Classics of The Aegean Tour - 3 Days
With this 3 Day / 2 Night tour, you will be visiting the highlights of the Aegean.
Day 1
We take the morning flight to Izmir. On our arrival to Izmir Airport, our guide and driver meet us. We first drive to the Virgin Mary’s House which is believed to be where St John took Virgin Mary after Christ was crucified. After this visit, we will drive to Ephesus and explore this great city. During this visit we will walk from uphill at the South Gate downhill to the city’s harbor where our vehicle will wait for us. The Council Chamber, the Fountain of Traian, the temple of Hadrian and the Library of Celsus are some of the major artifacts that were built in the Roman Era and we will visit along the way. Our visits also include the Terrace Houses: A number of these dwellings where the rich and the dignitary of Ephesus resided, with the most beautiful ground mosaics, frescoes, terra cotta pipe plumbing and private baths. We conclude our experience in Ephesus with a visit to the Great Theater of Ephesus. After touring we drive to the nearby town of Selcuk for a well-earned lunch. The archaeological museum in Selcuk hosts some of the most amazing artifacts from the site, and a visit here will add on to our understanding of Ephesus. Later in the afternoon we will visit St John’s Basilica, believed to be the tomb of the Apostle John, Christ’s beloved disciple. From the basilica, we will be able to look down on the remains of the temple of Artemis. We end the day with our visit to the Isa Bey Mosque. After this, we drive to our hotel. Overnight in Kusadasi.
- Lunch
- Dinner
Day 2
Our day begins with a short drive to the site of Prienne where we will explore an early Greek city that followed the Hippodamus’s Plan and built on a grid. Prienne is where Alexander is believed to have spent some time during his campaign and provided funds for the Temple of Athena to be completed. The city also offers a square shaped council chamber, a classical Greek theater built on the slopes of a hill, and a macellum (fish and meat market) that served the Prienians through its history. We will then drive to the nearby site of Miletus where the Roman theater welcomes us with its spectacular location. The theater hides a number of artifacts, one of those is the Agora. Although the gates to the agora were transferred to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, there is still lots to see here. We will visit the Baths of Faustina, built in honor of Faustina Minor, the wife of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. After lunch at a local restaurant, we will explore the Temple of Apollo at Didyma. The temple is built on the grounds of an archaic temple and according to Pausanias, the oracle existed here way before the archaic temple and the temple of Apollo, the remains of which are grand and spectacular. Overnight in Kusadasi.
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
Day 3
In the morning, we drive to Aphrodisias. The sculptors’ school in Aphrodisias produced great works of art which were then exported all throughout the Roman territories of Rome, including Hadrian’s Villa, just outside of Rome. The city followed the cult of Aphrodite (hence the name Aphrodisias) and expands over a large terrain, with the largest stadium in Asia Minor, a temple dedicated to Aphrodite, and a beautiful theater. During the excavations, NYU and other teams were able to put together a fascinating museum exhibiting friezes from the Sebasteion. After lunch at a local restaurant, we drive to Hierapolis. Our visit in Hierapolis is a walk following the site’s main street, passing through one of the largest necropolises of ancient Anatolia with examples of various burial traditions, an agora with ancient public latrines, a great Roman theater, and below the ancient site is a natural phenomenon, the calcium terraces of Pamukkale. After this, we are transferred to Denizli Airport for the evening flight to Istanbul.
- Breakfast
- Lunch
Please fill out the form below for Classics of The Aegean Tour - 3 Days booking
This is a private tour and the departure date can be any day.
- 2 people 1315 USD per person
- 3 people 1100 USD per person
- 4 people 965 USD per person
- 5-6 people 885 USD per person
- 7-9 people 805 USD per person
- 10-12 people 730 USD per person
Included services
- Accommodation including breakfast
- Transportation with an A/C luxury minivan
- Professional guiding
- A la carte lunches with soft drinks
- Dinners
- Admission fees to the museums and sights
- Taxes
Excluded services
- Domestic flights
- Customary gratuities
Tour Categories
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