Istanbul • Cappadocia • Konya • Pisidian Antioch • Pamukkale • Hierapolis • Laodicea • Kusadasi • Ephesus • Smyrna • Pergamum
11 Days - Our prices include airfare from your hometown and exclusively 4 or 5 star hotels everywhere
Scroll down to view the itinerary; click on the trip date to book your trip online.
Trips in 2026 - $5,599.00
Trips in 2027 - $5,599.00
Trip Includes
- A Catholic priest will be with the group to celebrate daily Mass.
- Round-trip airfare from your hometown connecting in a major city to fly overseas is included.
- Airport taxes, security fees, and fuel surcharges!
- Exclusively 4 or 5 star hotels in downtown areas.
- All breakfasts and all dinners. Wine is included with all dinners.
- Transportation with luxury bus.
- All entrance fees to all the sites.
- All tips to everyone involved in the tour.
- The tour fees for our guides. Our tour guides are well educated, caring, and professional. Most of them have their PhDs in Church history, archeology, philosophy, languages, or Theology.
- Luggage handling. Please pack light, one piece of luggage and one carry-on.
- Dress casually throughout the whole trip. Shoulders and knees should be covered when visiting basilicas or churches.
- If you are traveling alone and you allow us to find you a roommate, you don't pay the single supplement. If you wish to have your own room and you are not open to rooming with another passenger, then the single supplement fee is $1,400.
- Wheelchair can be provided for those passengers who cannot walk, with prior notice at registration for $150. A traveling companion has to push the wheelchair throughout the trip.
- NOTE: If you wish to deepen your knowledge of the Catholic Faith as a preparation for this pilgrimage, we recommend the following book as it is faithful to the teachings of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church (Imprimatur by ARCHBISHOP FELIPE AGUIRRE FRANCO): The Catholic Faith in Easy Terms. Introduction, Nihil Obstat, and Imprimatur by Archbishop Felipe Aguirre Franco.
- At the time of registration, as a part of the total balance, a non-refundable $500 deposit is due in the form of a credit card. For example, if your trip costs $3,700, when you sign up, you pay a $500 deposit, then your balance would be $3,200. Final balance is due 4 months before departure date.
- One month after registration, a $1,000 additional deposit is due only in the form of cash, personal check, cashiers check, or money order.
- If you sign up after the final payment due date or at the last minute, you pay the entire cost of the trip at registration only in the form of cash, personal check, cashiers check, or money order.
Trip Does Not Include
- Lunch
- Insurance ~ The total trip cost is non-refundable, we recommend trip insurance to protect your investment.
Trip Itinerary
Day 1: Departure from USA.
Day 2: Istanbul. Welcome to Istanbul, a city with a mysterious past, where East meets West and a myriad of cultures blended all into an unmatched splendor. Enjoy first views on the way to our Hotel located right in the heart of town. Overnight in Istanbul. Dinner at your Hotel.
Day 3: Istanbul. Our full day tour of the old city begins as we step onto the grounds of the Topkapi Palace, the last residence of the Ottoman Turks. Poised on the hilltop of the Golden Horn, it beckoned home the sultans of old and today it has that same magnetic appeal. Just around the corner we will visit St. Sophia—, the original structure was built by Constantine in 326 A.D., and for 916 years it functioned as a Christian church. With its 184’ dome, mosaics and frescoes, it is considered an architectural wonder. Of it, Justinian stated, “Solomon, I have surpassed you.” Across the street we enter the Yerebatan Sarayi(Underground Cisterns) built during the time of Justinian I and probably by Christians when one considers the manner in which many of the temple columns and capitals are placed. From here we take a short walk along the Hippodrome built in the times of Byzantium for horse and chariot races. Today, on the site of the imperial box seats, is the William II Fountain, and monuments line the field where once as many as 100,000 sat or stood and cheered at athletic competitions. As we continue our walk, we reach Sultanahmet Mosque better known as the Blue Mosque, a name derived from its exquisite, blue-colored tiles decorating the interior of the building, which is further distinguished by its six minarets. This afternoon, we head to the Grand Covered Bazaar, a maze of streets and shops under an intricately painted, vaulted roof. It is a world unto itself abounding in the sights, aroma and sounds of old Turkey. Overnight in Istanbul.
Day 4: Fly to Kayseri, drive to Cappadocia. Breakfast at the hotel and early departure to drive to the airport for your domestic flight to Kayseri. We will drive to Cappadocia,a unique landscape! Drive to a hotel in Cappadocia for dinner and overnight.
Day 5: Cappadocia. Today you may have an optional Hot-Air Balloon Ride Cappadocia is one of Turkey’s most fanciful and recognizable landscapes, and during this optional hot-air balloon flight, we’ll soar over its amber terrain and fairy-tale chimneys, savoring a unique panorama in the quiet, rosy light of dawn. After breakfast,this morning we will drive to Kaymaklı Underground City .During the Hittite era, as successive armies swept across Asia Minor, underground cities were built as a uniquely defensible community, approximately eight stories underground. We can explore some of the hundreds of rooms, wandering the many narrow, sloping passageways between kitchens with enameled food storage areas, water cisterns, stables, and living spaces—all well ventilated by air shafts. At one time, several thousand people lived here. Following our underground city discovery, we'll see more of this scenic area of Cappadocia.Such as Pasabag Highly remarkable earth pillars can be seen here, in the middle of a vineyard, hence the name of the place which means: the Pacha's vineyard. Pacha means "General", the military rank, in Turkish and it is a very common nickname. This site is also called Monks Valley.Dinner and overnight in Cappadocia.
Day 6: Cappadocia, Konya. We will be at the famous Goreme “open-air museum,” a group of ancient churches carved from the rock. Most of these chapels have colorful frescoes inside, which date from the tenth to the 13th centuries. Then we will drive shortly to Uchisar Castle which is the panoramic viewing point Cappadocia. Many rooms, steps, tunnels and galleries inside the castle. Avanos, the latter providing us with the opportunity to purchase some of the hand-turned pottery and tile that has been shaped here for millennia and some of the techniques still used date back to Hittite times to 2000 BC. This afternoon we will drive to Konya. We have an opportunity to visit a modern church called St. Paul Church in Konya. Paul and Barnabas visited the city on Paul's first missionary journey (Acts 13:51–14:7). Here they preached in the synagogue and then the city. After about three months the opposition became so great that they had to flee for their lives to Lystra and Derbe. Paul revisited the city on his second (Acts 16:2) and probably third journeys. Iconium is situated at the western edge of the great Anatolian plateau at an elevation of 3,600 feet (1,100 m.) and roads from the east, especially from Cilicia (Tarsus) gather to it. Dinner and overnight at Konya.
Day 7: Pisidian Antioch, Pamukkale. From Iconium we drive to Pisidian Antioch .The history of Pisidian Antioch goes back to some time between 310-280 BC. The first Biblical reference to this city is Paul’s mention of it in Acts 13:14-16 as the synagogue from which he preached his first recorded sermon during his first missionary journey.The day ends at Pamukkale for dinner and overnight.
Day 8: Hierapolis, Laodicea, Kusadasi. In Hierapolis(Pamukkale) the dazzling white hillside is a major tourist site today and probably even in ancient times. The first reference to it in the New Testament associates the city and the church there with the work of Epaphras, who in prison later became acquainted with Paul. Laodicea was at the crossroads of north-south traffic between Sardis and Perge and east-west traffic from the Euphrates to Ephesus. From this advantageous location, the city became wealthy. John cited very harsh warnings of the “lukewarm” attitude of the church here (Revelation 3:15-17).Our touring day ends at Kusadasi.
Day 9: Ephesus. Ephesus, site of the world’s largest excavated ruins, will amaze you with how vividly you can imagine the ancient city. Close your eyes for a moment and realize here the Apostles once walked along streets lined with wonderful public buildings such as the Baths of Scholastica, the Library of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian and the Theater and the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders. Later we will visit St. John’s Basilica where the Apostle John is buried and the Ephesus Museum, site of some of the best treasures of antiquity found in this region. Smyrna (Izmir) Old Smyrna was located just across the bay from present day Izmir. Polycarp, bishop from 115 to 156 AD, was one of the earliest members of the church at this site. There are several contemporary accounts of him and some of his own writings still preserved. In a letter to the Philippians he warned them “…the love of money is the root of all evil.” A martyr, he was important to the early church as a preserver of the purity of the gospel. John told the Christians in Smyrna not to be afraid to suffer, but “…be faithful till death…” (Revelation 2:10-11) Dinner at the hotel. Overnight in Kusadasi.
Day 10: Smyrna, Pergamum. Drive to Smyrna which holds a significant place in early church history. It was the home of several early martyr-saints, including Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. Continue to Pergamum. Here we will visit Asklepion and the Acropolis. Return to Izmir for dinner and overnight.
Day 11: Fly back home.
Please note: We do our best to ensure that all sites listed in this itinerary will be seen. However, due to scheduling conflicts, or other circumstances beyond our control, sites may be visited on a different day than listed. If this happens it will also necessitate a change in the restaurant for dinner. However, we will never sacrifice the quality of the meal, all restaurants will meet Pro Catholic Tour's very high standards. Since we have several different trip configurations touring at the same time, it is likely that groups on different tours will be combined when their itineraries overlap in certain areas.