Six-Day Getaway to Istanbul

Duration:
6 Days, April 19 - 25, 2024 (waitlist)

Price:
From $3,145, from Washington, DC
*includes airfare

Tour Operator:
Jet Vacations

Our Six-Day Getaway series was launched in 2010 on the assumption that W&L alumni and parents would appreciate the option of shorter, less expensive travel opportunities. The inaugural program was a Getaway to Istanbul.  Our assumption was correct—we filled three departures that year. 

After many successful offerings throughout Europe, we’ve chosen to return to Istanbul for 2024.  One never tires of this fabled city.  Istanbul has long served as the intersection between Europe and Asia. History is very thick here. In its lofty position over the Bosporus between the Dardanelles and the Black Sea, the ancient walled city has served as the capital of Eastern Roman Empire (Constantinople), the Byzantine Empire (Byzantium), and the Ottoman Empire under its current name.  Istanbul impresses her visitors with a magnificence made venerable by time.  Home to the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque as well as the Topkapi, Dolmabahce, and Beylerbeyi Palaces, Istanbul is well known for its wealth of architectural achievement.  It is also a thriving hub of international commerce and modern Middle Eastern culture.

Leading our program in Istanbul will be George Bent, popular W&L art historian. Accommodations for our five-night stay will be the Artisan Istanbul MGallery near Taksim Square.  Our package includes breakfast daily, three lunches, two dinners, all gratuities, and a Bosporus cruise. As with all our Six-Day Getaways, our visit will combine organized touring with time for independent exploration.  Travelers have the option of a four-day post-extension to Cappadocia at an additional cost.

Six-Day Getaways are limited to 35 travelers.  Please note that roundtrip air from Dulles or JFK International is included in the package price.  If you would like to join this Getaway, we urge you to inquire soon.

Traveling With You

George R. Bent is the Sidney Gause Childress Professor of the Arts at Washington and Lee University. Bent has written about artistic production in Italy, the function and reception of images, and institutional patronage in late medieval Florence. His two books – Monastic Art in Lorenzo Monaco’s Florence and Public Painting and Visual Culture in Early Republican Florence – address these subjects in detail, as does his current book project on Manuscript Painting in Florence. Bent is the Principal Investigator of Florence As It Was, a digital project that uses 3D models of buildings and art works, translations of chronicles, and original content to capture the appearance of the city ca. 1500.