2nd Day... After breakfast, we marvel at Goreme's fairy chimneys, troglodyte dwellings, sweeping vistas and Open Air Museum, which is home to literally dozens of rock-carved monasteries and churches adorned with brilliant Byzantine frescoes. We stop at numerous spots to admire the view and take photographs. Lunch at a local restaurant, then we visit rock formations in Pasabag, Zelve's deserted monastery complex, scenic Rose Valley and the pottery-making village of Avanos. Return to hotel.
Dinner and overnight in Cappadocia

3rd Day… Depart early for the longest day of the tour. After a brief visit to Konya's Seljuk and Ottoman monuments and the Mevlana Museum, housed in a former Whirling Dervish lodge near the tomb of famed Sufi mystic Celaleddin Rumi, lunch will be served en route. After the lunch, our drive takes us through snow-capped mountains, rugged gorges and pine forests to the vast steppes of the Central Anatolian plains before we arrive at Antalya, the heart of the Turkish Riviera.
Dinner and overnight in Antalya

4th Day… We spend a full day exploring the ancient Pamphylian cities visited by Alexander the Great in 333 BC, Antalya Museum and the Antalya old city and harbor districts, with their 13th century Seljuk minaret and well-preserved Ottoman homes looking out upon the fantastic view of the Taurus Mountains reflected in the Mediterranean Sea. In Perge, we visit the well-preserved city walls dating back to the Hellenistic Age, theater seating 14,000 and the largest stadium in Asia Minor. Countless marble statues excavated from the Agora and a bath are on display at Antalya Museum. Next, in Aspendos, we admire the beautifully preserved Roman theater and the tallest surviving aqueduct systems in Turkey. Then, it's on to Side, a seaside resort town that has a local museum, a Roman theater, well preserved monuments, beaches, restaurants, motels, hotels and shops... The sites here are clustered together, so we have plenty of time to explore and for a leisurely lunch in a local restaurant before returning to our hotel.
Dinner and overnight in Antalya

5th Day… In the morning, we travel through the Taurus Mountains to Pamukkale. Pamukkale, which means "Cotton Castle" in Turkish, is yet another of Turkey's geological wonders. Over millions of years, a hot spring spilling down the hillside has left behind rich mineral deposits, which have created enormous, pure-white basins and stalactites. The site was holy to the Greeks and Romans, and Byzantine ruins have also been discovered. Here we will watch the sun set behind the travertine terraces.
Dinner and overnight in Pamukkale