6 Nights / 7 Days
From Fairy Chimneys to Mesopotamia
6 Nights | 3 Cappadocia · 1 Gaziantep · 1 Şanlıurfa · 1 Diyarbakır — surreal landscapes and the cradle of civilization.
Turkey / Ancient site
Göbekli Tepe
The world's oldest stone sanctuary rises from the Şanlıurfa steppe — T-shaped pillars carved with foxes, snakes and aurochs, erected eleven millennia before the first Egyptian pyramid.
Also part of UNESCO World Heritage in TürkiyeUpper Mesopotamia
On a limestone hill overlooking the rolling steppe near Şanlıurfa, massive T-shaped pillars stand in rough circles, their surfaces incised with animals that have faced the sky for more than eleven thousand years. Göbekli Tepe predates Stonehenge by roughly six millennia and the earliest Egyptian pyramids by nearly as long. It is the oldest known example of monumental architecture built by human hands, and nobody is certain why it was constructed, used, and then deliberately buried beneath tons of rubble sometime around 8000 BCE.
The Pillars and Their Carvings
Twenty limestone pillars, each weighing several tons and standing up to five metres tall, have been uncovered in several circular enclosures. They are arranged in pairs, facing inward, with a pair of taller pillars at the centre of each ring. The craftsmanship is deliberate and skilled: foxes and cranes, scorpions and snakes, aurochs and wild boar are rendered in shallow relief across pillar faces. The carvings are not incidental decoration. They suggest a system of meaning — possibly mythological, possibly totemic — that was shared across an area far larger than the hill itself.
Why Here, and Why Buried?
The hill was artificially flattened before construction began, requiring enormous effort from a pre-agricultural society. This detail alone — the willingness to reshape a hilltop for symbolic rather than practical purpose — tells us something about the role of ceremony and belief in these early communities. Equally puzzling is the decision to inter the enclosures. Rather than abandoning the site to time, people systematically backfilled the circles, preserving them beneath metres of earth. Scholars continue to debate whether this was an act of ritual closure, a way of honouring what had been built, or something else entirely.
What the Site Feels Like Today
Walking among the pillars, you are struck by the scale and by the open sky — the steppe stretches in every direction, the same vast horizon that the builders would have seen. Protective shelters now cover the excavated enclosures, shielding both the stone and the visitors from direct sun and rain. But the setting remains essentially rural and quiet. Birds move across the plateau, and the wind carries the scent of wild herbs from the surrounding fields.
On the map
Find it on the map
- Göbekli Tepe Ancient site
Tours that visit Göbekli Tepe
8 Nights / 9 Days
From Mesopotamia to the Caucasus
8 Nights | 1 Gaziantep · 1 Şanlıurfa · 1 Diyarbakır · 3 Mardin · 1 Van · 1 Kars — Göbeklitepe, Mardin and the haunting ruins of Ani.
3 Nights / 4 Days
Mesopotamia & Southeastern Turkey
3 Nights | 1 Gaziantep · 1 Şanlıurfa · 1 Diyarbakır — Göbeklitepe, Mount Nemrut and the cradle of civilization.
11 Nights / 12 Days
The Ultimate Eastern Turkey Expedition
11 Nights | 3 Cappadocia · 1 Gaziantep · 1 Şanlıurfa · 1 Diyarbakır · 3 Mardin · 1 Van · 1 Kars — fairy chimneys, Mount Nemrut, Mardin and the haunting ruins of Ani.
14 Nights / 15 Days
The Ultimate Journey Across Turkey
3 Nights Istanbul | 3 Nights Cappadocia | 1 Night Gaziantep | 1 Night Sanliurfa | 1 Night Diyarbakir | 3 Nights Mardin | 1 Night Van | 1 Night Kars
9 Nights / 10 Days
Turkey's Grand Cultural Journey
9 Nights | 3 Istanbul · 3 Cappadocia · 1 Gaziantep · 1 Şanlıurfa · 1 Diyarbakır — imperial capitals, surreal landscapes and the cradle of civilization.
Good to know
Before you book you should know
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Is this trip right for you?
Our groups are capped at eight travellers, which is about a third of what the industry calls a small group. Eight people share one vehicle, one table at dinner and one guide's attention, and the day can change on the road without anybody being left behind. If you are looking for a coach, a fixed script and a microphone, this is not that.
Most days involve real walking, often on ground that was laid two thousand years before walking shoes: marble worn smooth, cobbles, uneven steps and long site paths with little shade. Bring shoes you can spend a morning in.
Some days move between regions and are largely a drive, with stops along the way. Summers are hot — well over 35°C inland — and winters are colder than most people expect, so layers, a hat and sunscreen earn their place in the bag whatever the month.
How demanding a particular trip is, is written on the trip itself: the physical rating in the header, and the day-by-day itinerary above.
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Rooms, and travelling on your own
Trip prices are per person, sharing a twin room. Each traveller picks their own room while booking, so a party can mix the three:
- Twin share — two single beds, shared with someone you are travelling with or with a traveller of the same gender.
- Travelling as a couple — one double room.
- Individual room — a room of your own, for a single supplement on top of the trip price. Availability is limited, and the supplement for a given date is shown next to the option when you book.
Solo travellers are welcome on every departure, and most of our groups have one or two aboard.
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Accommodation
The hotels named in an itinerary are a guideline rather than a guarantee. Where one is full, or has dropped below the standard we booked it for, we substitute a property of a similar standard in the same area — we would rather change the hotel than the trip.
Check-in is usually mid-afternoon. If you arrive early we will ask for the room, but no hotel can promise one before its own check-in time; luggage can normally be left at reception in the meantime. If you want the room from the night before, ask us and we will add the extra night to your booking.
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Passports, visas and insurance
Entry requirements depend on your nationality and change without much notice, so the only reliable source is the official one: the government of the country you are travelling to, and your own foreign ministry's travel advice. Check both before you book a flight.
Many countries ask for a passport valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates, and for blank pages. It is worth looking at yours now rather than at the airport.
We ask every traveller to carry travel insurance covering medical treatment and repatriation, and we would strongly encourage cover for cancellation and for your luggage as well.
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Your departure is guaranteed — the day can change
Once a departure is on the calendar it runs. We do not cancel a trip for want of a minimum number of bookings, so a booked date is one you can plan flights and leave around.
What can move is the shape of a day. Museums and archaeological sites change their hours, roads close, weather turns, a local holiday lands in the middle of the week. Where that happens your guide reorders the day, or swaps a stop for one of the same weight, and tells you why. Changes to a booked itinerary are covered by our Booking Terms & Conditions.
