2026: Itineraries below
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 plan 3 linked segments for 2026-
Greece & Bulgaria / Turkey / Uzbekistan
Segment A: Greece & Bulgaria
1 Arrive in Athens and transfer to hotel. Short orientation tour – Athens overnight
2 Ancient Athens Tour: Acropolis, Parthenon & Acropolis Museum. Afternoon free.
Athens overnight
3 Free morning and drive to Depart from Athens. Brief stop at the Corinth Canal, Visit to ancient Corinth and head to Dephi.
Delphi overnight
4 Full day in Dephi. Visit Apollo temple and museum drive to kalambaka
Kalambaka overnight
5 Visit Meteora monasterie. Drive to Thesoloniki
Thesoloniki overnight
6 Visit Meteora monasteries and Drive to Thesoloniki
Thesoloniki overnight
7 Full day Thesoloniki tour
Thesoloniki overnight
8 Drive to Skopje.
Skopje overnight
9 Tour in old city of Skopje.
Skopje overnight
10 Visit Rila monastery on the way to Sophia.
Sophia overnight
11 Half day Sophia then visit Koprivshtitsa and Troyan Monastery on the way to Veliko Turnovo.
Veliko Turnovo overnight
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 overnight
13 Plovdiv tour then exxplore Edirne on the way to Istanbul.
Segment B: Turkey (days 13- 24) 12 days
Tour B arrives in Istanbul
Istanbul overnight
14 Tour A transfers to airport to fly home
Tour B flies to Cappadoccia
15 Cappadocia.
overnight Cappadocia
16 Cappadocia and Konya
overnight in Konya
17 Tour Konya then drive to Pamukkale
Pamukkale overnight
18 Aphrodisias and Laodicea then drive to Bodrum Bodrum overnight
19 Bodrum Castle and Mausoleum of Halicarnasus. Drive to Kusadasi Kusadasi overnight
20 Ephesus & Sirince Kusadasi overnight
21 Pergamun and on to Canakkale Canakkale overnight
22 Troy & Canakkale Naval Museum and submarine Canakkale overnight
SegmentC : İstanbul- Uzbekistan (Days 23-33) 11 days
23 Tour Gallipoli, Drive to Istanbul. Tour C arrives in IST
Istanbul overnight
24 Tour B flies home Tour C flies to Khiva, Uzbekistan
25 full day Khiva Khiva overnight
26 drive or train to Bukhara, short tour
Bukhara overnight
27 full day Bukhara Bukhara overnight
28 drive or train to Samarkand, short tour, Registan Square in evening
Samarkand overnight
29 full day Samarkand
Samarkand overnight
30 drive or train to Tashkent, short tour
Tashkent overnight
31 full day Tashkent
Tashkent overnight
32 fly to IST
Istanbul overnight
33 Transfer to aiport to fly home
2 day Istanbul tour available before or after any segment – guided or independent
Jewels of the Silk Road: A Grand Tour of Uzbekistan
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
