ISTANBUL BY ROAD – MARCH 25TH – EASTER – MAY 1ST 2025

Gathering at 7:30 a.m. and departure for Komotini with intermediate stops along the way. Arrival in Komotini and check-in at the hotel. Overnight.

After breakfast, departure for Constantinople, the city with many names: City of Cities, New Rome, Seven Hills, Constantine's City, Queen of Cities, Reigning. Border crossing. Crossing Eastern Thrace, stop at Radestos, today's Terkintag. Arrival in Constantinople and optional cruise on the Bosphorus by private boat. Dinner at a local restaurant. Transfer to the hotel, check-in. Overnight.

After breakfast, departure for a guided tour of the most important sights of the city. We will start with the greatest monument of Hellenism and Christianity, the magnificent Hagia Sophia, which is an architectural achievement with a dome 55 m high and 31 m in diameter. We will pass in front of the palace of the sultans Topkapi where we will see it from the outside and the Byzantine Hippodrome, where the famous "Nika's Struggle" began, with the Bronze Tripod of Delphi, the column of Constantine Porphyrogenitus and the Obelisk of Theodosius. We will visit the legendary Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet) with its brilliant mosaic decoration in tones of blue and its six impressive minarets and then the Basilica Cistern of Justinian (Byzantine Aqueduct – Yerebatan) with its 336 Corinthian and Doric columns and the jellyfish which, according to mythology, turned anyone who looked into their eyes into stone. Lunch at a local restaurant and then a visit to the largest covered market in the world, the amazing Covered Market or Grand Bazaar (Kapali Carsi) with its 5,000 shops and over 60 streets (alleys) to do your shopping. Return to the hotel.

After breakfast, visit the Dolmabahce Palace with the largest collection of Baccarat crystal chandeliers in the world, the famous crystal staircase shaped like a double horseshoe and built of Baccarat crystal, brass and mahogany and the large number of Hereke carpets and bearskin rugs. Immediately after Kabatas, board a boat to visit the Prince Islands. First stop in Halki with the famous Theological School and the Holy Monastery of the Holy Trinity on the hill of Hope and then in Prince with its picturesque streets, impressive mansions and flowering gardens. Lunch at a seaside restaurant. Return to the city. For the evening, we recommend entertainment at a traditional nightclub with a live orchestra and traditional belly dancing (oriental). Overnight.

After breakfast, visit to the most important Byzantine churches. To the Ecumenical Patriarchate, to the Phanar where we will see the Closed Gate, the martyrdom site of Patriarch Gregory V, the Patriarchal House and the patriarchal church of Saint George, the Virgin Mary of Blachernae where the Akathist Hymn was sung for the first time after the miracle that occurred in 626 AD, and then to the most important Holy Water of Orthodoxy, to Baloukli, to the Monastery of Zoodochos Pigi which is associated with the legends about the half-fried fish and the fall of the City, where the tombs of the Ecumenical Patriarchs are also located. Then departure from Constantinople. Border crossing and arrival in Xanthi. Check-in at the hotel, overnight.

After breakfast, departure for Athens with intermediate stops.