The purpose of this tour is to combine the culinary culture, wine and music. In Istanbul we spend Byzantine and ottoman days with culinary specialties of these two civilizations. We follow wine tastings and courses of turkish wines both in Istanbul and in Cappadocia and also turkish music both classical and folkloric. Together with all these activities we do not miss historical places and we follow a very detailed schedule in terms of cultural visits.
In all our restaurants menus are prepared according to gourmet recipes.

All wines are chosen among the local ones with the local wine grapes cultivated on these lands for thousands of years.


DAY 1 : ARRIVAL AND TRANSFER TO YOUR HOTEL

DAY 2 : BYZANTINE DAY IN ISTANBUL
Our day starts with the discovery of Byzantine monuments of Istanbul . The Church of
Pantocrator ( Zeyrek Camii), The Acquaducts of Valens, Saint Sophia and The
Underground Cistern are among the Byzantine sites that we discover. The lunch will take
place in the restaurant called Asitane which is located in a historical district of Istanbul.
The menu will be based on byzantine recipes like Tarhana (Traganos) soup, lamb cooked with
spices as main and Tavuk Gögsü ( breast of chicken as dessert).
Wines at lunch will be those made with the grapes also known in byzantine times.
Kavaklıdere Muscat (Dry white wine with moskhatos/misket grape)
Buyulubag Adakarası (Dry red wine with Adakarası grape)

In the afternoon our Byzantine exploration of the city will continue with the Church of Saint
Saviour in Chora which is also considered as one of the jewels of Byzantine art and
architecture of the late period. We will then proceed to fortification walls of cConstantinople
built in 5th century by Theodosius the 2nd.
Dinner will take place in an old byzantine cistern and will be composed of Byzantine
specialties.

DAY 3 : OTTOMAN TREASURES AND CUISINE
Full day reserved to Ottoman monuments of Istanbul. We will discover the buildings of the
classical period, not only the mosques but also bazaars. We will start with the Blue Mosque
and The Topkapı Palace where ottoman sultans resided 350 years. After visiting the
mosque of Suleymaniye we will take lunch in a local restaurant with typically ottoman
menu.

In the afternoon we will stroll in Eminonu area. We will see the Rustempaşa Mosque, taste
Turkish Coffee in a typical shop located at the position of the first coffee-shop established in
Istanbul. We will go to taste Pastirma at Namli, we will visit the Egyptian Bazaar and walk in
the streets of Tahtakale, the center of the business activity both in old and present times.
Dinner will be served in a restaurant known for the traditional dishes.During the dinner we
will listen to turkish classical music which takes its roots from byzantine times and continued
to be the court music during Ottoman Empire. Overnight in Istanbul.
At dinner we will taste wines which come from Tenedos Island on North Aegean mentioned
also by Homeros in Illiad on Troy.

DAY 4 : ISTANBUL – ANKARA – CORUM
We fly to Ankara early in the morning. Upon arrival at Esenboga Airport we go to the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations in Ankara where we can make the best introduction to the history of wine in Turkey- a history which goes back to Early Bronze age 5000 years ago. We then drive to Kalecik town the local grape called Kalecik karası. We pass Kalecik town and proceed to Çorum following the bed of Kızılırmak (Red River). We accommodate in a hotel in the region of Çorum.

DAY 5 : HATTUSAS – CAPPADOCIA
In the morning we depart visit to Hattusas, the capital of Hittite Kingdom which ruled in Anatolia between 1650 and 1200 B.C. The fortification walls, the gates, the temples… We then continue to Yazılıkaya, the oldest open air temple of the world where we see the relief’s of Hittite gods.
We take lunch near the ruins of Hattusas.
We then depart in the direction of Cappadocia through Yozgat and Bogazlıyan.Upon arrival we make our first wine tasting in Cappadocia on a terrace on on a vineyard in Uchisar area with the local whites and roses.

Accomodation in Cappadocia will be provided in a boutique hotel.

DAY 6 : WINE ROUTES OF CAPPADOCIA
In the morning we start with a pleasant walking in Pancarlık Valley where we discover the natural color show of Cappadocia. We visit little known bu beautiful church of Pancarlık and recently restorad rock church of Sarıca.
In Urgup we will visit the cellar of Turasan winery and taste wines of Turasan which is the leading wine company in Cappadocia established in 1943. We then proceed to Göreme Valley to visit the most beautiful rock carved churches in the region..The lunch is taken on the vineyard or in a local restaurant. After lunch we drive to the underground city of Derinkuyu.

In the afternoon we will visit the village of Sinasos which presents us a poetry on the stones with beautifully decorated façades of its 19th century houses. We visit beautiful churches of Sinasos like Church of Constantine and Helena and Church of st Basil.We will also stroll in the streets of the village which has the most beautiful examples of stone carving on the houses.
Our day will end with tasting of sparkling wines of Cappadocia produced with Emir grape.

DAY 7 : WINE ROUTES OF CAPPADOCIA
We depart in the morning to go to discover ‘ Kızılçukur’ ( red valley ) which is a beautiful valley with its vineyards and rock churches, especially ‘the church with grapes’ .Kızılçukur is nearly 6km long , is a valley which extends from Ortahisar area to Çavuşin village. It takes its name from the color of its rocks. On our way to Çavuşin we walk through the small vineyards of Cappadocia where local grapes like Dimrit, Kara üzüm, Razakı are grown. Almost in the middle of the valley we can also visit one of the most beautiful but little known rock churches of Cappadocia : “ The church with columns” .Our walking ends at Çavuşin village where we deserve a short stop.
Lunch is taken on a vineyard or in a local restaurant depending on the weather conditions.The menu wil be typical of Cappadocia, like a vineyard menu based on aubergines cooked in claypot and cracked wheat. The wines to be tasted at lunch are red and white table wines of Cappadocia .
We then continue to the North-west along the valley of Kızılırmak (red river) which is the longest river in Turkey, to the region of Gülşehir where we visit the old rock monastery of Açıksaray and the beautiful rock church of St. John the Baptist.
We extend towards the villages like Yeşilyurt, Yüksekli and Karaburna to visit vineyards and wine production centers.
We then finish our day in Uçhisar with the last tasting session of the day with quality wines produced by Kocabağ and Kavaklıdere companies :
The dinner will be taken in a local restaurant.

TOUR RATES

• The prices above are per person in Dbl room basis
• Single supplement is €334,00