All aboard as Alice explores historic mosques, the amazing tombs of the Ottoman elite, whirling dervishes, and the origins of Turkish delight.
In Ankara, Alice Roberts learns all about Ataturk, who ended the Ottoman Empire. Later, after a train ride to Bursa, she visits the tomb of Osman, the founder of the Ottoman era.
Alice Roberts arrives in Istanbul by rail to learn about how the strategic Ottoman assault to wrestle the city from the Romans. She also learns about the Ottoman's genius architect Sinam, before taking the sleeper train to Sofia.
Entering the Balkans by sleeper train, Alice makes her way through four countries as she follows in the footsteps of the Ottoman march across Europe. In Bulgaria's capital Sofia, she learns how the empire was controlled from Istanbul and how today the city's landscape is almost entirely Soviet. In Serbia, Alice encounters the shocking Skull Tower, once used as a grim warning for anyone who was thinking of rebelling.
In her final train journey Alice Roberts arrives at the western front of the Ottoman Empire, Budapest to find out how it all ended. In Romania's Timisoara she goes on a search for Ottoman remnants, after everything was destroyed ...almost.
