Depart USA on a scheduled flight to Istanbul, all meals and beverages served on board flight.

Arrive Istanbul, where you will be met and transferred to your hotel.  Balance of day at leisure. Overnight in Istanbul at the Divan Hotel.

Istanbul: Blue Mosque

Istanbul/Ankara
Breakfast and transfer to Istanbul airport for your flight to Ankara. Arrive Ankara where you will be met and transferred to check-in at your hotel, the Merit Altinel Hotel, then visit the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey. This beautiful landmark is perched atop a hill with a panoramic view of the city. We will also visit the magnificent Museum of Anatolian civilizations. This particular museum contains relics from Catal Hoyuk, one of the earliest known human communities up through the Roman Classical period, covering 10,000 years. (B, D)

Cappadocia
Breakfast, then depart Ankara and turn our sights toward the Cappadocia region. During the 4-hour drive, we will stop frequently for breaks. While in Cappadocia, we will enjoy the unique landscapes of the wind and rain eroded volcanic formations. Carved directly into stone, Cappadocia's amazing subterranean cities include ancient underground churches hand-hewn from solid rock by Christians. We will visit handicraft shops as well as enjoy a folk dance and belly-dancing performance while we wine and dine in an underground cabaret.   Overnight at the town of Urgup. (B, D)

Cappadocia

Cappadocia
Breakfast, then visit a Caravan-Saray, an ancient Caravan motel. We will take wonderful strolls and go off the "tourist track" discovering the unknown Cappadocia. While in Cappadocia we will enjoy an excellent lecture and a demonstration on Turkish carpets and Kilims. (B, D)

Pamukkale
Breakfast and depart Cappadocia and head back towards the coast for today's destination, Pamukkale. Along the way we will stop briefly in Konya. While in Konya we will visit the Whirling Dervish Museum, a very holy place for Turkish Muslims. There are exhibits of dervish costumes, instruments, illuminated manuscripts and various ethnological artifacts. We will arrive in Pamukkale in the late afternoon. Check into your hotel, the Ergur Hotel, which has a hot mineral pool for your enjoyment. In the morning we will visit the snow-like travertines of calcium at Pamukkale. This is an area with strikingly beautiful mineral springs clinging to the hillsides that will amaze you. Hieropolis is the ancient name for the Greco-Roman city above the travertines. (B, D)

Pamukkale-Denizli

Kusadasi (Aphrodisias, Sardis)
Breakfast and drive for about one hour to Aphrodisias, which was constructed in honor of the Roman Goddess Aphrodite. It was also an ancient center of Roman art. We will visit a well-preserved stadium which used to seat 35,000 people. In the height of the Roman period, gladiators performed in this stadium. Drive through Philadelphia to Sardis, where money was first minted. We will see one of the world's oldest synagogues in Sardis, as well as the excavations, the gymnasium and the Artemis Temple. Overnight at the Fantasia Hotel. (B)

Kusadasi/Ephesus
Breakfast, then visit Ephesus and its colossal Greco-Roman theater. This theater is still used for just a few activities that we will be seeing. We will pay a visit to the Ephesus archeological Museum. Also visit the house where St. Mary lived her final days. Later in the evening we will take a flight back to Istanbul. Upon arrival in Istanbul you will be met and transferred to your hotel, the Eresin Topkapi Hotel for an overnight. (B)(B)

Breakfast and start our tour of Istanbul. Once called Byzantium in the 7th century B.C., this ancient city was renamed Constantinople in 326 A.D. by Constantine the Great when he moved the capital of the Roman Empire to what is now Istanbul. The city received its current name from Mehmet II in 1453 and is the only city in the world that spans two continents. We will also visit several of Turkey's most famous museums and mosques, such as Topkapi Palace. It was first built by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1453 and was the home of the Sultans until the 19th century. St. Sophia was built by Emperor Justinian of the Roman Empire. It was completed in 537 A.D. and ruled as the greatest Christian Church in the world for more than 1000 years. See the Blue Mosque which was commissioned by Sultan Ahmet in 1603 and was constructed with the intention of rivaling St. Sophia. If time permits visit the Military Museum and enjoy a concert performed in traditional costume by the world's first established military marching ensemble. Transfer back to your hotel for an oriental dinner and folkloric music show. Overnight. (B,D)

Istanbul: The Grand Bazaar

Breakfast and a day at leisure for last minute shopping, sampling the delicious different cuisines of Turkey, or simply relaxing at your hotel. Overnight. (B)

Breakfast, then you will be met and transferred to Istanbul Airport for your flight to Cairo. Arrive Cairo where you will be met by our tour manager, who will help you with your immigration and customs formalities. Then you will be transferred to your hotel, the historical Mena House Oberoi Hotel for an overnight. (B)

Breakfast, then drive to Memphis at the edge of the Western Desert, the capital of the Ancient Kingdom, and one of the most prominent cities throughout the history of ancient Egypt. From here we drive to Sakkara, the vast Necropolis of Ancient Memphis. In the afternoon drive to the Pyramids of Giza. Cheops Pyramid, the largest of the three, was built in the 4th Dynasty about 2690 B.C., and is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Enjoy a camel ride by the Pyramids area if you wish. In front of the Pyramid of Chephren (Khafre), we find the Sphinx carved from a single piece of stone. It is a lion with a Pharaoh's head thought to be a portrait of the Pharaoh Chephren (Khafre). Continue our tour to the Solar Boat Museum where a dismantled river barge of King Cheops (Khufu) was found and has been masterfully re-assembled. Return to your hotel. In the evening, you will be met and transferred by your tour manager to the Giza Plateau to attend the magnificent sound and light show. Later transfer back to your hotel for an overnight. (B)

Breakfast, then you will be met and transferred to Cairo Airport for your flight to Aswan. Upon arrival at Aswan Airport, you will be met and transferred to embark your Nile cruise ship. Later you will visit by "Felucca" the Elephantine Island, the Botanical Gardens and the Philae temple. Lunch, dinner and overnight on board your Nile cruise ship. (B,L,D)

Breakfast, then visit the Unfinished Obelisk at the Ancient Granite Quarries, and the famous High Dam. Lunch, then cruise to Kom-Ombo. Visit the Ptolemaic Temple of Kom-Ombo, which was dedicated to two gods: The Crocodile god Sobek and the Falcon-Headed god Haroeris. Sail to Edfu. Dinner and overnight on board your Nile cruise ship. (B,L,D)

Breakfast, then visit the Temple of Horus (237 B.C.), the best preserved Egyptian temple in existence. Lunch. Sail to Luxor. Dinner and overnight on board your Nile cruise ship. (B,L,D)

Breakfast, then cross the West Bank of the Nile to visit the Necropolis of ancient Thebes. Explore the valleys of the Kings and Queens where tombs of 64 Pharaohs and 57 Queens have been discovered, and enter some of the most remarkable ones. Visit the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon. Lunch. Afternoon, a visit to the Temple of Karnak, which took over 1500 years to build and is considered the world's largest religious complex. Then visit the Temple of Luxor, which was started by Amenhotep III, and completed by Ramses II. Dinner and overnight on board your Nile cruise ship. (B,L,D)

Breakfast, then disembark your Nile cruise ship, where you will be met and transferred to Luxor Airport for your flight back to Cairo. Upon arrival at Cairo Airport, you will be met and transferred to your hotel, the Ramses Hilton Hotel for an overnight. (B)