2019 ANZAC DAY TOURS FROM ISTANBUL

Dawn Service and Gallipoli ANZAC Day Tours Departing from Istanbul

ANZAC TOUR #1 (2 days)

ATTENTION: 
This tour package is not being operated at the moment.
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Gallipoli & ANZAC Day 2019 - Budget Tour

2 - Days itinerary

Day 1 : Sunday 24th April - Istanbul to Gallipoli
Early morning departure from Istanbul  to visit the breathtaking WW1 battlefields in Gallipoli Peninsula. The tour bus will stop at a convenient place along the way for shopping food and other needs of tour participants   Upon arrival to Gallipoli our group head straight to Anzac Cove to secure the best spot on the grass for the long night waiting ahead of us. Spending the night under the stars with thousands of people will surely be a unique experience.

Day 2 : Monday 25th April - ANZAC Day at Gallipoli
The crowd will wake before the sun rise to attend the emotional ANZAC Day Dawn Service in memory of the soldiers who died during the war while fighting for their country. The emotional moments will peak when a deafening silence will encompass the whole peninsula while commemorating our fallen forefathers. After dawn service we will visit Lone Pine or Chunuk Bair to attend the Australian or New Zealand Memorial Services. In the afternoon we will return to tour bus and drive back to Istanbul.

(B - Breakfast, L - Lunch, D - Dinner)

Prices: 295 Euro per person

Tour includes :
English-speaking tour guide along the tour period.
Transportation in new model, air-conditioned, non-smoking bus
Commemorative gifts

Tour does not include :
Optional activities suggested by tour guides
Tips for driver and guide
Entrance fees and meals.
Compulsory travel insurance.
 

ANZAC TOUR #2 (5 days)

ATTENTION: 
This tour package is not being operated at the moment.
Please click here to see available tours

ANZAC Day Ephesus Trooper Extended Tour

5 - Day itinerary

Day 1 - 24th April, 2019 - Istanbul to Gallipoli  (B, L)
Early morning departure from Istanbul to visit the breathtaking WWI battlefields in Gallipoli Peninsula.  Upon arrival to Gallipoli we will visit Turkish Memorials, Cape Helles, British memorial and V Beach. You will have the chance for some rest during BBQ lunch before heading to Dawn Service area.. Spending the night under the stars with thousands of people will surely be a unique experience.

Day 2 - 25th April, 2019 - ANZAC Day at Gallipoli (D)
The crowd will wake before the sun rise to attend the emotional ANZAC Day Dawn Service in memory of the soldiers who died during the war while fighting for their country. The emotional moments will peak when a deafening silence will encompass the whole peninsula while commemorating our fallen forefathers. After dawn service we will visit Lone Pine or Chunuk Bair to attend the Australian or New Zealand Memorial Services. In the afternoon we will cross the Dardanelles straight to settle our hotel in downtown Canakkale
Hotel in Canakkale.

Day 3 - 26th April, 2019 - Troy & Pergamon Tours. (B, D)
After breakfast we will visit the ancient city of Troy which was the home of famous Trojan Horse. From there we will drive on to Pergamon; one of the most significant cultural centers in Asia Minor under the ruling of Roman Empire. It was competing with Ephesus wit its magnificent acropolis, impressive temple and library.
Hotel in Kusadasi.

Day 4 - 27th April, 2019 - Ephesus & Sirince Village (B, D)
After breakfast be ready for a guided tour of Ephesus and a visit to the site of the Temple of Artemis . After visiting the magnificent ancient city and the theatre before we will be continuing to the beautiful Sirince village very famous for its wines and traditional houses. .
Hotel in Kusadasi.

Day 5 - 28th April, 2019 - Pamukkale, Hierapolis Tour (B, D)
A miracle of Nature (Pamukkale) and one of the most prominent city of ancient times (Hierapolis) are just next to each other waiting to be discovered by you. You must not miss this ! Visiting the amazing white colored travertines, hot spring pools and water terraces have been created by nature in millions of years on the mountain slopes of Pamukkale and the ancient city of Hierapolis which has the biggest ancient Necropolis in present Turkey with 1200 gravestones.
Hotel in Pamukkale.

Day 6 -  29th April, 2019 - Bursa, Istanbul (B)
Today you head back to Istanbul, passing through Bursa, which is the first capital city of Ottoman Empire. We will visit the famous Green Mosque and explore the Silk Bazaar.
Return to Istanbul late in the evening.

Price: Please ask

Tour Includes :
Professional English-speaking tour guide for the duration of the tour
Transportation in a fully air-conditioned, non-smoking vehicle
Commemorative gift
Tips except driver and guide
Meals as indicated (B = breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner)
Accommodation in below hotels
  - 4* Iris Hotel in Canakkale
  - Ilayda Avantgarde Boutique Hotel in Kusadasi
  - 5* Colossae Thermal Hotel in Pamukkale
or similar quality hotels

Tour does not include :
Optional activities suggested by tour guides
Tips for driver and guide
Compulsory travel insurance.
 

 

What is Anzac Day

Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, and is commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honor members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all those who died and served in military operations for the country. Anzac Day is also observed in the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga.

Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand. This is a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same remembrance day, but making reference to both countries in its name.

Anzac Day was gazetted as a public holiday in New Zealand in 1920, through the Anzac Day Act, after lobbying by the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association,the RSA. In Australia at the 1921 State Premiers' Conference, it was decided that Anzac Day would be observed on 25 April each year. However, it was not observed uniformly in all the States.

With the coming of the Second World War, Anzac Day became a day on which to commemorate the lives of Australians and New Zealanders lost in that war as well and in subsequent years. The meaning of the day has been further broadened to include those killed in all the military operations in which the countries have been involved.

Dawn service
After the First World War, returned soldiers sought the comradeship they felt in those quiet, peaceful moments before dawn. With symbolic links to the dawn landing at Gallipoli, a dawn stand-to or dawn ceremony became a common form of Anzac Day remembrance during the 1920s.

In Turkey the name "ANZAC Cove" was officially recognized by the Turkish government on Anzac Day in 1985. In 1934, Kemal Ataturk delivered the following words to the first Australians, New Zealanders and British to visit the Gallipoli battlefields. This was later inscribed on a monolith at Ari Burnu Cemetery ( ANZAC Beach ) which was unveiled in 1985 and the words also appear on the Kemal Atatürk Memorial, Canberra:

"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives. You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies And the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries... Wipe away your tears ! Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace after having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."

In 1990, to mark the 75th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing, Government officials from Australia and New Zealand as well as most of the last surviving Gallipoli veterans, and many Australian and New Zealand tourists travelled to Turkey for a special Dawn Service at Gallipoli. The Anzac Day Gallipoli Dawn Service has since attracted upwards of 15,000 people. Until 1999, the Gallipoli Dawn Service was held at the Ari Burnu War Cemetery at Anzac Cove, but the growing numbers of people attending resulted in the construction of a more spacious site on North Beach, known as the "Anzac Commemorative Site" in time for the year 2000 service.
 
 

 

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