Istanbul Turkey Package ToursIstanbul Ephesus Pamukkale Cappadocia Tour: The 8-Day Trip by Plane
This istanbul ephesus pamukkale cappadocia tour runs 8 days and 7 nights from Istanbul, and it carries the lowest 8-day price in the catalog at $1,012 per person. Tour Altinkum puts you in small guided groups with three nights in Istanbul, two in Kusadasi and two in Cappadocia, with airport transfers, breakfast on days 2 to 8 and lunch on five days. The catch is what sits outside the from-price. Flight tickets to Izmir, to Kayseri and back come only with the flights option, the balloon ride is a paid extra, and the listing says one thing about entry fees in its Includes list and the opposite in its notes. This page walks through the itinerary, the price gaps and the alternatives before you commit. Start from the comparison of Turkey tour packages if you have not seen the wider field.
About This Tour
Tour Altinkum sells this as an 8-day loop from Istanbul through the Aegean coast and Cappadocia, run in small groups with local expert guides in each region. You visit Istanbul's old city sights, cruise the Bosphorus, then fly to Izmir for Pamukkale, Hierapolis, Ephesus and the House of the Virgin Mary. A second flight takes you to Kayseri for two days of Cappadocia valleys, Goreme Museum and an underground city before a return flight to Istanbul.
The price shown, $1,012 per person, is the lowest on the listing and the operator does not say which option it belongs to. It is likely the option without flight tickets, so domestic flights to Izmir and Kayseri may cost extra on top. Meals run breakfast on days 2 to 8 plus lunch on five touring days, with no dinners. Hotels are described as centrally located, with no star class stated.
$1,012 per person, the lowest 8-day price in the catalog. The listing does not say whether this includes the domestic flights, so confirm before booking.
8 days, 7 nights, starting and ending in Istanbul.
Airport arrival in Istanbul. A greeter meets you and drives you to the hotel. Pickup is included, with details shown when you check availability.
Small group tours, exact size not stated. Live English-speaking guide, with local expert guides in each region.
7 nights: 3 in Istanbul, 2 in Kusadasi, 2 in Cappadocia. Hotels described as centrally located, star class not stated. Economy flights to Izmir, Kayseri and back only on the with-flights option.
Breakfast days 2 to 8, lunch on days 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7, beverage with meals. No dinners. Balloon flight not included, bookable on request at a seasonal price.
Flight tickets unless you pick the flights option, the balloon ride, tips for guides and drivers (optional), and entry tickets if the notes apply rather than the Includes list.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure for a full refund. Reserve now and pay later is available.
Check Dates and Availability
Starting times are not fixed in advance, so check a date to see the pickup window and which option carries the flights. Cancellation stays free until 24 hours before departure.
Quick answer The short answer
This istanbul ephesus pamukkale cappadocia tour costs from $1,012 per person for 8 days and 7 nights, with 3 nights in Istanbul, 2 in Kusadasi and 2 in Cappadocia. The from-price is likely the option without domestic flight tickets, so the real cost rises if you need the flights to Izmir and Kayseri.
Key takeaways
- Breakfast on days 2 to 8 and lunch on five days are in, dinners and the balloon flight are not, see what the price covers.
- The listing contradicts itself on entry fees, its Includes list says admission fees are covered while its notes say entry tickets are excluded, so confirm with the provider.
- You get 3 domestic flights only on the with-flights option, baggage 25 kg checked plus 8 kg cabin, and no airport assistant for those flights.
- If you want flights and every entrance fee settled up front, compare the 7-Day Best of Turkey Tour or browse all Turkey package tours.
What the Price Actually Covers
The listing at $1,012 per person is the lowest on the page and the operator does not tie it to an option. Treat everything below as what each line says, then check the flights and entry fees with the provider before you pay.
The Included List
The Includes list names 3 nights in Istanbul, 2 in Kusadasi and 2 in Cappadocia, transfers from and to the airports, land transport by air-conditioned non-smoking vehicle, the meal plan in the itinerary, admission fees for the sightseeing in the itinerary, and a beverage with meals. Economy domestic flight tickets appear only if the with flight tickets option is selected, covering the legs to Izmir, to Kayseri and back to Istanbul with 25 kg checked plus 8 kg cabin baggage. There is no assistant service at the airports for those flights, you handle the connections yourself.
The same listing's notes then say entry tickets are excluded. That contradicts the admission fees line directly. Museum fees at the big sites are set in euros, for example Hagia Sophia upper gallery access is 25 EUR and Ephesus is 40 EUR, so the gap matters. Ask the provider in writing whether entry tickets are in your price.
| Line | In the price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hotels | Yes | 3 nights Istanbul, 2 Kusadasi, 2 Cappadocia, centrally located, star class not stated |
| Domestic flights | Only on the with-flights option | Economy, to Izmir, Kayseri and back, 25 kg plus 8 kg cabin, no airport assistant |
| Airport transfers | Yes | From and to the airports, greeter on arrival |
| Breakfast and lunch | Breakfast days 2 to 8, lunch on days 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 | Beverage with meals included, no dinners at all |
| Admission fees | Conflicting | Includes list says yes, notes say entry tickets are excluded, confirm in writing |
| Balloon flight | No | Bookable on request, price varies by season, the provider books it ahead |
| Tips | No | Optional |
| Cleopatra Pool | Not mentioned | The listing does not name it, so treat it as not included |
| Single rooms | Not stated | No single supplement amount given, ask before booking |
What You May Pay on the Day
If your option has no flights, the three domestic legs are your biggest extra. If the entry ticket exclusion applies, add museum gates at roughly Hagia Sophia 25 EUR, Ephesus 40 EUR, Pamukkale and Hierapolis 30 EUR and Goreme Open Air Museum 20 EUR, plus whatever the underground city charges, which is not stated. The balloon flight is a separate seasonal price booked through the provider, and weather can ground flights. Dinners are on you every night, in Istanbul, Kusadasi and Cappadocia alike. Tips for guides and drivers are optional.
For a version of the route with 3 domestic flights, boutique hotels and all entrance fees bundled at $1,713, see the 7-Day Best of Turkey Tour, or scan the full field of Istanbul tour packages on the homepage.
Sources: Wikipedia: Turkey, Wikivoyage: Turkey
A painted dome in Topkapi Palace, closed on Tuesdays. Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What the Day Is Really Like
The listing gives the itinerary by day rather than by clock time, so the shape below follows its own days, meals and overnight stops.
Days 1 to 3, Istanbul
Day 1 is arrival only. A greeter meets you at Istanbul airport and drives you to the hotel for check-in, no meals included. Day 2 is the old city: Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, the Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar, with breakfast and lunch in. Note that Topkapi Palace closes on Tuesdays, and when it does the itinerary swaps in the Basilica Cistern, while the Grand Bazaar shuts on Sundays. Day 3 starts with checkout, then the Spice Bazaar and a Bosphorus cruise, breakfast only, then the flight to Izmir and check-in in Kusadasi.
Kusadasi works as a coast base because Ephesus sits about 20 minutes away by road and Selcuk about 2 km from the ancient city. The two Istanbul touring days are the dense walking days, so wear shoes that survive cobblestones.
- Day 1: arrival transfer, hotel in Istanbul, no meals
- Day 2: Hagia Sophia, Topkapi, Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, breakfast and lunch, night in Istanbul
- Day 3: Spice Bazaar, Bosphorus cruise, flight to Izmir, night in Kusadasi
Days 4 and 5, Pamukkale and Ephesus
Day 4 is a day trip from Kusadasi to Pamukkale and Hierapolis, breakfast and lunch included, back to Kusadasi for the night. The travertine terraces run about 2,700 m long and the spring water sits at 35 C, and Hierapolis holds the biggest necropolis in Anatolia with 1,200 gravestones. Pamukkale to Selcuk is about 190 km, roughly 3 hours by road. Day 5 takes in the House of the Virgin Mary, about 7 km from Selcuk, ancient Ephesus and the remains of the Temple of Artemis, breakfast and lunch in, then the flight to Kayseri and check-in at your Cappadocia hotel.
Ephesus is a roughly 3 km downhill walk from upper gate to lower gate, so bring comfortable shoes. Cappadocia sits on a plateau above 1,000 m.
- Day 4: Pamukkale and Hierapolis from Kusadasi, breakfast and lunch, night in Kusadasi
- Day 5: House of the Virgin Mary, Ephesus, Temple of Artemis, flight to Kayseri, night in Cappadocia
Days 6 to 8, Cappadocia and Home
Day 6 is the valley day: Goreme Museum with its rock-cut churches, Devrent Valley's animal-shaped rocks, Pasabagi, a pottery session and typical Turkish lunch in Avanos, and the Goreme Panorama viewpoint over the fairy chimneys and Uchisar, breakfast and lunch in, second night in Cappadocia. Day 7 covers Rose and Red Valley, Cavusin, Pigeon Valley and an underground city that once sheltered 15,000 people, breakfast and lunch in, then the flight back to Istanbul and check-in. Day 8 is departure, with a drive to the airport according to your pickup time and breakfast included.
The tour ends at Istanbul airport on day 8, where the operator's service stops. Book any onward flight with buffer, since the pickup time is set by the operator and no return time is stated.
- Day 6: Goreme Museum, Devrent, Pasabagi, Avanos pottery, panorama stop, night in Cappadocia
- Day 7: Rose and Red Valley, Cavusin, Pigeon Valley, underground city, flight to Istanbul
- Day 8: airport transfer, end of service
A Tour of Ancient Ephesus
A walk through the Ephesus ruins this tour visits. Third-party video by Sue Raylman. This site did not shoot it and has no relationship with the creator.
Who This Tour Rules Out
The listing states no minimum age, no wheelchair policy and no difficulty rating, which leaves the real limits in the small print. Here they are.
Flights, Bags and Airport Work
If you take the base option, you buy three domestic flights yourself and coordinate them with the tour days, and even on the with-flights option there is no assistant at the airports, so you find your gates alone. Baggage on the flights option is 25 kg checked plus 8 kg cabin, generous by package standards. The flight days are 3, 5 and 7, and each pairs checkout and a sight with an airport run.
Travellers who want that handled with a met connection and settled tickets should look at the 7-Day Best of Turkey Tour, which includes 3 domestic flights and all entrance fees.
- No airport assistant on flight days, you navigate alone
- Flight tickets only on the flights option, the from-price likely excludes them
- 25 kg checked plus 8 kg cabin on the flights option
Group, Access and Money Terms
This is a shared small-group product, exact size not stated, so no private vehicle and no private pace. The balloon ride is never in the price, it is booked on request at a seasonal rate, and flights depend on the weather, so treat it as a bonus rather than a plan. Dinners are your own cost on all 7 nights.
The listing gives no single supplement, no child price beyond free entry to historical sites for children 8 and under, and no star class for the hotels, so ask each of those before booking. Free cancellation runs to 24 hours before departure, and reserve now pay later holds the spot without payment. If you would rather add Konya between Cappadocia and the coast, the 8-Day Istanbul to Konya, Pamukkale and Ephesus Tour runs that route with 4-star hotels and a cave hotel.
- Shared small group, size not stated
- Balloon ride at extra cost, weather dependent
- No dinners included, 7 evenings on your own budget
- Single supplement, hotel class and child prices not stated
The Great Theatre, Ephesus. Photo: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Getting There and What to Add
You start and end in Istanbul, so your international gateway decides how day 1 and day 8 work. The two airports and the extras around the route are below.
Reaching the Start
Istanbul has two airports. Istanbul Airport, code IST, opened in 2019 and is the Turkish Airlines hub, while Sabiha Gokcen, code SAW, opened in 2001. The listing says a greeter meets you on arrival at the Istanbul airport and the transfers run from and to the airports. It does not name the airport, so pickup details appear when you check availability. Turkish Airlines and Pegasus cover most domestic routes, with SunExpress and AJet on tourist corridors, which matters if you buy your own Izmir and Kayseri flights on the base option.
Distances and times from IST or SAW into central Istanbul are not stated in the published sources, so plan on the airport transfer being included rather than budgeting your own ride for day 1.
- IST: Istanbul Airport, Turkish Airlines hub
- SAW: Sabiha Gokcen, opened in 2001
- Transfers from and to the airports are included
Adding Days Around the Tour
The common planning split is 3 nights in Istanbul, 2 to 3 in Cappadocia and a night around Pamukkale, which is close to what this tour already gives you, so the useful additions sit outside the route. Gallipoli and Troy get no mention here, and the 2-Day Gallipoli and Troy Tour covers them by road from Istanbul with one hotel night. If you want a deeper Istanbul than days 2 and 3 allow, the Private Istanbul Tour 1 to 3 Days adds a licensed guide by the day.
For season and budget planning, read the guide to the best time to visit Turkey and the Turkey itinerary page before fixing dates.
- Add Gallipoli and Troy by road before or after
- Add guided Istanbul days beyond the included two
- Spring and autumn suit Pamukkale best
Day by Day
The listing gives days rather than clock times, so steps below use its own day structure and meal codes.
-
Day 1
Arrival in Istanbul
Land at Istanbul airport, where a greeter meets you and drives you to the hotel for check-in. No meals included. Overnight in Istanbul.
-
Day 2
Treasures of Istanbul
Breakfast at the hotel, then Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, the Hippodrome, the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar with lunch included. Topkapi closes on Tuesdays and the Basilica Cistern is visited instead, and the Grand Bazaar closes Sundays. Overnight in Istanbul.
-
Day 3
Bosphorus and flight to Izmir
Checkout after breakfast, then the Spice Bazaar and a Bosphorus cruise. After the tour, fly to Izmir and check in. Overnight in Kusadasi.
-
Day 4
Pamukkale and Hierapolis
Breakfast and a day trip to the Pamukkale terraces, where spring water runs at 35 C, and Hierapolis with its necropolis of 1,200 gravestones. Lunch included. Overnight back in Kusadasi.
-
Day 5
Ephesus and flight to Kayseri
Breakfast and checkout, then the House of the Virgin Mary, ancient Ephesus and the Temple of Artemis with lunch included. After the tour, fly to Kayseri. Overnight in Cappadocia.
-
Day 6
Fairy chimneys of Cappadocia
Goreme Museum's rock-cut churches, Devrent Valley, Pasabagi, a pottery session with lunch in Avanos, and the Goreme Panorama over the chimneys and Uchisar. Breakfast and lunch included. Overnight in Cappadocia.
-
Day 7
Valleys, underground city, flight to Istanbul
Rose and Red Valley, Cavusin, Pigeon Valley and an underground city that sheltered 15,000 people, with breakfast and lunch included. Flight to Istanbul and check-in.
-
Day 8
Departure
Breakfast, then a drive to the airport according to your pickup time. The service ends at Istanbul airport.
Strengths and Trade-offs
Weighing the listing on its own terms against the rest of the catalog.
What we genuinely like
- The lowest 8-day price in the catalog at $1,012 per person, with the itinerary, hotels and transfers as listed
- Three overnight bases, with two nights each in Kusadasi and Cappadocia instead of one-night hops
- Breakfast every touring day, lunch on five days and a beverage with meals
- Free cancellation to 24 hours before departure and reserve now pay later
- A Bosphorus cruise, a pottery session in Avanos and skip-the-line entry through a separate entrance
The honest downsides
- The $1,012 from-price likely belongs to the option without domestic flights, and the listing never says which option it is
- The listing contradicts itself on entry fees, the Includes list covers them while the notes exclude them
- No airport assistant on the three flight days, so you handle connections alone
- No dinners at all, seven evenings on your own budget
- Only 10 reviews at 4.8, a small sample next to comparable listings
- The balloon flight costs extra at a seasonal price the listing does not state
Who it's NOT for: Not for travellers who want flights, entrance fees and every meal settled in one price with no fine print to chase.
Questions About This Tour
Are the domestic flights included in the $1,012 price?
Probably not. The price shown is the lowest on the listing, the operator does not say which option it belongs to, and the notes say flight tickets come only with the with flight tickets option covering Izmir, Kayseri and the return to Istanbul with 25 kg plus 8 kg cabin. Compare with the 7-Day Best of Turkey Tour, which includes 3 domestic flights in its price.
Do I pay extra to enter the sights?
The listing is contradictory. Its Includes list says admission fees for all sightseeing in the itinerary are covered, while its notes say entry tickets are excluded. Get written confirmation from the provider before booking, and check the page on Istanbul tour packages for how other listings handle it.
Is the hot air balloon ride part of the package?
No. The balloon flight is not included, though the provider can book a spot for you in advance on request, with prices varying by season and demand. Read the guide to Cappadocia tours for how balloon options differ across listings.
What are the hotels like?
The listing describes them only as centrally located and good, with 3 nights in Istanbul, 2 in Kusadasi and 2 in Cappadocia, and no star class stated and no cave hotel promised. If a cave hotel matters to you, the 8-Day Istanbul to Konya, Pamukkale and Ephesus Tour names a cave hotel in Cappadocia.
What happens if my date falls on a Tuesday or a Sunday?
Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesdays and the itinerary substitutes the Basilica Cistern, and the Grand Bazaar is closed on Sundays. Some sites may also close during religious or national holidays, and the operator asks you to confirm closed sites for your dates before booking. See the best time to visit Turkey for holiday timing.
How does cancellation work?
You can cancel up to 24 hours before departure for a full refund, and reserve now pay later holds your place without payment today. That is tighter than the 6-day window on the 7-Day Turkey Tour with Hotel Choice, so book flights and leave only when your dates are firm.
How big is the group?
The listing says small group tours with local expert guides in each region but gives no number, unlike listings that state up to 12, 15 or 20. Ask the provider for the cap before booking, or browse all Turkey tour packages to compare stated group sizes side by side.
What Travelers Said
Excellent Tour. Very well organized from pick up from the airport to hotels and vice versa. Hotels are very good centrally located, very good breakfast and rooms are very clean. Our Tours Guides in Istanbul, Kushadasi and Cappadicia are among the best guides we ever met in our travels. Thank you so much.
Impeccable- Please book with these guys- Professional end to end!
Prices, availability and terms are set by the operator and confirmed at checkout.
We may earn a commission if you book through one of our links, at no extra cost to you. Full affiliate disclosure