2026:
Greece & Bulgaria
Turkey
Uzbekistan
Our small group tours explore a mix traditional and classical sites and seldom visited areas. With a maximum of 12 participants, we eat at small local restaurants and go where larger groups cannot. We stay in 3–4-star hotels, often with 2-night stays. When possible, we select boutique hotels where we may be only clients. Our trips include most meals, hotels (based on double occupancy), domestic air where indicated, most tips, guide services and entry fees and transportation in an air conditioned, private minibus.
: Jewels of the Silk Road: A Grand Tour of Uzbekistan
Contact us for pricing or questions
Plan custom trips, Istanbul day trips & cruise excursions
A sense of adventure is required
as some of these areas are not visited very often, and we may adjust the itinerary due to local conditions, weather or unique opportunities. Expect to walk 1-4 miles each day (We’ll offer alternatives for those who decide not to walk)
Our close friend, Lutfi , is licensed as a national guide by the Turkish Ministry of Tourism and is a professor of tourism at the University of Canakkale. He has been our guide for previous trips and will be with us throughout this trip. I’m licensed as a State of Washington Seller of Travel and will escort this trip. I’ve visited Turkey many times and have led similar tours with Lutfi over the last 25 years.
Exploring Turkey – our experiences in Turkey over the last 25 years.
A brief summary of our trips follows with detailed day by day in PDF, linked below
Contact us for prices or with questions. (Personal information is never sold or otherwise given to others)
Here we just outline the day-to-day explorations, with links in each section to historical detail and sections from our journals from previous trips. Besides the listed itinerary, whenever possible we have optional, guided evening walks, a great opportunity for night photography without getting lost.
We offer3 ‘segments for 2026- Greece & Bulgaria, Turkey &H Uzbekis’tan
Segment A: Greece & Bulgaria
Detailed day-by-day itinerary for Segment A (PDF)
1 Arrive in Athens and transfer to hotel. Short orientation tour Athens A
2 Ancient Athens Tour: Acropolis, Parthenon & Acropolis Museum. Afternoon free. Athens A
3 Free morning and drive to Depart from Athens. Brief stop at the Corinth Canal, Visit to ancient Corinth and head to Dephi. Delphi A
4 Full day in Dephi. Visit Apollo temple and museum drive to kalambaka Kalambaka A
5 Visit Meteora monasterie. Drive to Thesoloniki Thesoloniki A
6 Visit Meteora monasteries and Drive to Thesoloniki A
7 Full day Thesoloniki tour Thesoloniki A
8 Drive to Skopje. Skopje A
9 Tour in old city of Skopje. Skopje A
10 Visit Rila monastery on the way to Sophia. Sophia A
11 Half day Sophia then visit Koprivshtitsa and Troyan Monastery on the way to Veliko Turnovo. Veliko Turnovo A
12 Visit Tsarevets Citadel. Leave for Plovdiv. After a brief stop at the Shipchenski monastery of St Nicholas, we cross Shipka pass. Our next stop is the Etar Ethnographic village, a UNESCO world heritage site. Plovdiv A
13 Plovdiv tour then exxplore Edirne on the way to Istanbul. Tour B arrives in istanbul Istanbul A B
14 Transfer to aiport to fly home or fly to Cappadoccia A B Tour B: Turkey (days 13- 24) 12 days B
15 Cappadocia. overnight Cappadocia B
16 Cappadocia and overnight in Konya Konya B
17 Tour Konya then drive to Pamukkale Pamukkale B
18 Aphrodisias and Laodicea then drive to Bodrum Bodrum B
19 Bodrum Castle and Mausoleum of Halicarnasus. Drive to Kusadasi Kusadasi B
20 Ephesus & Sirince Kusadasi B
21 Pergamun and on to Canakkale Canakkale B
22 Troy & Canakkale Naval Museum and submarine Canakkale B
23 Tour Gallipoli, Drive to Istanbul. Tour C arrives in IST Istanbul B C
24 Fly home or to Khiva, Uzbekistan B C
Tour C : İstanbul- Uzbekistan (Days 23-33) 11 days C
25 full day Khiva Khiva C
26 drive or train to Bukhara, short tour Bukhara C
27 full day Bukhara Bukhara C
28 drive or train to Samarkand, short tour, Registan Square in evening Samarkand C
29 full day samarkand Samarkand C
30 drive or train to Tashkent, short tour Tashkent C
31 full day Tashkent Tashkent C
32 fly to IST Istanbul C
33 Transfer to aiport to fly home C
2 day IMST tour available before or aftder any segment – guided or independent
Segment C: 11 day Uzbekistan Silk Road City Tour Starts
Jewels of the Silk Road: A Grand Tour of Uzbekistan
12-Sep arrive in IST
13-Sep fly to Khiva
14-Sep full day Khiva
15-Sep drive or train to Bukhara, short tour
16-Sep full day Bukhara
17-Sep drive or train to Samarkand, short tour, Registan Square in evening
18-Sep full day Samarkand
19-Sep drive or train to Tashkent, short tour
20-Sep full day Tashkent
21-Sep fly to IST
22-Sep transfer to airport
. Detailed day-by-day itinerary for Segment D (PDF) Bulgaria
We travel in southern Bulgaria visiting ancient sites, Orthodox monasteries and cultural attractions including a 19th century open air living history museum. (We visited northern Bulgaria via an AmaWaterways cruise). Lutfi will not be able to accompany us, due to teaching responsibilities. I will escort the group and we’ll have local guides at each stop.
1 Arrival in İstanbul and transfer to hotel . Short orientation meeting and join group who finished Uzbekistan Tour.
Overnight in Istanbul.
2 Drive to Plovdiv. Visit old town.
Overnight in Plovdiv. (425 km)
3 We visit the Thracian Tomb in Kazanluk. After a brief stop at the Shipchenski monastery of St Nicholas, we cross Shipka pass. Our next stop is the Etar Ethnographic village, a UNESCO world heritage site. Its street of 19th century Balkan buildings demo traditional crafts, plus historical water mills. Drive to Veliko Turnovo.
Overnight in Veliko Turnovo.(210 km)
4 After breakfast at the hotel, walking tours of Tsarevets Citadel and Arbanassi village. Free time in Turnovo.
Overnight in Veliko Turnovo. (20 km)
5 Depart for Sophia and visit the town of Koprivshtitsa and Troyan Monastery. Short sightseeing city tour of Sophia
Overnight in Sophia (220 km)
6 Walking tour including the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the Serdica archaeological site and old bazaar. Head south to the beautiful Rila Monastery
Overnight in Sophia (250 km)
7 We drive back across Turkish border to visit Edirne, the old capital of the Ottoman empire. Visit Selimiye mosque and Beyazit complex which was a medical school and hospital during Ottoman times. Drive back to İstanbul.
Overnight in Istanbul (550 km)
8 Fly home
2 Day Pre/Post -Tour in İstanbul
Below is our comprehensive 2 day Istanbul tour. We can also customize a tour to visit other Istanbul sites, or just arrange hotel and airport transfers for you to explore on your own.
The Rest of Istanbul – What You Missed on Your Istanbul Tour
Exploring the ‘Other’ Mosques of Istanbul
Day 1 Hippodrome / Obelisk, Blue mosque, St. Sophia, Basilica cistern, Grand Bazaar (Kapali Carsi) walk downhill thru local markets to Spice (Egyptian) market. Boat trip on Bosphorus
Day 2 Topkapi Palace, Rustem Pasa Mosque, Sahaflar antique booksellers market. Walking tour to Galata Bridge, Tunel funicular to Galata Tower and Taksim Square.
The exact itinerary may change based on group interests, opening hours & special events.
Buy prints, mugs, puzzles & other products of Turkey
