Grand Balkans Tour with Turkish Airlines (Tirana - Sarajevo)

The group departs Istanbul on Turkish Airlines flight TK1073 at 8:10 AM and lands in Tirana at 8:00 AM local time, where a guide is waiting. A panoramic bus tour of the city covers the Turkish and US embassies, the Namazgah Mosque built by the Turkish Diyanet Foundation, the statue of Tirana's founder Suleiman Pasha, the city square, Et'hem Bey Mosque, the Clock Tower, the National Museum, the university building, the Opera and Ballet House, the statue of Skanderbeg, the Parliament and ministry buildings, and the Presidential Palace. The group then continues to Ohrid, once an important Ottoman base in the Balkans, to see an 11-century-old plane tree, the Zeynel Abidin Pasha Tekke, Ali Pasha Mosque, the Ohrid bazaar known for its pearl shops, the market, the statue of Saint Clement, a traditional papermaking workshop, the Church of Hagia Sophia, and the ancient theatre. After the walking tour, dinner is served at a local restaurant and the night is spent in Ohrid.

After breakfast at 7:00 AM and departure at 8:00 AM, the group travels to Tetovo, a town built during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, to see the Painted Mosque, built in 1833 and known for its striking interior and exterior decoration, and the Harabati Baba Tekke, once a Bektashi center, learning about its history from local caretakers. The group then continues to Skopje, North Macedonia's capital, for a walking tour of the Old Bazaar, which preserves its character after more than 500 years of Ottoman rule; the tour includes Mustafa Pasha Mosque, Kuyumcular Street, the Stone Bridge over the Vardar River, the Turkish and Jewish quarters, historic bathhouses and caravanserais, the statues of Alexander the Great and his father Philip, the Archaeological Museum of Macedonia, the National Theatre, statues of Saints Cyril and Methodius, St. Spas Church, and the old railway station. After free time, dinner is served at a local restaurant and the night is spent in Skopje.

After breakfast, the group travels to Pristina, Kosovo's capital, to visit the tomb holding the internal organs of Sultan Murad I, who fell as a martyr in the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, along with the adjoining Selamlik building, now a museum displaying photos from Sultan Reshad's 1911 visit. Along the way, the group sees the square where a rally leading toward the breakup of Yugoslavia was held, before reaching Prizren, a city rich in Ottoman-era monuments. A walking tour there covers the Halveti Tekke, the Gazi Mehmed Pasha Bathhouse, the Namazgah where Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror's army once prayed, Bayrakli Mosque, a 400-year-old plane tree, Emin Pasha Mosque, the Stone Bridge, Shadervan Square, Sinan Pasha Mosque, several churches, and the Serb quarter, which still bears the marks of war. After free time, dinner is served, and the group returns to spend the night at the hotel in Skopje.

After breakfast, the group travels to Belgrade, Serbia's capital and one of the Balkans' oldest cities. Following the necessary stops along the way, the group arrives and, with the guide or during free time, sees New Belgrade, Tito's mausoleum in Dedinje, the New Palace of Justice, the Federal Parliament, Terazije Street, the National Theatre, Kalemegdan Square, the tomb of Sheikh Mustafa (Sejh Ali Pasha), Bajrakli Mosque, the Church of Our Lady, Saint Sava Cathedral, and the General Staff building bombed by NATO in 1999. After free time downtown, dinner is served and the group stays overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast, the group travels to Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina; on arrival, they pass buildings still bearing the marks of wartime shelling, Europe's first electric tram line, the United States' second-largest embassy building, and the city museum on the way to Baščaršija. The first stop is the war cemetery holding the graves of those who fell in the 1992-1995 war along with the tomb of Alija Izetbegović, followed by a walk through the old Bosniak-Turkish quarter into a walking tour of Baščaršija. The tour includes the Sebilj fountain, Coppersmiths' Street, the Bazaar Mosque, Morica Han, the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque and mausoleum, the Clock Tower, the Latin Bridge, the Emperor's Mosque, a synagogue and several churches, the so-called Sarajevo Roses marking wartime bomb sites, the Markale market, and the Vijećnica Library. After the tour, dinner is served and the group stays overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast, the group sets off for Mostar, the finest city in Herzegovina, stopping first in Konjic on the Neretva River to see an Ottoman-era bridge, damaged in past wars and later restored, along with a small market. The next stop is Jablanica, where Tito earned the rank of marshal during the war, followed by a visit to the Alperenler Tekke, also known as the Sarı Saltuk Tekke, at the source of the Buna River. The final stop is Mostar, where a walking tour covers the Martyrs' Mosque and cemetery, the traditional stone-paved Old Bazaar, Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque, the Old Bridge — built in 1566 by architect Hayruddin, destroyed in 1993 and rebuilt in 2004 — the Tara Tower, and the Crooked Bridge. After free time, a roast-lamb dinner is served in Jablanica before the group returns to Sarajevo to stay overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast, the group checks out of the hotel at 8:00 AM and first visits the Tunnel of Hope, dug beneath the airport during the 1992-95 war to break a siege that lasted four years and four months, watching a 15-minute documentary there (subject to the guide's judgment). The group then returns to Baščaršija, revisiting sites such as the war cemetery, the tomb of Alija Izetbegović, Coppersmiths' Street, the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque, the Latin Bridge, and the Markale market. After the tour, the group transfers to Sarajevo Airport, and after passport and customs procedures, flies to Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen Airport, bringing the Balkans tour to an end.