Expedition overview
This 12-day, 11-night small-group tour threads together the finest wetlands and the most evocative ancient cities of the Marmara and Aegean regions. Timed to spring and autumn migration, we work Uluabat and Manyas lakes, the Dardanelles raptor bottleneck, the Gediz Delta and Lake Bafa for pelicans, flamingos, storks and waders. Between the hides we step into early-Ottoman Bursa, Homeric Troy, marble Ephesus and the travertine terraces of Pamukkale. With a maximum of eight guests, a dedicated birding guide and a photo-friendly vehicle, the pace is unhurried and the access intimate.
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1 – İstanbul
Guests arrive at İstanbul Airport and are transferred to a comfortable base near the historic peninsula. After settling in, an optional late-afternoon stroll along the Golden Horn and Bosphorus shoreline introduces our first urban birds and the gulls and cormorants of the strait. We gather for a welcome dinner and a route briefing with the guide.
Stay: İstanbul (Sultanahmet area hotel) Transfer: Airport transfer to hotel
Day 2 – Yalova
We cross the Marmara by fast ferry, scanning open water for terns and divers as the city skyline falls away. Around Yalova and the wooded slopes of Termal we walk shaded streams and gardens for migrant warblers and woodpeckers. The day ends gently at a thermal-spa hotel, a fitting reward before the heavier birding to come.
Stay: Yalova (thermal-spa hotel) – Transfer: Fast ferry across the Sea of Marmara to Yalova, then short drive
Day 3 – Bursa
A culture-rich day in early-Ottoman Bursa, where we visit the Grand Mosque (Ulu Cami) with its twenty domes and the tiled Green Tomb (Yeşil Türbe). Between sites we watch swifts and the city’s resident raptors wheeling over the slopes of Uludağ, and pause at parkland and stream edges for migrants. A first scouting look at the Uluabat shoreline whets the appetite for tomorrow.
Stay: Bursa (city hotel) Transfer: Drive Yalova → Bursa via Uluabat fringe
Day 4 – Karacabey / Uluabat Lake
Today is a flagship wetland day at Uluabat Lake and the Karacabey reedbeds, among the most reliable sites in Türkiye for the globally threatened Dalmatian Pelican. We work the shallows and floating vegetation for herons, glossy ibis and marsh terns, with raptors hunting the margins. By late afternoon we shift toward Manyas and our lakeside base near Bandırma.
Stay: Bandırma area (lakeside hotel) Transfer: Drive to Karacabey & Uluabat, then on toward Manyas/Bandırma
Day 5 – Manyas / Kuş Cenneti
We spend the morning at Manyas Kuş Cenneti (Bird Paradise) National Park near Bandırma, exploring the boardwalks and observation tower above one of the country’s great mixed heronries. Pelicans, spoonbills, cormorants and night herons jostle in the flooded willows while passage waders feed on exposed mud. The afternoon allows time on quieter stretches of the Manyas shoreline before a relaxed lakeside dinner.
Stay: Bandırma area (lakeside hotel) Transfer: Short drives around Lake Manyas / Bandırma
Day 6 – Çanakkale (Dardanelles)
We travel west to Çanakkale on the Dardanelles, the narrow strait that funnels one of Türkiye’s most spectacular raptor and stork migrations. From vantage points above the water we scan for streams of soaring birds crossing between Europe and Asia, with the season dictating the cast. Evening is spent on the lively Çanakkale waterfront beside the strait.
Stay: Çanakkale (waterfront hotel) Transfer: Long drive Bandırma → Çanakkale along the Marmara coast
Day 7 – Troy & the Dardanelles
An early watch at the strait catches the cool-morning movement of migrating raptors and storks before thermals build. We then visit the legendary ruins of Troy (Troia), walking the layered citadel mounds made famous by Homer and exploring the on-site museum. Scrub and field edges around the archaeological site add shrikes, wheatears and warblers to the day list.
Stay: Çanakkale (waterfront hotel) Transfer: Day trip to Troy (Troia), morning raptor watch
Day 8 – Kazdağları (Mount Ida)
We climb into the cool, mist-fed forests of Kazdağları (Mount Ida), a complete change of habitat from the wetlands below. Pine and oak woodland here holds woodpeckers, tits, nuthatches and breeding raptors, while clearings and oxygen-rich streams reward patient walking. We overnight among the foothills in a quiet forest-edge lodge.
Stay: Kazdağları foothills (forest lodge / village hotel) Transfer: Drive Çanakkale → Kazdağları, then walks in the national park
Day 9 – İzmir / Gediz Delta
Descending to the Aegean, we reach the vast Gediz Delta on the edge of İzmir, a Ramsar wetland of lagoons, saltpans and mudflats. The Çamaltı saltworks reliably hold large numbers of Greater Flamingos alongside avocets, stilts and a shifting cast of passage waders. We finish with city or delta-edge lodging and a relaxed Aegean dinner.
Stay: İzmir (city or delta-edge hotel) Transfer: Drive Kazdağları → İzmir, afternoon at Gediz Delta (Çamaltı)
Day 10 – Selçuk / Ephesus
A culture-led day exploring Ephesus, one of the best-preserved classical cities in the Mediterranean, from the Library of Celsus to the Great Theatre and marble streets. The surrounding fields, the Selçuk citadel and the nearby river mouth keep birders busy, with storks famously nesting on the old aqueduct in town. We overnight in characterful Selçuk.
Stay: Selçuk (boutique hotel) Transfer: Drive İzmir → Selçuk, Ephesus visit
Day 11 – Lake Bafa / Heraclea
We reach atmospheric Lake Bafa, a former arm of the sea now ringed by the jagged Beşparmak (Latmos) mountains. The lake draws pelicans, cormorants and wintering and passage waterbirds, while the rocky shore holds buntings and wheatears. Among the olive groves we explore Heraclea ad Latmos (Herakleia), whose Temple of Athena and city walls rise straight from the lakeshore.
Stay: Lake Bafa shore (lakeside guesthouse) Transfer: Drive Selçuk → Lake Bafa, Heraclea (Latmos) ruins
Day 12- Pamukkale / Hierapolis
Our final day climbs to the dazzling white travertine terraces of Pamukkale and the ruined spa city of Hierapolis above them, with its theatre, necropolis and sacred pool. Swifts and crag martins sweep the cliffs while we explore, a fitting blend of birds and ruins to close the tour. After a farewell lunch, guests transfer to Denizli–Çardak or İzmir Adnan Menderes airport for onward flights.
Stay: Departure (transfer via Denizli or İzmir airport) Transfer: Drive Bafa → Denizli/Pamukkale, Hierapolis visit, final transfer