Share Turkish Culture

• After breakfast, transfer to airport for homebound flights. OR After breakfast, departure for Central Turkey Tour

• After breakfast, depart for Iznik, famous with its Lake, visit Green Mosque, St. Sophia.
• Visit to the Iznik Foundation, an organization reviving the tradition of the Turkish tile “Cini”
• After lunch, proceed to Istanbul.
• Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Istanbul.

• Visit the beautiful Green Mosque and Tomb, and continue with the Great Mosque, Koza Han, the home of the silk trade, and Osman Gazi and Orhan Gazi Tombs, the founders of the Ottoman Empire.
• View a “Traditional Turkish Shadow: Karagoz” play at the Karagoz House.
• Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Bursa. 

• Early morning departure to visit Troy.
• After lunch, drive along the Marmara Sea to Bursa, the first capital of the Ottoman Empire.
• Visit Bursa Ethnography Museum (Şair Ahmet Paşa Medresesi) called “Esat Uluumay Ottoman Folk Dresses and Handicrafts Museum.
• Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

• After breakfast, depart for a day trip to Edirne, the second capital city of the Ottoman Empire. Walking tour will include masterpieces of Turkish architecture, the Selimiye, and Sultan II. Bayezid Külliyesi/Complex Health Museum, which was awarded as the best European Museum in 2004 by the European Union. Listening to Turkish music, used for therapeutic purposes performed by a ney play. Walking through the Arasta Bazaar of Edirne and visit historical bridges over the Meric River.
• Lunch will be served at a local restaurant in Edirne serving traditional dishes.
• After lunch, drive to Canakkale (Gallipoli).
• Visit Anzac Cove, 57th Infantry Regiment Cemetery and Memorial, Chunuk Bair, Çanakkale Martyrs Memorial, Lone Pine Cemetery & Memorial. 

• Walking tour of the old town; visit to the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
• Listen to the “Mevlit” a Turkish versed hymn that praises the Prophet Mohammed at the Sokullu Mehmet Pasha Mosque in Kadirga.
• In Eminonu, visit the Egyptian Bazaar (Spice Market).
• After lunch, visit the Dolmabahce Palace.
• Dinner at a fish restaurant by the Bosporus.

• After breakfast, departure for full day Istanbul tour. City tour will start with the Topkapi Palace. During the tour, lunch will be served at Konyali Restaurant, which is located inside the palace overlooking the marvelous Bosporus.
• In the afternoon, visit to the Suleymaniye Mosque.
• Drive to Fener & Balat area, visit the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, the Ahrida Synagogue, and the Surp Hiresdagabad Armenian Church.
• Dinner at Asitane Restaurant in Edirnekapi. Live Turkish classical music called fasil will accompany the authentic Turkish kitchen tastes.

• After breakfast, visit the Turkish Cultural Foundation Istanbul Office.
• Depart for full day tour of Istanbul. Visit St. Sophia, Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome and Museum of Turkish & Islamic Arts.
• Late afternoon, drive to Uskudar, cross the Bosporus Bridge, there, see a performance of an artist practicing an ancient Turkish art of “Ebru” (Marbling).
• After dinner, overnight at the hotel.

- Arrival in Istanbul, transferred to the hotel.
- Boat trip on the Bosporus. Welcome cocktail and dinner.
- Overnight at the hotel.