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Göbeklitepe is roughly twelve thousand years old. It was built before pottery, before writing, before farming and before the wheel, by people we still know very little about. It predates Stonehenge and the pyramids of Giza by several thousand years, and when it was uncovered it changed what archaeologists believed about when human beings first started building on this scale. It has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2018.
You can see it in a single day from Istanbul. You fly southeast in the morning, you spend the day at Göbeklitepe, in the beehive houses of Harran and in the old city of Urfa, and you fly back the same night. Your guide meets you at Şanlıurfa airport and stays with you until you check in for the flight home.
Why Choose This Tour?
Almost no one runs this trip. Most Turkey itineraries stop at the same four places, and Göbeklitepe sits far enough southeast that it gets left out. If you are already spending time in Istanbul, this is the one day that takes you somewhere the other visitors are not, to the oldest thing of its kind anyone has found.
📍 Departure: Istanbul, early morning flight
⏰ Duration: One full day, expect a long one, roughly 18 hours door to door
✈️ Included: Round trip flights Istanbul to Şanlıurfa, all ground transport in the region, English speaking guide
🏛️ Visiting: Göbeklitepe · Harran · Şanlıurfa old city and Balıklıgöl
🎒 Note: A day trip, so you travel with cabin baggage only
👉 Ask us about the Göbeklitepe Day Trip and add the oldest temple on earth to your Turkey trip!
Stand at Göbeklitepe, the oldest known monumental temple complex in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
See the carved T shaped pillars with their animal reliefs, built around 9600 BC
Travel to Harran, one of the oldest continuously inhabited places on earth
Walk among Harran’s beehive houses, a mud brick design still built the same way today
See the ruins of Harran’s ancient university and its old city walls
Visit Balıklıgöl in Şanlıurfa, the Pool of Abraham, with its courtyards and sacred carp
Walk the old bazaar of Urfa, one of the least touristic and most atmospheric in Turkey
Round trip flights from Istanbul included, no long overland driving
Small group, private vehicle, English speaking guide throughout
Back in Istanbul the same night, so you keep your hotel and lose no nights
Early morning · Istanbul
You make your own way to the airport for the early flight. The flight to Şanlıurfa takes about one hour and fifty minutes.
On arrival · Şanlıurfa GAP Airport
Your English speaking guide meets you at the airport and stays with you for the whole day. The vehicle is yours for the day.
Göbeklitepe
The main site of the day. You walk the raised platforms above the excavated enclosures and see the T shaped limestone pillars, some over five metres tall, carved with foxes, boars, snakes, cranes and scorpions. Your guide explains what has been excavated so far, what is still buried, and why the site rewrote the timeline of human settlement.
Harran
About an hour south, close to the Syrian border. Harran appears in the Book of Genesis and has been lived in for thousands of years. You see the beehive houses, the remains of the old university and the city walls.
Şanlıurfa old city
Back in the centre for Balıklıgöl, the Pool of Abraham, where carp swim in the pools below the mosque courtyards, and the old bazaar with its coppersmiths, spice sellers and tea houses.
Evening · return flight
Your guide takes you back to Şanlıurfa airport for the flight to Istanbul. You land late, so plan a slow start the next morning.
The order of the day can change depending on your flight times. Your guide will confirm the plan with you on the morning.
Flights
Round trip flight, Istanbul to Şanlıurfa GAP Airport and back on the same day
All airport taxes and fees
Cabin baggage. This is a day trip, so no checked baggage is needed
Transport
Şanlıurfa airport pick up on arrival and drop off in the evening
Private, air conditioned, non smoking vehicle for the whole day
All driving between Göbeklitepe, Harran and Şanlıurfa
Guiding
English speaking guide with you for the entire day in Şanlıurfa
Please note this is a driver guide service: the same person guides you and drives the vehicle
Service
All local taxes and VAT
24/7 support on WhatsApp in English, from our own office in Istanbul
Fully licensed Turkish travel agency, TURSAB A-14430
A fixed price in US dollars, confirmed in writing before you travel
Entrance fees · paid on site
Göbeklitepe site entrance
Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum and Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum, if you would like to add them
Any other museum or site entrance
Entrance fees are not included in this tour and are paid directly at each site. Your guide will tell you the current prices on the day.
Meals
Lunch. Your guide will take you somewhere good in Urfa, you pay for your own meal
All drinks and snacks
Travel to Turkey and in Istanbul
International flights to and from Turkey
Turkish visa or e-visa, if one is required for your nationality
Travel insurance, which we recommend
Transfers between your Istanbul hotel and Istanbul airport
Accommodation. This is a day trip and you return to Istanbul the same night
Personal
Tips for your guide
Personal expenses and shopping
Checked baggage on the flights, if you want to add it
Customized price offer
100% Personalized Price
“We design each experience in a unique way. The final price depends on your preferences, travel dates, and selected services.”
