St. Paul's Missionary Journey In Turkey & Greece
(Tour Code TR2004)

PRIVATE TOUR ITINERARY

DAY 1 ANKARA ( D. )
Arrive in ANKARA (Capital of Turkey), Meet your guide who will transfer you to your Hotel for dinner and overnight stay in Ankara.

DAY 2 ANKARA - CAPPADOCIA ( B. D. )
After breakfast, sight-seeing of Ankara: see the Anatolian Civilization Museum, the temple of Augustus and Ataturk's Mausoleum. Continue to CAPPADOCIA with a lunch / rest stop in AKSARAY before a short ride to IHLARA VALLEY, to see the impressive, Byzantine rock carvings and frescoes. Enjoy your dinner and overnight stay in CAPPADOCIA.

DAY 3 CAPPADOCIA ( B. D. )
Full day excursion of CAPPADOCIA to see the surreal landscapes of volcanic ash, formed 3 million years ago: spectacular red rock cones,. troglodyte churches and homes dating from 4000 B.C. Now visit UCHISAR, GOREME and ZELVE, then AVANOS, to visit one of its famous, pottery workshops. Later return to your hotel for overnight stay.

DAY 4 TARSUS - ADANA ( B. D. )
Visit KAYMAKLI, a unique underground city. Then drive to TARSUS, birthplace of St. Paul. See St. Paul's Well, Cleopatra's Gate and the ancient city. It was near here that a Great Fish "vomited out Jonas upon the dry land" Next to ADANA for dinner and overnight stay.

DAY 5 ANTAKYA ( ANTIOCH ) - MERSIN ( B. D. )
Full day excursion to ANTAKYA (Antioch). Here Jesus' followers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26) Peter, Paul and also Barnabas preached here. Visit St. Peters's Grotto and the exquisite Mosaic Museum. View the old city of ISKENDERUN before beginning the return drive to MERSIN for dinner and overnight stay.

DAY 6 ANAMUR - ALANYA ( B. D. )
Depart westward along the Mediterranean shoreline, a famous coastal road. Take a lunch break in ANAMUR. See City of the Monophystie Archbishop of Seleucia. Overnight in Alanya.

DAY 7 ANTALYA ( B. D. )
Continue to the ancient city of SIDE, the old port where Paul, Barnabas and Mark landed during their missionary journeys. Later they sailed from here to ANTIOCH. Than visit PERGE, where St. Paul preached when arriving from Cyprus (Acts 13-14), and to ASPENDOS with its magnificent theater. Next drive to ANTALYA for dinner and overnight stay.

DAY 8 PAMUKKALE ( B. D. )
Proceed to LAODICEA which was condemned by St. John in Revelation 4:15. Drive to HIERAPOLIS, now called PAMUKKALE, St. Philip was martyred here in 1st AD. Walk the Necropolis and famous Avenue of Tombs. Overnight stay

DAY 9 PHILADELPHIA - SARDES - KUSADASI ( B. D. )
Visit there one of the seven churches of the Apocalypse and the remains of the Cathedral. Continue to in ALASEHIR, the remains of a church. Visit , capital of the ancient LYDIA with temple of the CYBELE & DIANA, which became later a church, see the royal road. Continue to Kusadasi. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

DAY 10 EPHESUS ( B. D. )
Drive to SELCUK. Visit the monastery of St. John and EPHESUS , the best preserved ancient city in the world. See the Library of Celsus, a Stadium where Paul Preached (Acts 19), and the Theatre. Depart for KUSADASI, a port near Ephesus. Then have dinner and overnight stay.

DAY 11 IZMIR ( SMYRNA ) ( B. D. )
This morning take a beautiful drive to IZMIR (ancient SMYRNA), After visiting of the St.. Policarp church in ) IZMIR . Continue to in Akhisar , ancient commercial place in connection with TROY & SARDES. Overnight in Pergamum.

DAY 12 PERGAMUM ( B. D. )
Early departure to BERGAMA (Pergamum) , to visit the Acropolis, high above the plain. See the pagan Temples and Altar of Zeus. Proceed to BURSA, first capital of the Ottoman Empire. Tonight dinner in your hotel.

DAY 13 IZNIK ( NICEA ) - ISTANBUL ( B. )
Drive to IZNIK (Nicea) where the Nicean Creed was formed. Depart for ISTANBUL by ferry. Ancient Hippodrome, Blue Mosque. Overnight Istanbul

DAY 14 ISTANBUL ( B. D. )
Start for Istanbul city tour. Visit Hagia Sophia and then Topkapi Palace. Following the lunch, we start cruising the Bosphorus. Return to the hotel for Overnight stay.

DAY 15 ISTANBUL - KAVALA ( B. )
Drive to Greek Border early in the morning, arrival at Greek border where after clearing customs, our Greek guide & mini-bus will proceed along the road leading towards the northern part of the Aegean Sea, passing from Alexandropolis to Kavala. Accommodation and overnight in the hotel EGNATIA in Kavala.

DAY 16 KAVALA-PHILIPPI-THESSALONIKI ( B. )
After breakfast, we visit Kavala, the ancient port of Neapolis and from there to Philippi, the site where Apostle Paul came and worked, establishing a strong church. We see the river where Lydia have been baptized and the ruins of a prison where Paul and Silas were kept. Then the Agora, 5th and 6th century Basilica and Theater. On to Thessaloniki passing by the Lion Statue of Amphipolis. Accommodation and overnight in the CITY HOTEL in Thessaloniki.

DAY 17 BEREA / VERGINA / THESSALONIKI ( B. )

Breakfast at the hotel.

Today we will visit Vergina, the first capital of Macedonia: visit the most important Royal Graves ever discovered; the tomb of Philip II of Macedonia, the father of Alexander the Great. Here we see the fabulous findings from the tomb such as the famous golden Larnix with the star of Macedonia.. Continue to Berea where the Apostle arrived and went to the synagogue and preached.

Then return to Thessaloniki for a city-tour of this historical city and visit one of the impressive churches.

DAY 18 THESSALONIKI- ATHENS - CORINTH ( B. )
After breakfast - transfer to the airport to check-in for the flight to Athens.

Upon arrival the the airport Eleftherios Venizelou of Athens – assistance and transfer to the hotel ROYAL OLYMPIC for check-in procedures (depending on arrival-time, we will try for early check-in but not guaranteed).

Afternoon - leave Athens and drive to the West to Ancient Corinth. It was to this Megalopolis where the Apostle Paul came and worked, establishing a thriving church. We will see all the sites associated with Paul's ministry: The Agora, the Temple of Apollo, the Roman Odeon, the Bema and Gallio's Seat. We see in the small museum and the ruins of early Christian 5th century Basilica.

Returning to Athens a stop will be made at the historical Corinth Canal.

Overnight in Athens.

DAY 19 ATHENS ( B. )
Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning-visit of Athens: a panoramic city tour will be made along the most important sites of modern Athens – Constitution Square with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Parliament Building, the Presidential Palace the Panathinaic Stadium and the University Buildings. The tour will end on the foot of the ‘Holy Rock' of Athens.

We climb up to the marble-capped Acropolis and visit the famous Parthenon and the Erechteum. Also we will see the Mars' Hill where Paul delivered his well-known sermon.

Afternoon and evening at leisure. Overnight in Athens.

DAY 20 HOME ( B. )
Breakfast and check-out procedures.

Transfer to airport for check-in and departure.

End of our services

B: Breakfast D: Dinner

Included in the program

* Accommodation in 4 star hotels as mentioned on BB-basis
* Dinners mentioned in the itinerary
* English speaking professional guiding services during the tour and excursions
* English-speaking assistance during the transfers in Athens
* Transportations by mini-bus in North Greece
* Entrance-fees to the sites and museums as mentioned
* Thesseloniki - Athens flight ticket,
* Welcome cocktail in Ankara
* Istanbul - Ankara domestic flight ticket with Turkish Airlines
* Special pre-departure information pack,

 

PLS EMAIL US FOR SPECIAL GROUP RATES :info@anttravel.com

Biblical References Antakya (Antioch) Seleucia Pieria Tarsus Derbe Lystra Konya (Iconium) Antioch of Pisidia Antalya (Attalia) Perge(Perga) Myra Patara Miletus Colossae Hierapolis Assos Alexandria Troas

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Acts 6:5; 11:19-30 13:1-3 15:1-2, 22-35 Acts 13:4 Acts 9:11,30,11:25.21-39,22:3,25-29 Acts 14:6,20-21,16:1,20:4 Acts 14:6-23 16 :1-4 II Timothy 3:11 Acts 13:51;14:1-6, 19; 16:2, II Timothy 3:11 Acts 13:14-52, II Timothy 3:11 Acts 14-25 Acts 13:13-14;14:25 Acts 27:5-6 Acts 21:1-2 Acts 20:15-38 II Timothy 4:20 Colossians Colossians 4:13 Acts 20:13-14 Acts 16:8-11, 20:5-12 II Corinthians 2:12-13 II Timothy 4:13