Troy

Troy is one of those places that sits at the exact intersection of myth and archaeology. Homer wrote about it. Heinrich Schliemann dug it up. And now you get to walk through it — nine distinct layers of settlement stacked on top of each other, spanning more than four millennia of human occupation.

Your day starts with an early morning pickup from your Istanbul hotel and a scenic drive westward toward the Dardanelles and the town of Canakkale. The route takes you through the rolling farmland of Thrace and across the strait that separates Europe from Asia. By late morning, you’re standing at the entrance to one of the most significant archaeological sites in the Western world.

Your guide walks you through the excavated city layer by layer — from the earliest Bronze Age walls (Troy I, around 3000 BC) through the settlement most scholars associate with Homer’s Iliad (Troy VIIa) to the Roman rebuilding of the city under Augustus. You’ll see the defensive towers, the sacrificial altars, the residential quarters, and the massive replica of the Trojan Horse that has become the site’s most recognizable landmark. After a lunch break, you begin the return drive to Istanbul, arriving back at your hotel in the evening.