From Cappadocia to the Pontic Alps

Arrival in Kayseri. Transfer to the hotel in Cappadocia. Overnight in Cappadocia.

After breakfast, sightseeing: Uçhisar, Göreme Open-Air Museum, Zelve, Paşabağları, Derinkuyu Underground City, Ürgüp, Avanos. Dinner and overnight in Cappadocia.

After breakfast, departure for Ankara. On the way, a visit to the salt lake Tuz Gölü. (The salt lake is classified as a Class A area of importance for the protection of wetlands and biodiversity. UNESCO has placed it on its Tentative List of World Heritage Sites.)
Arrival in Ankara, visit to the city citadel and later to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. Dinner and overnight in Ankara.

After breakfast, drive to Hattusa. Arrival in Boğazkale (Hattusa), known as the city of temples. We will see the King’s Gate, the Lion Gate, the tunnel, the Great Citadel, the Great Temple and the museum. We will also see the ancient site of Yazılıkaya (“inscribed rock”), near Boğazkale. This is the best-known Hittite rock monument. Here there is also an open-air pantheon. Reliefs of Hittite gods and goddesses adorn the walls. They are carved into the natural rock and date from the 13th century BC.
We then drive to Amasya, a city marked by the legacy of the Ottoman sultans that offers magnificent traces of past civilisations. Set in a narrow gorge on the Yeşilırmak River, Amasya dates back to 6500 BC. During the Ottoman period the city became an important cultural centre where many scholars and sultans’ sons were educated. Accordingly, the Ottoman sultans adorned it with many buildings. Yet visitors can still observe Amasya’s heritage from earlier civilisations. The ruins of the castle rise from the rugged rock and include an Ottoman palace and a secret underground passage, while impressive rock tombs are carved into the cliff above the town. Dinner and overnight in Amasya.

After breakfast, drive to Samsun. Sightseeing in Samsun, one of the cities in the region with the greatest tourism potential, rich in natural, historical and cultural assets and accessible by sea, air and rail. Samsun has preserved its importance and heritage over time, becoming a key site of the Turkish War of Independence with Atatürk’s arrival on 19 May 1919 to plan the defence of Anatolia.
We drive on to Giresun. Dinner and overnight in Giresun.

After breakfast, we drive to Mount Zigana, with spectacular views of the villages and the Pontic Mountains. We arrive in Gümüşhane to visit Karaca Cave, considered the most beautiful in Turkey for its colours and formations.
On the way to Trabzon we will visit Sumela Monastery, located in the eastern part of the Black Sea region in the middle of the Black Mountain. This ancient church is more than 1,700 years old and is one of the oldest monasteries in the world. According to tradition, Sumela Monastery was built in the 3rd century, in the Byzantine period, by two priests who came from Athens. Over a long period the church grew in importance, becoming a place where large revenues were collected, especially in the 8th century. In the 18th century most of the church was restored, and some of the walls were painted with frescoes. In the 19th century, after a large number of rooms were added, the monastery acquired its splendid appearance. For centuries Sumela Monastery was an important religious centre and a place where large groups of people gathered and were educated. The main parts of the monastery are the rooms, the reception room, the library and the holy scriptures. The walls are painted with frescoes, and the main themes running through them are scenes from the lives of Jesus and Mary. In the local vernacular, Sumela Monastery is called Mother Mary. Arrival at the hotel, dinner, overnight.

Today we will explore the most important parts of Trabzon: we will see the remarkable collection of Byzantine frescoes in the 13th-century Church of Hagia Sophia and visit the Atatürk Mansion on Soğuksu Hill, overlooking the Black Sea.
We go up to the Boztepe viewpoint, from where we can see the whole city. We will see the Kızlar (Girls’) Monastery on Boztepe Hill. Return to the hotel, dinner, overnight in Trabzon.

Transfer to the airport and flight from Trabzon.