Day 1 - Ancona - Igoumenitsa (-/-/-)
Meeting of participants at the Anek Lines box, Maritime Station, Port of Ancona. Completion of port formalities and boarding of the Anek Lines M/N. Accommodation on board in reserved cabins. Departure for Igoumenitsa. Free dinner and overnight on board.
Day 2 - Igoumenitsa - Thessaloniki (B/-/D) 330 km
Once disembarked in Igoumenitsa, we will head northeast towards Kalamata, where we will stop to visit the incredible Meteora. Lunch stop in the surrounding area before continuing to Thessaloniki, where we will stay overnight. Dinner and overnight in the hotel.
Day 3 - Thessaloniki - Alexandroupoli (B/-/D) 350 km
Breakfast at the hotel. Departure for Alexandroupoli with a stop at the archaeological site of Philippi with its beautiful Amphitheatre. After the visit, we will take a beautiful road in the hills where we will stop for lunch in a charming Greek village. After lunch, we will head towards the sea to take the highway to Alexandroupoli. Dinner at the hotel.
Day 4 - Alexandroupoli - Çanakkale (B/-/D) 210 km
Breakfast at the hotel. Departure for the Turkish border of Ipsala and, after completing customs formalities, we will head towards the new bridge inaugurated in 2020 that crosses the Dardanelles Strait. Arrival in Çanakkale in the afternoon. Check-in at the hotel and free time for relaxation. Dinner at the hotel.
Day 5 - Çanakkale - Kusadasi (B/-/D) 460 km
Breakfast at the hotel and departure for Kusadasi, along the wonderful coast full of coves and beautiful landscapes, visiting the ancient city of Pergamon. Arrival in the afternoon and check-in at the hotel. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 6 - Kusadasi - Pamukkale (B/-/D) 210 km
Breakfast at the hotel and departure for Pamukkale. We will immediately reach the wonderful site of Ephesus, famous for the Library of Celsus. Lunch stop along the way to arrive in Pamukkale in the early afternoon, where we will stay overnight. Dinner at the hotel.
Day 7 - Pamukkale - Saklikent - Antalya (B/-/D) 470 km
Breakfast at the hotel. We will cross the city of Denizli heading south to skirt the Cankurtaran Park. We will continue climbing up to 1600 meters above sea level and then descend towards the magnificent Saklikent gorges, and reach Antalya where we will stay overnight. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 8 - Antalya - Perge - Altınbeşik National Park - Konya (B/-/D) 300 km
Breakfast at the hotel. We will visit the nearby site of Perge and then venture into the mountains of Altınbeşik National Park. We will skirt Lake Beyşehir and arrive in Konya in the late afternoon, where we will stay overnight. Dinner at the hotel.
Day 9 - Konya - Goreme (Cappadocia) (B/-/D) 320 km
Breakfast at the hotel. We will head north to "enter" the Tuz Gölü salt lake, the second largest lake in Turkey. Lunch stop and we will continue to Goreme to admire the sunset over the Rose Valley. Dinner at the Hotel.
Day 10 - Cappadocia (B/-/D)
Breakfast at the hotel. For those who book the hot air balloon ride (not included), wake up at dawn. The organizers will pick you up at the hotel to take you to the take-off area and provide you with a packed breakfast. With the others, we will take our motorcycles (or a taxi) to go see the show from a panoramic point. Around 10 am, we will meet at the hotel with the whole group to take the motorcycles and visit other areas of this incredible location. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
Day 11 - Cappadocia - Derinkuyu - Adiyaman - (B/-/D) - 510 km
Breakfast at the hotel and departure for Derinkuyu, the largest of the underground cities. After the visit, we will take all internal roads through endless wheat fields and then climb up to 2000 meters above sea level. We will enter the southeastern Anatolia region to reach Adiyaman in the late afternoon. Overnight and dinner at the hotel.
Day 12 - Adiyaman - Nemrut Dağı - Malatya - (B/-/D) - 190 km
Breakfast at the hotel and departure for Nemrut Dağı, the so-called Hierothesion, a combination of monumental tomb and sanctuary, the summit of which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. After the visit, we will continue north to reach Malatya, where we will stay overnight. Dinner at the hotel.
Day 13 - Malatya - Kemaliye - Karanlik Canyon - Sivas - (B/-/D) - 400 km
Breakfast at the hotel. We will head north to reach the mythical Euphrates. Kemaliye is a beautiful town located in a particularly lush valley floor. Shortly after, we will travel the famous Dark Canyon, 15 km of dirt road that runs along the river with dark tunnels hand-carved into the rock, spectacular! We will continue northwest to reach Sivas, where we will stay overnight. Dinner at the hotel.
Day 14 - Sivas - Boğazkale - Corum - (B/-/D) - 360 km
Breakfast at the hotel. With Sivas, we will have returned to Central Anatolia and we will continue west with a stop in the beautiful Hattusa, capital of the Hittite Empire. After the visit, we will head north towards Corum, where we will stay overnight. Dinner at the hotel.
Day 15 - Corum - Safranbolu - Bolu - (B/-/D) - 450 km
Breakfast at the hotel. We will continue north entering the Ilgaz mountain range (weather permitting) where, taking the Tosya Ilgazi pass at 1650 meters, we will arrive around lunchtime in Safranbolu, a town of 50,000 inhabitants located in the province of Karabük, 60 km from the Black Sea, known for its very well-preserved Ottoman historic center, included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1994. We will reach Bolu in the afternoon, where we will stay overnight. Dinner at the hotel.
Day 16 - Bolu - Istanbul (B/-/D) - 260 km
Breakfast at the hotel and departure for Istanbul! One of the most frenetic cities in Turkey with more than 15 million inhabitants is the most populous center in Europe. Also known as Constantinople or Byzantium, Istanbul, although it is not the state capital, is still the main financial, industrial and cultural center. The city is a real metropolis that extends between Thrace (in Europe) and Anatolia (in Asia), thus appearing as the only city in the world belonging to two continents.
Day 17 - Istanbul - (B/-/-)
Day dedicated to visiting the city. Free dinner.
Day 18 - Istanbul - Ipsala (border) - Kavala - (B/-/D) - 450 km
ATTENTION - departure at 6:00 am!! We have now found that this is the most suitable time to leave the city to avoid spending at least 2 more hours stuck in the various junctions/ring roads. This transfer stage will take us to the Ipsala border and, after customs formalities, we will head towards Kavala, a well-known seaside resort in Greece. Overnight and dinner at the hotel.
Day 19 - Kavala - Larissa (B/-/D) - 330 km
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer stage where we will alternate stretches of highway and state roads around Mount Olympus. Arrival in Larissa in the early afternoon, where we will have a few hours of relaxation for a visit to the city. Overnight and dinner at the hotel.
Day 20 - Larissa - Metsovo - Igoumenitsa (boarding) (B/-/D) - 250 km
Breakfast at the hotel. Direction Kalambaka and then reach Metsovo, a town that rises in the heart of the Pindos mountain range, nestled in the Pindos National Park, at the point where the Epirus region intersects with Thessaly and Macedonia. After lunch, we will continue calmly towards Igoumenitsa for boarding. Free dinner.
Day 21 - Arrival in Ancona scheduled for 4:30 pm.
