I have just returned from a fabulous trip - Magnificent Turkey Tour with Titan Travel. What a magnificent trip it was! My experience started with Titan’s VIP door-to-door chauffeur airport service to Gatwick. This took all the worry away about having to get to the airport!
We arrived in Istanbul and were met by our Turkish guide, Ozcan, who joined us for the rest of the trip. We were transferred to the Kent Hotel in Istanbul for the next 3 nights. We headed out in the evening to a local square with lots of choice of restaurants and local cuisine and music!
DAY 1
Our walking tour took us to see the fascinating obelisks and columns in Sultanahmet Square, the site of the Hippodrome of Constantinople, then onto the breathtaking Blue Mosque and across to Hagia Sofia. This was once the largest cathedral for almost 1000 years! This unique building is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been a church, a mosque, and a museum, now since 2020, it is a mosque once more! The architecture is complex and completely unique in the fact that it features both Christian and Islamic architecture.
Next, we went to the Grand Bazarr for shopping, we had Turkish tea in the local cafe where they also served lots of sweet treats. Back to the hotel for a quick change and then took the tram from outside our hotel to Misir Carsisi for our evening meal overlooking the Golden Horn. The Turkish food was wonderful and the lights around the city are dazzling.
DAY 2
This morning we walked into the city to visit Suleymaniye Mosque, the most beautiful of all the imperial mosques. Then onto one of the city's highlights, the Topkapi Palace, another UNESCO site and museum since 1924, exhibiting the imperial treasury, including the fourth largest diamond of its kind in the world, the Spoonmaker’s Diamond. It certainly sparkled!
The next visit was a surprise for us all, a unique underground cistern right in the heart of the city. It is a sight to see - an underground sunken cavern with a cross vaulted ceiling supported by 336 columns. It has been featured in a James Bond film and Dan Brown’s Inferno. They had a light show with spectacular colours changing all the time. After a quick lunch, we spent a couple of hours cruising the Bosphorus River in the afternoon sunshine.
DAY 3
Today we left Istanbul and headed out of the city for a 5-hour drive to Gallipoli Peninsula alongside the Sea of Marmara. Stunning views along the coast arriving in Gallipoli we toured the battlefields, the scene of the aborted Allied invasion of 1915. Our guide talked us through the importance of the Dardanelles strait and the part it played during the First World War. The sites and area were very peaceful and brought tears to my eyes.
We arrived by a short ferry ride to Canakkale. A pretty seafront resort hotel with lots of atmosphere. Our hotel for 1 night was Buyuk Truva Hotel and the perfect location to explore.
DAY 4
Up early and today's adventure took us to the ancient city of Troy! I studied ancient Greece in primary school and I’ve always been fascinated by this story, to see a replica of the Trojan today was unreal. For lunch we headed to the nearby village of Bergama, we visited a local house for a delicious home-cooked lunch, a truly unique experience!
We continued on to Greco-Roman City of Pergamon, admiring its acropolis, temples and 10,000 seat theatre. Our next hotel stop was in Kusadasi, staying at the 5* Korumar Hotel De Luxe, with fabulous views across the ocean.
DAY 5
On the agenda for today was Ephesus, which certainly had the wow factor! It was a dream to spend time exploring and learning about this remarkable ancient Greek city. It reflects centuries of history and I was so glad to have the opportunity to see this first hand.
Next stop, The Virgin Mary, just outside Ephesus, this is where Mary was believed to have spent her final years. Lunch was a picnic in the gardens of a nearby Selcuk, where we made our own Turkish flatbreads and visited the local carpet makers.
Our overnight stay was at Pamukkale’s Spa Hotel Collosae Thermal. We arrived in good time to experience the spa facilities, treating myself to a relaxing full body massage!
DAY 6
We made our way early to Pamukkale-Hieropolis, another one of my favourite sites to see. There is nowhere else in the world you will be able to see the white terraces, filled with pools of mineral-rich waters in the middle of nowhere. We had a quick paddle in the pools whilst there.
We had our final stop, overnighting in Antalya. Having never done an organised tour like this before, I would not hesitate to use Titan for my own holidays. Titan really do look after you from the moment you step outside your front door!
