Istanbul and Ephesus

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Sighseeing tour. Cable car to Pierre Loti viewpoint. Topkapi Palace .Night transfer to Taksim.A sightseeing tour of the city. We find ourselves in a city built in two continents. On our tour, we will include a cable car ride up to the Pierre Loti viewpoint and we will lenter the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent (the largest in Istanbul). We will see the walls, the Golden Horn, the fishing district, and we will admire the exterior of Hagia Sofia. After the visit, we will offer tickets and a visit to the Top Kapi Palace, which was the administrative centre of the Ottoman Empire, with its magnificent courtyards and its pavilions. At the end of the afternoon we will provide a transfer to the Taksim neighbourhood, the most commercialised and lively area of the city. There will be time to dine in one of its many restaurants, and you can also take the old tram that crosses the area or go to see the nearby Galata Tower.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Boat trip on the Bosphorus.Today we include a boat trip on the Bosphorus that will last about two hours. We will undertake the trip on a boat exclusively for Europamundo travellers. The Bosphorus is a strait that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of ??Marmara, which separates Istanbul into two parts: the European part and the Asian one. We will enjoy seeing the liveliness of the strait with its multitude of boats. We will pass under the two bridges that unite Europe and Asia and we will admire the palaces of the sultans, the typical wooden houses and the Ottoman villas. Free time.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: Ferry over the Marmara. Ephesus. Dinner included. We left early from Istanbul. We crosed by fast ferry (variable schedules according to seasons and months) the Sea of Marmara, after about two hours of crossing, we arrived at the port of BANDIRMA (or Yalova according to schedules). We continued route through the interior of Turkey. At the beginning of the afternoon we arrive at EPHESUS, the best preserved ancient city of Asia Minor; 2000 years ago it had a quarter of a million inhabitants. We know Saint John´s Basilica, after it, the house of the Virgin Mary and the archaeological site (tickets included). We then continue to KUSADASI, a popular coastal town with a lot of atmosphere, commercial life and a small castle. Dinner and accommodation.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT: Interior of Anatolia. Hanging bridges crossing the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus Strait. We leave for the city with the fourth largest population in Turkey: IZMIR. We see the church of Saint Polycarp, the oldest in the city, which reminds us of the importance of this area in early Christianity (entrance included). We then return to inland Turkey. Stop en route for lunch before reaching BURSA, the fourth largest city in Turkey, whose historic centre has been declared UNESCO World Heritage, with its traditional commercial districts, mosques, religious schools, public baths … The green mosque stands out. Arrival in ISTANBUL at the end of the day. End of our services. Please, check the time of your flight in case you might need an additional night.