Eastern Turkey Explorer — Self-Launched

Arrive and check into a hostel or small hotel in Sultanahmet or Karaköy (the cheap end of the old city). Spend the afternoon walking the classic circuit on your own: the Hippodrome obelisks, the Blue Mosque courtyard, and the Sultanahmet streets. Istanbul's trams, ferries and metro are cheap — buy an Istanbulkart from any machine (about £1.50 for the card, ~£0.70 per ride). Eat dinner at a meyhane or street-food spot in Karaköy rather than a tourist restaurant in Sultanahmet.

🚌Istanbul Airport or Sabiha Gökçen to the city by metro/Marmaray, roughly £1.50–3

🛏Sultanahmet or Karaköy hostel / small hotel, dorm or simple private room

• →Walk the Hippodrome and Blue Mosque square
• →Sunset viewpoint over the Marmara Sea from a rooftop café
• →Karaköy street-food dinner

Morning free in Istanbul — the Grand Bazaar or a Bosphorus commuter ferry (£1) is a great cheap fix. In the afternoon catch the Doğu Express (Eastern Express) sleeper from Istanbul to Sivas — book on the TCDD taşımacılık website or app a few weeks ahead, a couchette is around £15–20 and a private sleeper compartment ~£25–35. It's a long ride but the scenery climbing onto the Anatolian plateau is superb. If the sleeper doesn't suit, daytime high-speed YHT trains run Istanbul–Sivas in about 7 hours for ~£20.

🚌Overnight/night train Istanbul–Sivas (TCDD), ~£15–25

🛏Sleeper/couchette on the Doğu Express (or a Sivas hotel if you take the daytime train)

• →Bosphorus commuter ferry
• →Grand Bazaar wander
• →Board the Doğu Express

Wake in Sivas, drop bags at a hotel or guesthouse near the centre, and self-walk the Seljuk core: the twin minarets of Çifte Minare Medresesi, the Buruciye Madrasah and the Şifaiye Medresesi, plus the Gök Medrese. Lunch on Sivas köfte. In the late afternoon/evening take an intercity bus toward Adıyaman (via Kayseri or Malatya, roughly 7–9 hours, ~£10–15 with Süha or Metro). If timing is awkward, sleep in Sivas and take the morning bus instead — Adıyaman is the base for Nemrut.

🚌Intercity coach Sivas–Adıyaman, ~£12 (change in Malatya or Kayseri)

🛏Sivas guesthouse or budget hotel (or bus overnight)

• →Çifte Minare Medresesi
• →Buruciye and Şifaiye madrasahs
• →Gök Medrese
• →Sivas köfte lunch

Mount Nemrut is easiest with a shared minibus (dolmuş) or a small-group sunset tour booked locally in Adıyaman — ask at your hotel the night before, roughly £25–35 per person including the site entrance. The drive up is about an hour and a half; you'll stop at the Cendere Roman bridge and the Arsameia reliefs en route, then climb the short path to the 2,000-year-old heads of Antiochus' gods for sunset. Bring a warm layer — it's cold and windy up there even in summer. Book a decent small hotel in Adıyaman in advance (not the monopoly tour hotel).

🚌Shared minibus/dolmuz tour to Nemrut, ~£8–12 transport share

🛏Adıyaman small hotel / guesthouse

• →Cendere Bridge
• →Arsameia ruins
• →Mount Nemrut sunset at the colossal statues

Morning bus to Diyarbakır (about 2.5 hours, ~£5). Walk the 6km black basalt city walls — a UNESCO site — and the old Hevsel Gardens viewpoint, then lunch on Diyarbakır's famous liver kebab (ciğer). Late afternoon bus to Mardin (2 hours, ~£4). Mardin's honey-coloured stone mansions and bazaar lanes are best explored at dusk; stay in a restored courtyard guesthouse inside the old city.

🚌Bus Adıyaman–Diyarbakır ~£5; Diyarbakır–Mardin ~£4

🛏Mardin old-city courtyard guesthouse

• →Diyarbakır Castle and basalt walls
• →Hevsel Gardens
• →Liver kebab lunch
• →Mardin old-town evening wander

Self-guided day around Mardin: the Ulu Camii, the Kasımiye Medrese with its dramatic courtyard, and the Mardin Museum housed in an old Syriac Catholic patriarchate. Take a taxi or dolmuş 6km out to Deyrulzafaran Monastery, a still-working Syriac Orthodox monastery — entry is a small donation. In the evening try a glass of local Syriac wine and dine at a terrace overlooking the Mesopotamian plain.

🚌Local dolmuş/taxi to Deyrulzafaran, ~£5 return

🛏Mardin old-city courtyard guesthouse

• →Kasımiye Medrese
• →Ulu Camii
• →Deyrulzafaran Monastery
• →Mardin Museum
• →Syriac wine tasting

Bus to Şanlıurfa (about 3 hours, ~£5). Drop bags at a guesthouse near Balıklıgöl. In the afternoon take a taxi or dolmuş out to Göbekli Tepe — the 11,600-year-old temple complex — entry is included on the Museum Pass; the site is 15km out and a taxi return is around £12–15, or join a small local tour (~£20). In the evening wander the Balıklıgöl pools and the old bazaar, and if you're lucky catch a Sıra Gecesi (traditional Kurdish music evening) at a local venue for ~£10–15.

🚌Bus Mardin–Şanlıurfa ~£5; taxi to Göbekli Tepe ~£7 each

🛏Şanlıurfa guesthouse near Balıklıgöl

• →Göbekli Tepe
• →Balıklıgöl pools
• →Şanlıurfa bazaar
• →Sıra Gecesi music evening

Day trip to Halfeti, the half-submerged village on the Euphrates (bus or shared taxi ~£4, boat trip ~£8). Lunch of Euphrates fish by the river. Back to Urfa in the late afternoon, grab a quick look at the archaeology museum (home of the famous 'Urfa Man' statue, ~£6), then evening bus to Gaziantep (2.5 hours, ~£4).

🚌Bus Şanlıurfa–Halfeti–Şanlıurfa ~£8; bus to Gaziantep ~£4

🛏Gaziantep budget hotel

• →Halfeti boat trip on the Euphrates
• →Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum
• →Euphrates fish lunch

Gaziantep is a foodie mecca: spend the morning at the Emine Dilek Mutfak Müzesi (culinary museum), then do your own street-food crawl — katmer, lahmacun, künefe, and a baklava tasting at a famous shop like Koçak or Güllüoğlu. Many baklava shops let you watch the trays being made. Afternoon at the Zeugma Mosaic Museum, home of the astonishing Gypsy Girl mosaic (~£6). Early evening: baklava-making workshop if you can find one on GetYourGuide/Klook (~£20), otherwise just eat.

🚌Local tram/taxi around town, ~£4

🛏Gaziantep budget hotel

• →Zeugma Mosaic Museum
• →Emine Dilek culinary museum
• →Street-food crawl
• →Baklava-making workshop or shop visit
• →Coppersmith bazaar

Morning bus Gaziantep–Konya (about 8 hours, ~£12, or fly via Istanbul if you want to save a day, ~£30–45 one-way on Pegasus/AJet). If going by bus, break the journey in Karaman and arrange a taxi to Çatalhöyük (the Neolithic proto-city, ~£10–15 return, small site fee) — otherwise visit Çatalhöyük the next morning from Konya. In Konya, the Mevlana Museum and the whirling-dervish sema ceremony are the essential stops; check if a sema is scheduled on your night (many are free or donation-based).

🚌Intercity coach Gaziantep–Konya, ~£12 (or domestic flight)

🛏Konya budget hotel or guesthouse

• →Çatalhöyük Neolithic site
• →Mevlana Museum and mosque
• →Konya bazaar
• →Sema (whirling dervish) ceremony if scheduled

Morning bus or train to Antalya (bus ~7 hours, ~£10; train to Alanya plus bus is possible but slower). If you can, take a detour to the old Ottoman village of Ormana in the Taurus foothills — local buses run from Manavgat, or a shared taxi from Akseki; ask at the Konya bus station about a route with a stop. Arrive in Antalya's Kaleiçi old town in the evening: walk the Roman harbour, the Ottoman mansions, and eat a last dinner by the sea.

🚌Bus Konya–Antalya, ~£10

🛏Kaleiçi old-town hostel or budget hotel

• →Ormana village (optional detour)
• →Kaleiçi old town and Roman harbour
• →Seaside dinner

Morning free for a swim at Konyaaltı or a final wander through Kaleiçi. Antalya airport (AYT) is 30–40 minutes from the old town: public tram/bus ~£1, taxi ~£12–15, or a hotel-arranged transfer ~£20. If you need to get back to Istanbul, Pegasus or AJet fly AYT–SAW/AYT–IST in about 75 minutes for £25–50 when booked in advance.

🚌Antalya tram or bus to AYT, ~£1–3

🛏N/A (onward travel)

• →Morning swim or old-town wander