Depart USA on overnight flight to Istanbul, Turkey.

Arrive Istanbul Airport and transfer to your hotel. Balance of the day is at leisure. Dinner is included at the hotel this evening.

Half day Ottoman Visions Tour.  After breakfast, enjoy a guided "Ottoman Visions" tour that reveals Istanbul's rich and glorious past with its dynamic present. We first visit the "Suleyman Mosque" also known as the "Blue Mosque" because of its magnificent interior blue colored Iznik tiles. Built by Sultan Suleyman "The Magnificent" in the 16th century, the Mosque is an awesome work of art, dating from a time when the Ottoman state was at its most splendid. It is the only mosque in the world that was originally built with six minarets and is the symbol of Istanbul. Continue to Topkapi Palace, the former imperial residence of Ottoman Sultans and their exotic entourage! Today it is used as a museum. The tour ends at the Grand Bazaar, the largest "souk" covered shopping mall in the world with over 4000 shops! The balance of the day is free to explore this magnificent city. Dinner is included at the hotel this evening.

Optional boat excursion on the Bosphorus Straits. We first stop at the Spice Market, also called the "Egyptian Bazaar" that dates from the Byzantine period. It was once the trading place where merchants once sold spices and herbs which were brought from or through Egypt. Continue to the pier to board a private boat for the Cruise along the Bosphorus, a narrow strait between the continents of Europe and Asia. The Bosphorus is one of the most exquisite waterways in the world, winding through shorelines of beautiful mosques, lavish palaces and decadent villas. You'll see Dolmabahce and Beylerbeyi Palaces, Ottoman summer mansions, Ortakoy mosque, the defensive Rumeli Fortress and Bosphorus Bridge - one of the world's largest suspension bridges. Dinner is included at the hotel this evening.

Optional half day "Byzantine Relics" Tour. Drive to the center of town and visit the Hippodrome Square, one of the most famous areas in Byzantine Constantinople, built by the Roman Emperor Septimus in 203 A.D. It was once the center of Byzantine civic life, and site of civil activities, rebellions and chariot races. Here we will see the Egyptian Obelisk, the oldest monument in the city made of rare pink granite. This rare column was brought from Egypt to Constantinople in the 4th century by the Emperor Theodosius and is the oldest monument in the city. Continue to St. Sophia Museum, which was once the world's largest church. From the 5th century onwards it became known as the church of Divine Wisdom or "Hagia Sophia". After his conquest in 1453, Sultan Mehmet II converted it to a mosque. In 1934 Mustafa Ataturk converted the mosque into a museum. Dinner is included at the hotel this evening.

Optional half day "Two Continents" Tour.  Drive to the Asian side of Istanbul via the unique transcontinental Bosphorus Bridge, which connects the two continents of Europe and Asia. Crossing to the Asian side of Istanbul, we visit the elegant Ottoman Beylerbeyi Palace, used as a summer residence of the sultans or to accommodate foreign heads of state visiting the Ottoman capital. The palace is divided into two sections; Selamik for the men and Harem for the women. The tour will reveal the splendid rooms decorated in an elaborate combination of diverse western and eastern styles, One of the features which distinguishes the Beylerbeyi from other Ottoman palaces of the period are the terraced gardens on the sloping hillside behind the palace. The tour ends at Camlica Hill, the highest spot in Istanbul for an unforgettable view of the city. Dinner is included at the hotel this evening.

Optional "Istanbul by Night" Evening transfer from the hotel to a first class restaurant. Enjoy dinner featuring local cuisine and a half a bottle of wine per person while watching a spectacular floorshow of famous Belly Dancers and Anatolian Folklore groups featuring popular music and Turkish singing.

Morning transfer to Istanbul Airport for the return flight to the USA.