Sea & Sun & Resort in Bodrum

Upon arrival, meet and greet local guide and proceed to Istanbul Old City. Our first visit is going to be Blue Mosque which was built by Sultan Ahmet the first on 1616 and very famous with its stunning blue tiles on its Wall. Afterwards we visit Hagia Sophia which was built as an Orthodox Church by Emperor Justinian in 537 AD. However the giant worship center was converted in a Mosque by Sultan Mehmet the Second in 1453. It is now a museum where you can enjoy the harmony of two culture in the same building. After our time finishes at Hagia Sophia, we continue our trip visiting Topkapı Palace which was built by Sultan Mehmet the Second in 1475. Topkapı Palace is the biggest palace in Turkey and also one of the biggest in the World by its 80 acres area. Topkapı Palace is the most visited palace in Turkey while it offers to its visitors many beautiful small mansions with nice view of Bosphorus Strait or Golden Horn, many valuable jewelleries which was used by the Sultans, Holy Relics such as David’s sword, Moses’ Staff and so on. After we have our dinner, we proceed to hotel and check in.

Overnight in Istanbul.

After we have our breakfast, we check out hotel and then proceed to Leather Outlet Center which is nationwide famous. After our shopping time ends, we take a short cruise trip and enjoy the beautiful Bosphorus Strait with hundreds of houses by the strait and many beautiful palaces from Ottoman Era. Afterwards we proceed to airport for domestic flight to Bodrum which is located on the Agean Coast of Turkey. upon arrival, you will be transferred to your hotel and have rest for the next day.

Overnight in Bodrum.

You will enjoy the facilities at hotel during the day. You may enjoy our optional tours if interested. Please info our representative for the optional tours you want to join 

Optional Tour: Daily Boat Trip at Bodrum.

Departs at 10:00 from Bodrum port. Including Lunch and Drinks at the boat and visiting 5 beautiful coves of Bodrum and you will have free time enjoying those coves. Back to hotel before dinner.

You will enjoy the facilities at hotel during the day. You may enjoy our optional tours if interested. Please info our representative for the optional tours you want to join.

Optional Tour: Daily Ephesus and Virgin Mary’s House Tour.

Depart from hotel at 07:00. We are going to have a breakfast break nearby Bafa Lake with a stunning view of the lake. Upon arrival in Ephesus we are going to visit Virgin Mary’s House which is believed to be one of the house used by Virgin Mary and also was visited a couple of times by Pope. After we have our lunch we will visit Ephesus which was the Roman Empire Capital for Asian states and also was one of the Seven Churches in Minor Asia ( Revelation 1:11, 2:1-7). In the famous Ephesus, we can still see the ruins of Celsus Library, Trojan Fountain, Great Theater etc… We will return to hotel by dinner time.

You will enjoy the facilities at hotel during the day. You may enjoy our optional tours if interested. Please info our representative for the optional tours you want to join.

Optional Tour: Historical Tour of Bodrum.

Depart from hotel at 09:00. First visit is going to be Bodrum St.Peters Castle. Visit to castle and underwater museum. Afterwards we proceed to The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus which was a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC in Halicarnassus (present Bodrum, Turkey) for Mausolus, a satrap in the Achaemenid Empire, and his sister-wife Artemisia II of Caria. The structure was designed by the Greek architects Satyros and Pythius of Priene. Its elevated tomb structure is derived from the tombs of neighbouring Lycia, a territory Mausolus had invaded and annexed circa 360 BC, such as the Nereid Monument. The Mausoleum was approximately 45 m height, and the four sides were adorned with sculptural reliefs, each created by one of four Greek sculptors: Leochares, Bryaxis, Scopas of Paros, and Timotheus. The finished structure of the mausoleum was considered to be such an aesthetic triumph that Antipater of Sidon identified it as one of his Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was destroyed by successive earthquakes from the 12th to the 15th century, the last surviving of the six destroyed wonders. After that we proceed to The Myndos Gate dating back from 360’s BC, is one of Bodrum’s important historical/cultural sites of Bodrum, greets the visitors with all its grandeur. The Myndos Gate, which was built by Mausolus, The Satrap of Caria, protected Halicarnassus from the enemy raids and became literally a shield for the city against the attacks. The Myndos Gate, which is rising near the graveyard of Gumbet today, was built for defence purposes and is known to be one of the two monumental gates that exist. It was called Myndos Gate as it was opened on the way leading to Gumuşluk. Unfortunately, the Mylasa Gate, which is the other one of the gates, has not survived today’s time. Later on we proceed to The Ancient Theatre, which is located on the southern slopes of Goktepe Hill and has been inherited from thousands of years ago, is one of the oldest theatres of Anatolia. The Ancient Theatre, where art has reflected on the stone steps throughout history, and what was sanctified with votives for Dionysus, has the most beautiful and sweeping view in Bodrum. The theatre, which carries traces of many civilisations, is looking at the magnificent Bodrum Castle rising from the unique blue seas of Halicarnassus, from Goktepe ridge. We wil be transferred to hotel before dinner.

You will enjoy the facilities at hotel during the day. You may enjoy our optional tours if interested. Please info our representative for the optional tours you want to join.

Optional Tour: Didyma, Miletus, Priene Daily Trip

We leave hotel after breakfast and then proceed to Didim and upon arrival we are going to visit Temple of Apollo at Didyma which is the fourth largest sanctuary in the Greek world after the Temple of Artemis (and the Heraion at Samos and the Olympieion at Sicily), the Didymaion was built to rival the Artemision, employing one of the same architects, who was completing his work there, and having the same approximate dimensions. In 334 BC, Alexander the Great liberated the cities of Ionia. Although the oracle pronounced him to be the son of Zeus in 331 BC, it probably was not until about 300 BC (the cult statue of Apollo had been returned in 301 BC) that the citizens of Miletus were able to begin rebuilding the earlier archaic temple that had been plundered (including treasures that had been dedicated by Croesus) and burned by the Persians in 494 BC. Betrayed by the Branchidae, the priestly caste who were guardians of the site, in exchange for their lives, their descendants later were said to have been massacred by a vengeful Alexander. But the project proved too ambitious and the magnificent structure never was completed. One hundred and twenty columns were planned, each over sixty-four feet high (the tallest of any Greek temple). Inscribed accounts of the construction indicate that each column cost approximately forty-thousand drachmas, at a time when a worker earned about two drachmas a day. After we have our lunch we proceed to Miletus Ancient Ruins which was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria. Its ruins are located near the modern village of Balat in Aydın Province, Turkey. Before the Persian invasion in the middle of the 6th century BC, Miletus was considered the greatest and wealthiest of Greek cities. Evidence of first settlement at the site has been made inaccessible by the rise of sea level and deposition of sediments from the Maeander. The first available evidence is of the Neolithic. In the early and middle Bronze Age the settlement came under Minoan influence. Legend has it that an influx of Cretans occurred displacing the indigenous Leleges. The site was renamed Miletus after a place in Crete. Later on we proceed to Priene Ruins which was an ancient Greek city of Ionia (and member of the Ionian League) at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about 6 kilometres north of the then course of the Maeander (now called the Büyük Menderes or “Big Maeander”) River, 67 kilometres from ancient Anthea, 15 kilometres from ancient Aneon and 25 kilometres from ancient Miletus. It was built on the sea coast, overlooking the former Latmian Gulf of the Aegean on steep slopes and terraces extending from sea level to a height of 380 metres above sea level at the top of the escarpment. Today, after several centuries of changes in the landscape, it is an inland site. It is located at a short distance west of the modern village Güllübahçe Turun in the Söke district of Aydın Province, Turkey. Priene possessed a great deal of famous Hellenistic art and architecture. The city’s original position on Mount Mycale has never been discovered; however, it is believed that it was a peninsula possessing two harbours. Priene never held a great deal of political importance due to the city’s size, as it is believed around 4 to 5 thousand inhabitants occupied the region. The city was arranged into four districts, firstly the political district which consisted of the bouleuterion and the prytaneion, the cultural district containing the theatre, the commercial where the agora was located and finally the religious district which contained sanctuaries dedicated to Zeus and Demeter and most importantly the Temple of Athena. After we end our programme, we will be back to our hotel before dinner.

After breakfast at hotel, we enjoy facilities at hotel and then we will be transferred to airport for the flight back to your country.

Till we meet up on another trip…