Included walking tour of the Basilica Cistern, Egyptian Bazaar and Dolmabahçe Palace - Get ready for another walking tour around Istanbul’s impressive ancient landmarks with breakfast at the hotel. After a short drive back towards the Hagia Sophia, you’ll descend into the largest of hundreds of underground cisterns beneath the city, the Basilica Cistern. Having been mostly drained now for easier public access, this extraordinary, pillared basin now displays its carved ‘medusa’ heads and 1,500-year-old brickwork, and you’ll have plenty of time to wander around.  After exploring the underground chambers that used to hold the city’s water supply, you’ll return to the surface for a visit to the colourful Spice Bazaar, known locally as the Egyptian Bazaar. Here, you’ll be able to savour the scents, sights and sounds of the city’s most popular shopping area and peruse its stalls complete with heaped displays of aromatic powders and trays of Turkish delight.  Your final stop today will be the opulent Dolmabahçe Palace, which has marked the city’s Bosporus waterfront for almost 200 years. As the administrative capital of the Ottoman Empire, and home to six sultans throughout its history, this magnificent building cost five million gold lira to create – the equivalent of roughly £1.45 billion in today’s currency! You’ll have time here to explore the stately residence, with its elegant facades, gilded interiors and expansive private gardens.   This afternoon, travel along the Bosporus Strait to your hotel and enjoy the rest of the evening on your own time. 

Day at leisure - Embrace time doing as much or as little as you’d like this morning with a full day at leisure. Perhaps venture back into Istanbul’s neighbourhoods for further exploration or meander around one of the city’s colourful bazaars. 

Fly to Cappadocia - Make the most of a leisurely morning with a final breakfast at the hotel before departing Istanbul for a flight to glorious Cappadocia, a region of impressive subterranean settlements and extraordinary rock features, in the heart of Anatolia.   Upon arrival, you’ll check into your enchanting new hotel, Ürgüp’s Yusuf Yiğitoğlul Mansion, which showcases Cappadocia’s famous rock-carved architecture. Settle in for an introduction to the area courtesy of your hosts before enjoying the rest of the evening at your own pace. 

Included visits to Pigeon Valley, Uçhisar Castle, Göreme’s open-air museum and Avanos - Set out for your first taste of Cappadocia’s breathtaking natural landscapes with a scenic coach trip of Göreme’s finest surrounding sights. You’ll start at Pigeon Valley with views over the region’s volcanic landscapes and famous ‘fairy chimneys’, a series of surreal-looking rock spires that dot the Cappadocian countryside. The valley, owing its name to hundreds of resident dovecotes (pigeon shelters) carved into the volcanic tuff, offers gentle trails and viewpoints.  Continue to the town of Uçhisar, based on the outskirts of Göreme’s UNESCO-listed National Park. Here, you’ll be introduced to Cappadocia’s impressive rock-cut architecture with a tour of the Uçhisar Kalesi (castle). Despite its name, this grand citadel is actually an immense rock cone, which has been carved and hollowed into a series of underground tunnels, chambers and guard posts.  After time spent admiring Uçhisar’s memorable rock-cut landmarks, you’ll head north into Göreme National Park for a visit to Sword Valley, which owes its name to the thin, jagged rock formations scattered across its arid vistas. Observe the panoramic views of the rugged landscapes under the midday sun and take in the charming rock-cut dwellings and sculpted forts that the region’s inhabitants have used across the centuries.   Your next stop will take you to the heart of Göreme to explore its fascinating open-air museum. Here, you’ll discover a wealth of monastic structures, carved from the volcanic tuff of a neighbouring hillside, and a number of ancient cave dwellings used by early refugees and later Christian missionaries. As you see these rock-carved structures, your guide will offer captivating insight into the lives and cultures of the region’s first residents.   Later in the afternoon, journey back to Ürgüp, stopping in the idyllic pottery village of Avanos on the way. Set on the banks of the Kizilirmak (Red River), Turkey’s longest waterway, this delightful small town is a major producer of traditional Anatolian Iznik pottery, and you can wander around its delightful stores before returning to Ürgüp.

Included morning visits to Ürgüp, Mustafapaşa and Kaymakli underground city with local lunch and afternoon at leisure - Your last full day in Turkey awaits this morning starting with an exploration of your hotel’s surrounding town, Ürgüp. As is customary throughout Cappadocia, this town is arranged around a central stone stack, Temenni Hill, which bares the region’s traditional rock-cut architecture. The town also boasts a number of fascinating historical sites, including the hilltop tomb of a former Selcuk sultan, Kilij Arslan IV, who was executed in the area. Discover wider Ürgüp before travelling to the village of Mustafapaşa, a hub of Islamic, Greek and classical Anatolian architecture. Here, you can stroll around before enjoying a traditional Anatolian lunch.   Afterwards, venture south to Kaymakli. Though it may seem like an unassuming village on the surface, you’ll discover the magnificent subterranean vaults that lie beneath with a tour of the area’s spectacular underground city. Previously used by Christian refugees as a sanctuary against invading Timurid forces, this eight-storied citadel showcases the region’s innovative rock-hewn architecture in a truly memorable way. Marvel at the underground chapels, wine presses and living quarters as you meander through the city’s labyrinthine stone tunnels.  Return to the surface for the ride back to the hotel.  

Return to the UK - After breakfast, you’ll travel to the airport for your return flight.