are the finest examples of Selcuk architecture that can be seen here. After visiting , , and the , we check-in our hotel where we will spend the night. Dinner in Erzurum.
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Day 4: Ani - Kars
After breakfast, we drive to , via Kars. Ani dates back as far as the 5th century AD; and from 806 it served as the capital of Armenia. After our visits here, we drive to the center of Kars and visit . We will stay at the Kar's Hotel, in where, Orhan Pamuk, Nobel prized Turkish writer, wrote his book called "Snow". Dinner & overnight in Kars.
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Day 5: Dogubeyazit - Van
Today we head on further south to Van via Dogubeyazit, where we visit the legendary built towards the end of the 18th century by a powerful local family who were the de facto rulers of the area. We then drive further, past , which, according to ancient tradition, is the mountain on which Noah's Ark rested. Ararat consists of 2 peaks: Buyuk Agri (5165 m) and Kucuk Agri (3925 m). We visit the en route. Dinner in Van.
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Day 6: Van
After a leisurely breakfast, today we visit the and the museum. After lunch at a local restaurant, we head on to and then to . Dinner in Van.
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Day 7: Akdamar Church - Hasankeyf - Midyat
After breakfast, we visit before driving further southwest to Midyat. Dinner and overnight in Midyat.
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Day 8: Mardin - Sanliurfa
We leave Midyat and drive South to Mardin, via the Tigris Bridge. On the outskirts of Mardin, we visit the still practicing . As we drive back, we stop for lunch at , then drive further to Sanliurfa where we will spend the night. Dinner in Sanliurfa.
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Day 9: Harran – Gobekli Tepe
Genesis refers to as Terha, the place to where Abraham took his wife and son, Lot. It is difficult to believe that this small settlement on the edge of the desert was once a major economic, religious, and cultural centre. Harran means "crossroads" and has been occupied since at least 2000 BC. Finishing our visit to Harran, we drive back to to see the pool and the birthplace of Abraham. After lunch at a local restaurant, we head on the the highlight of the all trip: . The data, which were obtained as a result of the excavations continued uninterrupted since 1995 show that Göbeklitepe was a cult center, made by mankind and dated to approximately 12,000 years before present. It is composed of approximately 20 round and oval structures, reaching 30 m in diameter. 6 of them have been exposed in excavations and others were identified by surveys in geomagnetic and georadar methods. The results of excavations and surveys showed that Göbeklitepe was a 12,000 years old major meeting centre composed of monumental structures built for ceremonial purposes, instead of spaces of daily life. Dinner in Sanliurfa.
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Day 10: Mt. Nemrut
After breakfast, we leave Sanliurfa and drive to Kahta along a spectacular road, having lunch at Adiyaman. We stop for refreshment on the skirts of before our 500 meter hike to the sanctuary. This is the magnificent funerary monument of the Commagene Antiochus I Theos. We arrive to our hotel in the evening. Dinner and overnight in Kahta.
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Day 11: Drive to Cappadocia
We take a long but pleasant drive today, to Cappadocia; the land of the fairies. En route, we will stop by Kahramanmaras the city famous for its ice cream. We will walk on the streets of the city and visit the Archaeological Museum. We have lunch at a local restaurant and keep driving along the picturesque road which connects East to West along the silk road. Dinner in Cappadocia.
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Day 12: Cappadocia
Our first real encounter with Cappadocia’s almost Martian landscape is in the , where the rock formations are amazing. A walk through the is a journey into the past, with its troglodyte houses. This is one of the earliest inhabited and latest abandoned monastic settlements in Cappadocia. After Zelve we visit ’s “fairy chimneys”, where the voice of the wind harmonizes with the songs of the fairies. From here we pause at , a centre of terracotta art since 2,000 BC, for a demonstration in a traditional pottery workshop. After lunch in Avanos, we visit the famous to see the best examples of Byzantine art in Cappadocia. These are found in rock-cut churches with frescoes and paintings dating from as early as the 10th century. We complete the tour with a visit to the , giving you a panoramic view of the valleys of Cappadocia. Dinner in Cappadocia.
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Day 13: Cappadocia
Our first stop is the , an open air museum in a wild natural setting near a typical Cappadocian village with its different style rock-cut churches and frescoes. After this, we drive to Mustafapasa through the unspoiled villages of Cappadocia, surrounded by the “table-top” mountains. On the way, we visit the near Cemil village, which hides its frescoes behind a very thin smoke layer which can only be seen by torch light. After lunch in at an old Greek house hosted by a local family, we descend towards the centre of the earth, with a trip to the , one of the largest and deepest of Cappadocia’s many such settlements. Dinner in Cappadocia.
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Day 14: Cappadocia - Ankara
Leaving the land of fairies, we drive around the shores of Salt Lake to the capital of Turkey: Ankara. First we drive to the old district of the city to visit the . Lunch will be served at the heart of the modern city before visiting where Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, is buried. Spend the rest of the day at leisure, strolling down the streets of Ankara. Our farewell dinner will be at an old mansion in the Ankara citadel. Overnight in Ankara.
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Day 15: Ankara - Home
Transfer to Ankara Airport for the flight back home.
Breakfast