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 / Collection
The Seven Churches of Revelation
The seven congregations the Book of Revelation addresses, all of them within a few days' drive of the Aegean coast.
The Seven Churches are seven ancient Christian communities scattered across the fertile river valleys and limestone uplands of western Anatolia. They appear in the closing chapters of the New Testament, addressed individually by the writer of Revelation, who criticises some for abandoning their first love and praises others for their endurance. They were real communities with real problems: some were divided by false teaching, others were pressured by local authorities or tempted by the commercial culture around them.
From Ephesus to Laodicea
The churches span roughly 350 kilometres, from the port city of Ephesus on the Aegean coast to Laodicea in the inland plateau country near modern Denizli. Between them lie Sardis, once the wealthy capital of the Lydian kingdom; Thyatira, a city of trade guilds whose ruins stand near the modern town of Akhisar; Pergamum, which dominated a steep hill above the Caicus valley and was famous for its library and its healing sanctuary; Philadelphia, set among the volcanic soils of the Hermus basin; and Smyrna, the predecessor of modern Izmir, a city rebuilt by Alexander the Great that retained its Greek character under Roman rule. Walking between these sites means crossing a landscape of river plains, olive groves, and bare limestone hills that has sustained settlement for millennia.
What Remains
Archaeological work at each site has uncovered varying degrees of survival. At Ephesus, the scale of the ancient city is most apparent: the library facade, the theatre capable of holding 25,000 spectators, and the street that once led to the harbour. At Pergamum, the dramatic hilltop acropolis yields the most spectacular remains. At Sardis, the gymnasium complex and synagogue inscriptions speak to a multi-faith city. At Laodicea, the foundations of a large theatre and the traces of a colonnaded street mark the location, alongside markers of the earthquakes that repeatedly damaged the city. At Smyrna, the Christian martyrdom of Polycarp in the second century is commemorated at a site now within the modern city.
Walking the Route
Small-group tours of the region typically follow the ancient road patterns between these cities, travelling through landscapes that still carry the bones of their Roman and Hellenistic past in the field walls, the placement of villages, and the names of rivers. The experience is less about spectacular monuments than about the slow accumulation of place: standing on a colonnaded street whose stones are still in their original positions, or looking across a valley at the hilltop where an early Christian community met and was told to hold on to what they had.
Tours that visit The Seven Churches of Revelation
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
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
