Itinerary

1. Day 1: Arrive in Istanbul

   • Meet the tour guide upon arrival at the Istanbul airport and transfer to the hotel for an overnight stay.   

2. Day 2: Istanbul Old City Tour

   • Start at the Hippodrome and see the monuments on its spina. Nearby is the historic Blue Mosque. 
   • Stop at the Golden Mile of the Ignatian Way, and we will visit the magnificent Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
   • Visit the historic Hagia Irene Church. Afterwards, we will walk to Istanbul’s Archaeological Museum, one of the most celebrated collections in the world. Among its treasures are the Siloam inscription, the Gezer calendar, and the Thanatos inscription from Jerusalem’s temple mount. 

   Overnight in Istanbul.

3. Day 3: Tarsus - Adana

   • Take an early morning flight to Adana airport. We begin with site visits in Tarsus, the home of the apostle Paul. 
   • Visit the Roman baths and see the ancient bridge over the Cydnus River. 
   • Go to the Cardo Maximus street of the Roman city and then Donuktaş, one of the largest temples of the ancient world. 
   • Have lunch and drive to Adana to walk across the Sarus River on the Roman bridge and visit the Adana Archaeology Museum.

   Overnight in Adana.

4. Day 4: Cilician Gates – Derbe – Lystra – Iconium – Konya

   • Pass through the Cilician Gates in the Taurus Mountains and then continue to Derbe, visited three times by Paul (Acts 14:20).
   • Continue to Lystra, the home of Timothy. After a short drive to Iconium, we will first visit the ancient acropolis in Konya’s city center and then visit the archaeological museum and its important inscriptions mentioning Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.

   Overnight in Konya. 

5. Day 5: Pisidian Antioch – Antalya

   • Depart early for Yalvaç, the site of the Roman colony of Pisidian Antioch. Paul’s first recorded sermon in Acts 13 addressed the congregation of Jews and Godfearers in the synagogue. 
   • Visit the St. Paul Room in the Yalvaç Museum. 
   • Take a scenic drive through the Pisidian Lake country before descending through the Taurus Mountains to the plain of Pamphylia. 

   Overnight in Antalya.

6. Day 6: Perga – Attalia – Antalya

   • Begin in Perga, a city visited by Paul and Barnabas on their first journey (Acts 13:13-14). There we will see its well-preserved stadium and collonaded street divided by a water channel. 
   • Return to Antalya; we will see Hadrian’s Gate and the Roman mausoleum of ancient Attalia. 
   • After lunch at the St. Paul Cultural Center, we will visit Antalya’s renowned archaeological museum. 
   • Take a boat ride from the port that Paul and Barnabas sailed from at the end of the first journey (Acts 14:26) in the late afternoon. 

   Overnight in Antalya.

7. Day 7: Colossae – Laodicea – Pamukkale

   • Drive inland again over the Taurus Mountains to the unexcavated site of Colossae in the foothills of Mount Honaz. Paul wrote the letters of Colossians and Philemon to Christians in that community. 
   • Visit nearby Laodicea, one of the Seven Churches of Revelation (Rev. 3:14–22) and the recipient of a letter from Paul (Col. 4:13-16). 

   Overnight in Pamukkale.

8. Day 8: Hierapolis – Tralles – Magnesia – Kusadasi

   • At Hierapolis, we will walk through its extensive necropolis and then view its well-preserved theatre as well as Philip’s Martyrium and Basilica (Col. 4:13). 
   • Travel westward down the fertile Meander Valley, and we will visit the archaeological museum at Aydın, ancient Tralles, and then Magnesia on the Meander. These cities had churches later addressed by Ignatius in the early second century A.D.

   Overnight in Kusadasi.

9. Day 9: Miletus – Didyma – Priene – Kusadasi

   • Visit Miletus, with its four harbours and well-preserved theatre, originally built in the Hellenistic period and expanded in Roman times. Paul made a farewell speech here to the elders of Ephesus on the return leg of his third missionary journey (Acts 20:17–35). 
   • Make a brief visit to the small but informative archaeological museum. We will then visit Didyma, home to the Temple of Apollo, one of Turkey’s best-preserved ancient temples. 
   • After lunch, we will drive to Priene, the best-preserved Hellenistic city in Turkey. 
   • See the Jewish synagogue there. Return to Kusadasi for an overnight stay.

10. Day 10: Ephesus – Ephesus Museum – St. John’s Basilica – Izmir

    • Visit the impressive biblical site of Ephesus. We will take a walking tour starting in the upper city at the State Agora and proceeding down to the iconic Library of Celsus and Tetragonos Agora. 
    • Make a slight detour to see the exquisite terrace houses where the rich and famous citizens of Ephesus lived. 
    • End the tour at the theatre where 24,000 citizens shouted “Great is Artemis!” in a riot started in response to Paul’s ministry there (Acts 19:1–20:1). 
    • Stop briefly to view the remains of the Artemis Temple, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Also, in the afternoon, we will visit the Church of St. John, where tradition holds that the Apostle was buried. Nearby is the Ephesus Museum, housing important artifacts from Ephesus. 

    Overnight in İzmir.

11. Day 11: Smyrna - Pergamum - Assos

    • Have breakfast, and we will visit the Smyrna Agora. 
    • Leave for Bergama, which is the site of ancient Pergamum, one of the Seven Churches of Revelation. 
    • Visit the acropolis there and see the impressive theatre, the Temple of Athena, and the Asklepion. 
    • Continue to Assos for the overnight stay. 

12. Day 12: Assos - Alexander Troas - Troy - Bursa

    • Walk on the Roman road near Assos and then continue to Alexandrian Troas. 
    • See the ruins of ancient Troy, and view its museum as well. We will continue to Bursa for an overnight stay.

13. Day 13: Nicaea - Istanbul

    • Visit Iznik, the site of the Council of Nicaea. 
    • Drive through ancient Chalcedon and then spend the remainder of the day in Istanbul.

14. Day 14: Departure

    • Check out from the hotel and head to the airport to catch your onward flight.