Home / Europe, Turkey Tours / Combined Country
8 day(s)
Regular & Private
1-30 people
relax
Discover the perfect blend of East and West on this 8-day journey through Turkey and Greece. Start in Istanbul, where ancient history meets vibrant modernity. Stroll through the awe-inspiring Hippodrome, marvel at the Blue Mosque’s stunning Iznik tiles, and experience the majesty of Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace. Cruise along the Bosphorus, witnessing the beauty of two continents from the water, and lose yourself in the colorful labyrinth of the Grand Bazaar.
Continue your adventure in Athens, the cradle of Western civilization. Visit iconic landmarks like the Parthenon, Temple of Olympian Zeus, and the Panathenaic Stadium. Uncover ancient secrets at Delphi, the “Navel of the World,” and soak up the charm of Poros, Hydra, and Aegina on a serene Saronic Gulf islands cruise.
With expert guides, seamless transfers, and handpicked hotels, this immersive tour is perfect for travelers seeking a balance of culture, history, and relaxation across two legendary lands.
Duration
8 day(s)
Max Group Size
1-30 people
Tour Code
8DTGET
Departure Type
scheduled
Tour Category
Combined Country
Guiding Method
Fully guided
Operated In
Age Requirement
11 - 99

Istanbul
Athens
Upon
our arrival at Istanbul International Airport, your guide will meet, assist and
transfer you to the hotel. Istanbul’s original name is Byzantium then
Constantinople. It is a most fascinating city, which actually crosses two
continents Europe and Asia. It is a city of amalgamation of bazaars, minarets,
mosques, churches, palaces, and restaurants catering to every one’s taste,
museums, customs and twelve million people. Overnight in Istanbul.
(Breakfast included)
(Open buffet breakfast included)
After breakfast, we have Istanbul City Tour. Our first visit will be
HIPPODROME. Ancient Hippodrome was the scene of chariot races, with the three
monuments; the Obelisk of Theodosius, the bronze Serpentine Column and the
Column of Constantine. Than we will visit SULTANAHMET IMPERIAL MOSQUE. Across
from Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, it was built in the 16th century by the
architect Mehmet, is known as the BLUE MOSQUE because of its magnificent
interior decoration of blue Iznik tiles. Our next see will be HAGIA SOPHIA
GRAND MOSQUE. The Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, previously known as the Church of
Divine Wisdom, is simply the best of its kind! Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque is the
greatest surviving example of Byzantine Architecture. For 1000 years, it was
once the largest church in the world, decorated with stunning 6th century
golden mosaics. Today it is a mosque. You can see it from outside.  After that see TOPKAPI PALACE, the great
palace of the Ottoman sultans from the 15th to the 19th centuries housing an
exquisite collection of crystal, silver, and Chinese porcelain, robes worn by
the sultans and their families, the famous jewels of the Imperial Treasury,
miniatures, the Holy Mantle; enshrining relics of the Prophet Mohammed. You can
see it from outside.    The Basilica
Cistern Museum is one of the most important cultural assets where we can trace
the traces of glorious Istanbul history. With its 80,000-ton water storage
capacity, Yerebatan Cistern is the largest covered cistern in the city and
stands out with more reclaimed supporting elements compared to other covered
cisterns. Covering an area of approximately 10,000 square meters, this colossal
structure has a rectangular shape with a length of 140 meters and a width of 70
meters. You can see it from outside. 
After the tour, transfer back to your hotel. Dinner at Indian restaurant
and Overnight in Istanbul.
If you would like to visit with entrance below sites;
Topkapi Palace
Museum Entrance Fee. You pay the door price.
The Basilica Cistern Museum Entrance You pay the door price.
Please Note: Please do not forget to carry Scarf with you because of visiting to Blue Mosque & Haghia Sophia Mosque
(Breakfast included)
After breakfast between 08:00 am and 09:30 am pick ups
from hotel. Your tour consultant will give you final timing one day before. BOSPHORUS BY BOAT; a traditional excursion by boat along the waterway separating Europe and
Asia. The shore lined with old wooden villas, palaces of marble, fortresses,
and small fishing villages. During the excursion, you will see the magnificent
sights of the following attractions from your boat. See Dolmabahce Palace, and
further along, the parks and imperial pavilions of Yildiz Palace. On the
coastal edge of this park, is Ciragan Palace, 300 meters of its marble facade
faces the shore. At Ortakoy a great variety of artists, gather every sunday to
display their work along the street. Ortakoy is a symbol of tolerance with a
church, a mosque and a synagogue existing side by side for centuries. RUMELI
FORTRESS (view from boat), Built by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1452 prior to the
conquest of Istanbul was completed in only four months to control and protect the
infamous Bosporus passage. It is one of the most beautiful works of military
architecture anywhere in the world. BEYLERBEYI PALACE (view from boat), is the
summer residence of Ottoman sultans exists in its original renovated glory
featuring original antique furniture and magnificent gardens with the Harem on
the Asian side of Istanbul. Lunch break at the Turkish restaurant. After the lunch we will then take you to the GRAND COVERED BAZAAR In this labyrinth of streets and passages are
more than 4,000 shops with each trade having its own area: the goldsmiths'
street, the carpet sellers, Turkish arts and crafts, such as hand painted
ceramic plates, hand-honed copperware, brassware and trays, water ewers,
onyx-ware and meerschaum pipes. After the tour transfer back to your hotel. Overnight in Istanbul.
(Breakfast
included)
After breakfast, we check out from the hotel and depart by international flight
to Greece. Upon arrival in Athens, you will meet with our local representative
at the airport and be transferred to your hotel. Once you settle in, you are
free to stroll in the old Plaka district. Overnight in Athens.
(Breakfast
included)
In the morning, after breakfast, we will pick you up from the hotel and shall
start our sightseeing tour of the center of Athens including The Constitution of Greece (Sintagma).
It was created by the Fifth Revisional Parliament of the Hellenes and entered
into force in 1975. It has been revised three times since, in 1986, in 2001 and
in 2008. The Constitutional history of Greece goes back to the Greek War of
Independence, during which the first three revolutionary Greek constitutions were
adopted. Afterwards we will visit Old
Parliament House. The Old Parliament building which is located at Stadiou
Street in Athens, housed the Greek Parliament between 1875 and 1932. It now
houses the country's National Historical
Museum. In front of the building stands a large equestrian statue of
General Theodoros Kolokotronis, cast in bronze. It was sculpted by Lazaros
Sochos in Paris in 1900, and erected in its current place in 1904.
Continue our tour, we will go to The
National Library of Greece which is situated near the center of city of
Athens. It holds 4,500 Greek manuscripts which is one of the greatest
collection of Greek scripts. There are also many chrysobulls and archives of
the Greek Revolution
Then we will continue driving down Herod
Atticus Street, you will see the Evzones
in their picturesque uniform and the PRESIDENTIAL
PALACE which is the official residence of the President of the Hellenic
Republic. It previously served as the Royal Palace, until the abolition of the
monarchy by referendum in 1974. On your way to the Acropolis you will see the Hadrian's Arch, visit the Temple of Olympian Zeus. and you will
make a short stop at the Panathenaic
Stadium which was refurbished a second time in 1895 for the 1896 Olympics,
with completion funding provided by the Greek benefactor George Averoff whose
marble statue now stands at the entrance, based on designs by architects
Anastasios Metaxas and Ernst Ziller.
Upon arrive Acropolis, we will visit
Acropolis Museum which is focused on
the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis of Athens. The museum
was built to house every artifact found on the rock and on its feet, from the
Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Greece. It also lies on the
archaeological site of Makrygianni and the ruins of a part of Roman and early
Byzantine Athens. Also, we will visit the architectural masterpieces of the
Golden Age of Athens: the PROPYLAEA, the
TEMPLE of ATHENA NIKE, the ERECHTHEION. The last stop before we
back to hotel is The Parthenon. The
Parthenon is a temple in Acropolis, the harmony between material and spirit,
the monument that puts order in the mind. Early evening, we will back to hotel,
you can relax in the rest of the day. Overnight in Athens.
(Breakfast
included)
After picking you up from the hotel upon breakfast, we will drive through the
fertile plain of Boeotia, crossing
the towns of THEBES which is
connected with the tragedy of king Oedipus - LEVADIA and ARACHOVA, we will have
a short stop here you can have little time to explore the famous colorful rugs
and carpets.  Keep going on our journey, upon
arrival DELPHI, the center of the
Ancient world - the Omphalos (Navel) of the Earth - whose prestige extended far
beyond the boundaries of the Hellenic world. On the slopes of MOUNT PARNASSUS, in a landscape of
unparalleled beauty and majesty, lie the ruins of the SANCTUARY of APOLLO PYTHIOS. 
Visit the TREASURY OF THE ATHENIANS,
the TEMPLE OF APOLLO and the MUSEUM containing such masterpieces of
ancient Greek sculpture as the bronze Charioteer and the famous athlete Aghias.
We will have our lunch break in the modern village of Delphi. After the tour,
we will drive back to your hotel in Athens. Overnight in Athens.
(Breakfast
included)
Today, after the breakfast, we will have daily Cruise Tour for visiting the
three beautiful islands of the Saronic Gulf. After breakfast we will transfer
you to the port for embarkation on the one-day cruise. The order in which we
shall visit the islands is either Poros –
Hydra - Aegina or Aegina- Poros-
Hydra.
Within 2 hours, we will arrive Poros and we will stay around 50 minutes.
Poros is a small Greek island-pair in the southern part of the Saronic Gulf, at
a distance about 58 km south from Piraeus and separated from the Peloponnese by
a 200-metre wide sea channel, with the town of Galatas on the mainland across
the strait. Its surface is about 31 square kilometres. The town of Poros has
4,102 of these inhabitants. The only other inhabited settlement is Agios. The
ancient name of Poros was Pogon. Like other ports in the Saronic, it is a
popular weekend destination for Athenian travellers. It is an island with rich
vegetation as well. Much of the northern and far eastern/western sides of the
island are bushy, whereas large areas of old pine forest are found in the south
and center of the island.
Afterward we will continue for sailing to Hydra (around 1hour and 15minutes
sailing). It is separated from the Peloponnese by narrow strip of water. In
ancient times, the island was known as Hydrea which was a reference to the
springs on the island. You will have around 1.5hours to explore this island,
enjoy the most beautiful walk, a donkey-ride around the town and the crystal
clear water.
Continue our journey, the last stop will be Aegina. Around 2 hours sailing we
will arrive Aegine. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of
Aeacus, who was born in and ruled the island. During ancient times, Aegina was
a rival to Athens, the great sea power of the era.
At the end of the tour, we will sailing back to Piraeus port and transfer you
to hotel. Overnight in Athens.
(Breakfast
included)
After breakfast, we check out your hotel and we will arrange your transfer from
hotel to Athens International airport for your flight back home. We hope your
cruise was a memorable one and we would like to see you in future in one of our
tours again. Have a nice trip back home and thanks for choosing TravelShop
Booking.
• 3 nights’ hotel accommodation in Istanbul - Pullman Hotel or 5 Star La Quinta by Wyndham Istanbul
• 4 nights’ hotel accommodation in Athens - Titania Hotel
PS: If This hotel list not available at the time of your booking then we will arrange similar other hotel for your group.
If you prefer a Different category hotel, there might be an additional cost
Professional English - speaking tour guides
7 open buffet breakfasts
All Arrival and departure transfers mentioned in above program
Transportation in a fully air-conditioned, non-smoking coach
Guided Istanbul Bosphorus cruise and Shopping Tour
Guided Athens sightseeing Tour
Full Day Guided Delphi Tour
Guided Istanbul City Tour
Guided Athens Daily Cruise
All entrance fees mentioned in the itinerary
International flights
Insurance: All types
City Tax
Greece entry visa
Turkey entry visa
Optinal land excursion
Items of a personal nature such as alcoholic drinks, cold drinks, laundry
Any others expenses which are not mentioned at the included section.
Hotel room taxes
Tipping