DAY 1 - URGUP - KARATAYHAN - TEKIR PLATEAU - KAHRAMANMARAS - KAHTA (L, D)
Pick up from your hotel in Cappadocia around 08:30 and drive to Kahta. On the way, we will visit the Karatayhan caravanserai and after taking a short break in Pinarbasi, we will continue to Tekir Plateau for an authentic lunch. After lunch, we will have a chance to taste the worldwide famous ice cream in a nice cafe in Kahramanmaras.
We will arrive Kahta at the end to have dinner and spend the night at the hotel.
Accommodation in Kahta
DAY 2 - MT. NEMRUT - ARSEMIA - CENDERE BRIDGE - SANLIURFA - ABRAHAM CAVE - HARRAN - GOBEKLITEPE TOUR (B, L, D)
We will start our tour early in the morning at 03:00am. We will drive up to the mountain to reach the near peak of the Nemrut mountain. We will walk up to the top where we will watch the magnificent sunrise between the giant size heads of the statues of the kings and gods.
After sun rising we will see the ruins of Mountain Nemrut. We will have free time to walk around before going back to Kahta. On the way, we will visit the ruins of Arsemia, Roman bridge of Cendere and tumulus blackbird. We will have breakfast at our hotel.
After breakfast, we will drive to Sanliurfa city. On the way, we will see Ataturk Dam, which is the biggest dam in the Middle East. We will check in to the hotel and have lunch in a kebab restaurant in Sanliurfa city.
After lunch, we will visit some places in the city center such as the oriental bazaar, Prophet Abraham's cave and the pools of holy carps surrounding it. Then, we will drive to Harran where we will see mud-brick beehive houses and where Abraham spent his last years as mentioned in the book of Genesis. We will also visit the ruins of Harran including city walls of the oldest Islamic university and the 8th century dated castle. After free time for walking around Harran village, we will drive to visit Gobeklitepe which is the oldest temple of the world. What makes Gobeklitepe unique in its class is the date it was built, which is roughly twelve thousand years ago, circa 10.000 BC. Then, we will return to our hotel. Dinner and spend the night in the fabulous Sanliurfa city.
Accommodation in Sanliurfa
DAY 3 - SANLIURFA - BIRECIK – GAZIANTEP ZEUGMA MUSEUM – COPPER BAZAAR (B, L)
After breakfast, we leave from Sanliurfa and continue to Birecik to see the famous Bald Ibis (Kelaynak) birds in the breeding farm. Then, we will drive to Gaziantep city center to visit Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Gaziantep copper bazaar and Gaziantep Castle.
After the tour, transfer to Gaziantep Airport to catch an evening flight to Istanbul (if you prefer to book a flight ticket by your own, the flight time should be after 19:30pm).
Pick up from Istanbul Airport or Sabiha Gokcen Airport and transfer to your hotel in Istanbul Sultanahmet or Taksim.
END OF OUR SERVICE
Mount Nemrut and Gobeklitepe are in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
NOTES
• Hotels are based on bed and breakfast. Check in time is 14:00 and check out time is 11:00.
• Programmes may change due to bad weather conditions.
• You can make any changes on the programme, if our programs are not suitable for you. We can work together on your itinerary.
• We can also arrange ticket bookings for domestic flights. Flight fares are changeable according to your travel dates.
Gobeklitepe is a series of mainly circular and oval-shaped structures set on the top of a hill, about 15 km away from the city of Sanliurfa Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Archaeologically categorized as a site of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Period (c. 9600–7300 BC). There is an archeological proof that these installations were not used for domestic use, but predominantly for ritual or religious purposes. Subsequently, it became apparent that Gobeklitepe consists of not only one, but many of such Stone Age temples.