5 Nights / 6 Days
Anatolia's Greatest Wonders
5 Nights | 3 Cappadocia · 1 Pamukkale · 1 Kuşadası — fairy chimneys, Pamukkale's white travertines and Ephesus.
Turkey / City
Konya
In central Anatolia's steppe heartland, Konya preserves the spiritual legacy of the 13th-century poet and mystic Rumi in the domed mausoleum that draws pilgrims from across the Muslim world.
Also part of Çatalhöyük
As your bus crosses the flat, wheat-colored plateau east of the lakes, the silhouette of Konya emerges gradually on the horizon—a city that has drawn pilgrims, scholars and seekers for a thousand years. The air here carries a different quality: dry and spacious, scented with bread from small wood-fired ovens and the faint cedar smoke of the surrounding landscape.
The Legacy of Rumi
The poet and mystic Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi arrived in Konya as a refugee in 1228, having fled eastward conflict with his family and followers. He spent the remaining decades of his life composing the Masnavi, one of the most significant works in Islamic mystical literature, and developing the spiritual practice of sema—the whirling meditation that became the hallmark of the Mevlevi order. His mausoleum, a domed structure with a distinctive turquoise-tiled exterior, stands at the center of a complex that includes his school and the tombs of his descendants. Visitors enter a courtyard shaded by plane trees, where the rhythm of devotional practice once filled these spaces.
Seljuk Architecture
Before Rumi's time, Konya had already accumulated centuries of layered history. As the capital of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum from roughly 1150 to 1300, the city developed a distinctive architectural vocabulary in brick and turquoise glaze. The Alaeddin Mosque occupies a hilltop position, its wooden columns reportedly hewn from ancient temple materials. The Karatay and Ince Minareli medreses—former theological colleges—display geometric tilework and stone carvings that demonstrate the mathematical sophistication of Seljuk craftsmen. These buildings sit within a functioning modern city, accessible along streets where daily commerce continues beneath the minarets.
Contemporary Spiritual Life
Konya remains a place where the Sufi tradition has not been entirely subsumed by modernity. The annual commemoration of Rumi's death in December draws thousands of visitors, and the Sema ceremony continues to be performed by practitioners maintaining the formal disciplines of the Mevlevi lineage. Beyond these formal observances, the city has a quiet spiritual character expressed through its religious bookshops, modest tea houses, and families whose connections to the Mevlevi tradition stretch back generations.
On the map
Find it on the map
- Konya City
Also around here
Tours that visit Konya
2 Nights / 3 Days
Sacred Lands & Ancient Cities
2 Nights | 1 Pamukkale · 1 Kuşadası — Mevlana's Konya, Pamukkale's white travertines and Ephesus.
8 Nights / 9 Days
Turkey's Golden Triangle
8 Nights | 3 Istanbul · 3 Cappadocia · 1 Pamukkale · 1 Kuşadası — Hagia Sophia, fairy chimneys, white travertines and Ephesus.
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.
