7 DAYS BEST OF ATHENS AND ISTANBUL

Arrival Athens Airport and pick you up, transfer to city center( early arrival extra breakfast ) and starting Athens City Tour from the Parliament, the University, the Library, the Presidential Residence (Ex-King Residence) with the traditional presidential Guards, Panathinaiko Stadium (where the first Olympic Games took place in 1896), the Temple of Zeus and then we visit Acropolis and the New Museum. You can have a short stop for coffee or refreshments at the Museum Café or at the next traditional area of Plaka. After a stop at the traditional area of Plaka for a coffee break, or lunch you will visit the second most popular sightseeing of Athens, (especially during the afternoon hours when you can take the chance of the breathtaking sunset over the Aegean Sea!), Cape Sounio and Temple of God Poseidon!CapeSounio is located 70 km southeastern of Athens, at the southernmost spot of Athens. Sounion is noted as the site of ruins of an ancient Greek temple of Poseidon, the god of the sea in classical mythology. The remains are perched on the headland, surrounded on three sides by the sea. The ruins bear the deeply engraved name of English Romantic poet Lord Byron (1788–1824).late in the afternoon we will back at your hotel. Overnight in Athens.

Pick up from your hotel after your breakfast departure and driving along the mainland coast to Peloponnese, we will have our first stop, 1 hour later, at the Canal of Corinth (6 km length and 80 m. height). Soon we reach at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, one of the best Ancient Theatres worldwide with amazing acoustic. We will stop for lunch or a coffee break, at one of the most romantic towns of Greece, the seaside town of Nauplio, first capital city of Modern Greece. We will visit the Castle that there are 857 stairs from the town to the fortress, or you will  take a taxi boat to visit the small island of Bourtzi, in the middle of the city’s harbor  the fort on the sea and Nauplio’s trademark!

After your breakfast, we will drive to Delphi. Arrival delphi visit the Ancient Oracle, the Stadium, the Ancient Theater where could seat more than 5000 spectators and of course the Museum of Delphi, where you can admire the ‘’Charioteer’’, one of the best bronze statues ever! Delphi is perhaps best known for the oracle at the sanctuary that was dedicated to Apollo during the classical period. Afterwards, we can visit and have coffee or lunch, at the most famous winter resort in Greece, Arachova (a traditional and at the same time modern small city in an altitude of 1000 meters)! Depart from Arachova and driving to return Athens. Our guide may offer us a Greek night. Enjoy live entertainment, bouzouki music while having an authentic Greek dinner with a small cost . Overnight Athens.

Breakfast in the hotel. Then, transfer to airport for our Istanbul flight. Almost 1 and a half hour, we will arrive in Istanbul. Today we will have a boat trip on the Bosporus. A traditional excursion by boat along the waterway separating Europe and Asia. The shore is lined with old wooden villas, palaces of marble, fortresses, and small fishing villages. During the excursion you will pass the magnificent Dolmabahce Palace, and further along, the parks and imperial pavillions of Yildiz Palace. On the coastal edge of this park, is Ciragan Palace, 300 meters of is marble facade faces the shore. At Ortakoy a great variety of artists gather every Sunday to display their work along the street. Ortakoy is a symbol of tolerance with a church, a mosque and a synagogue existing side by side for centuries. Overnight in Istanbul

Today our trip will start Dolmabahce Palace. It’s just as a sultan’s palace should be: huge and sumptuous, with 285 rooms, 43 large salons, a 4000 kg (4-1/2-ton) Bohemian glass chandelier, and a Bosphorus-shore façade nearly 500 meters (1/4 mile) long. It’s the grandest of Ottoman imperial palaces.As with every traditional Ottoman grand residence (or palace), Dolmabahçe consists of two distinct parts: the Selamlık, or “public” area, and the Haremlik, or family private quarters.After the Selamlık, we can walk around to the back of the palace to the entrance of the Haremlik, where the succession of ever more sumptuous rooms continues. Our trip will continue with he Beylerbeyi Palace (Turkish: Beylerbeyi meaning "Lord of Lords") which is located at the Asian side of the Bosphorus. The palace used as an summer residence of Ottaman in 18th century. The notion that Beylerbeyi is also a guest house allocated to high-level state guests, hosting Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, French Emperor Napoleon III's wife, Empress Eugénie, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, and Prince Nikola of Montenegro among others. We will have a little free time to see and walk in Uskudar. Then, we will turn back to our hotel.

After having breakfast at the hotel, we will see the Old City. Istanbul is a city full of famous iconic sites that today, we will get to experience for ourselves. We will visit the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia who are famous in Turkey with their breathtaking silhouettes that make the skyline so unique. Then we will move on to the Topkapi Palace, a beautiful Ottoman palace once home to the Ottoman Sultans and the first president of Turkey. Next, we will spend some time visiting where the gladiators of ancient Roman Constantinople, entertained the crowds at the site of the Hippodrome. Today we will have time to shop. Our guide will take us to a very well known carpet shop and jeweler. Then, we will turn back to our hotel.

Another pleasant day awaits us. Firstly, we will visit The Grand which is one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world with over 60 marbled streets and over 4,000 shops. Our next duration will be the 17th century Spice Bazaar, an extraordinary, colorful and fantastic place to see where we can buy various gifts for your loved ones.We are ending our itinerary with Pierre Loti Hill.opens a magnificent panoramic view of the Golden Horn.The hill is named after Pierre Loti, a French novelist and naval officer who wrote his first novel, Aziyadé, after sojourning in the tea house here in 1876. Take a short cable car ride to the top of this historic place to enjoy your time. Turkey is very famous for its leather outfits and goods. We will see and may shop them at the end of the trip. Our last night in our hotel.

Today we will transfer to the airport for back to our country with unforgettable memories.