Day 1
You'll be met at the airport and transferred to Mid Town Hotel for your six night stay. After check-in and a short rest, we'll enjoy a welcome dinner at a local kebap restaurant, Kebap House.
Day 2
Following breakfast, we will have our first cooking class at the hotel from a very talented chef who is also the founder of Turkish Olympic Cooking Team. We will learn to cook the first of many traditional Turkish dishes. We'll enjoy the fruits of our labor for lunch, and afterwards embark on a guided walking tour, heading directly for Sultanahmet Square to visit the Topkapi Palace, used by the Ottoman Sultans from the 15th to the 19th centuries. We'll see the impressive collection of priceless jewels, crystal, silver and porcelain, robes worn by the sultans and relics of the Prophet Mohammed. We'll end the afternoon at the famous Grand Bazaar - with over 4000 shops filled with clothing, fabrics, carpets, jewellery and so much more!
Dinner tonight at another famous Kebap Restaurant, Hamdi Restaurant.
Day 3
After breakfast, our second cooking class, followed by lunch. This afternoon, our guided tour will take us back to Sultanahmet Square to visit the Underground Cistern and to see the Egyptian Obelisk and the Istanbul Crafts Centre and then on to the Blue Mosque and Ayasofya. Tonight we'll enjoy a relaxing and posh dinner sitting on the shores of the Bosphorus, Feriye Restaurant.
Day 4
Today we'll have a full day of touring - first a visit to the Suleymaniye Mosque, built between 1550 and 1557 by Suleyman the Magnificient and then to the New Mosque located at the southern end of the Galata Bridge , then to the famous Spice Market (the Egyptian Bazaar) built in the early 17th century as an extension of the New Mosque complex. Here we'll find an infinite variety of spices and herbs and have some time to shop for some of them. After the Spice Market, we'll take a cruise along the Bosphorus Strait to view the houses and palaces along the shore and on our way back to the hotel, return to the Grand Bazaar for a little shopping. Enjoy a nice fish dinner at Boukoleon Restaurant tonight.
Day 5
Today we will visit the Cooking Alaturca School for our 3rd class. Afternoon and evening at leisure. (this is an opportunity to shop for souvenirs and gifts or perhaps to visit the local hammam.)
Day 6
After breakfast this morning, our 4th cooking session followed by lunch. This afternoon we'll take a guided tour of Dolmabahce Palace. The facade of Dolmabahce Palace, built in the mid-19th century, stretches for 600 metres along the European shore of the Bosphorus. Later today, we'll drive up to Camlica Hill, the highest spot in Istanbul, through the Bosphorus Bridge. A perfect place for us to see Istanbul, the Bosphorus and the magnificent panorama. We will also visit a wine butique, belonging to one of the major local wine brands, Kavakldere. Here, you will have chance to taste many different local and international wines and purchase yourself a special bottle. Tonight we'll enjoy our farewell dinner at Kervansaray Restaurant with entertainment by a traditional Anatolian Folklore group.
Day 7
After breakfast at the hotel we'll transfer to the airport for your return home - or to continue on with your visit to Turkey. |
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Turkey
