Visit one side lies the Blue Mosque, an exquisite feat of religious engineering dating to Ottoman times. To the other is the Hagia Sophia. First wander through 1,400 years of history as you explore the gigantic rooms and domes of the Hagia Sophia.
Visit the Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazaar. Tour at the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, a fabulous and vast-reaching exhibition space that provides a complete beginner's journey into Middle Eastern art.
Explore Tahtakale Market, stepping past the vibrant fruit stalls and meandering towards the minarets of Rustem Pasha Mosque & Santa Kariye is a remarkable sight. The Spice Market is another of Istanbul's exotic goodies.
Cappadocia is initially all about aesthetics. Visit the Goreme Open-Air Museum and Urgup's Dark Church. Then watch the valleys softly fall under the spell of sunset from the viewpoint at Kizilcukur.
Wander the quaint streets of Soganli Village, Eskigumus Monastery and Mustapha Pasha. A languid hike takes you through the stunning Ihlara Canyon. Visit the cute villages of Selimiye and Belisyrma.
Much of Cappadocia's history is hidden from view. Just like the cave churches, the entrance to Kaymakli is easy to miss. Your guide reveals the secret entrance and you head into the underground city, bumpy staircases going down floor after floor until you're deep underground.
Fly to Izmir and the Ephesus cityscape greets you from afar. Ionian columns rise skywards, carved temple ceilings glisten beneath the Mediterranean sun, and a haphazard sprinkling of pillars and stones dot the city. Admire the Gymnasium and Nymphaion & explore the recreation of the Temple of Artemis.
While Ephesus dazzles, Pergamon is shrouded in mystique. An astonishingly steep theater cascades down the hillside, the Temple of Athena suggests esoteric powers, and the city dramatically extends across a hilltop & explore Pergamon.
As a final treat before leaving Turkey, you will spend two hours at a salubrious Istanbul hamam; the pores are opened by lying on steaming hot stones, skilled masseuses provide indulgent exfoliating treatments, and then you sit and relax in your bathrobe completely rejuvinated.
This morning you bid farewell to Istanbul and Turkey. It's been a journey that's connected Apollo to Constantinople and the Virgin Mary to Ottoman sultans. Enjoy a luxury transfer to the airport and ponder the question on your international flight home.