Arrival in Istanbul

Upon arrival in Turkey, you transfer to your Istanbul hotel where you have time to rest from your travels and prepare for your adventure ahead.

Flight to Dalaman. Visit to Kaunos wth walking option. Board sailing vessel

This morning after breakfast you transfer to the Istanbul airport to board your group flight to the city of Dalaman, on Turkey’s southwest coast. After lunch, you head to the port to take a small traditional piyade "boat" to venture into Turkey’s only navigable river, the Dalyan. Your destination is the ancient port of Kaunos—where a short walk lets you explore its rock-cut Lycian tombs and well-preserved Roman ruins, including an agora, temples, and baths, as well as the theater and unique “measuring platform.” En route you pass Iztuzu Beach, habitat for logger-headed turtles. In the late afternoon, you board your floating home for the next seven nights, the double-masted Panorama II sailing ship, where you enjoy a festive dinner at sea in the ship’s dining room. (B,L,D)

Gocek Bay with swimming options or Guided Walk from Kayakoy to Telmessos

Your first morning at sea brings the choice of visiting Gocek Bay, to enjoy the Mediterranean scenery, sun, and swimming in crystalline waters, or alternatively, you may choose a walking excursion to the abandoned town of Kakakoy and the ancient city of Telmessos. A testament to the population exchanges between Greece and Turkey in the 1920s, Kakakoy was abandoned as its inhabitants left their houses, churches, and schools to re-locate in Greece; a short walk takes you through the streets that remain empty to this day with a longer walk option to Oludeniz. Returning to your sailing vessel, you stop at ancient Telmessos, with its exquisite examples of rock-cut Lycian tombs. Later, after dinner on board, a local Turkish dance troupe gives a performance of its folkloric dance and music. (B,L,D)

Sailing to Marmaris with swimming options and free time

A full day of cruising takes you along the emerald bays and under the towering cliffs of the Turkish coast with stops to swim in the inviting waters of sheltered coves. The overnight destination for the day is the pleasant resort town of Marmaris where you can go ashore to stroll its seaside and stop in shops or cafés; once a sleepy fishing village, it is now a sailing and diving center. (B,L,D)

Sailing to Rhodes, Greece. Afternoon Walking Tour

You sail west this morning for Greece with a final destination of the island of Rhodes in the southern Aegean, just off Turkey’s Anatolian coast. Best known for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the medieval old city of Rhodes is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Arriving in the port, you set off with an expert local guide on an early evening walking tour beginning at the archaeological museum located in the hospital of the Knights of Saint John, and then on to the Grand Master’s Palace. Settling in Rhodes in 1309 after losing their stronghold in Palestine, the crusading knights created a fortified city withstanding multiple sieges until falling under Ottoman rule in 1522. Returning to the ship for dinner, a Greek folklore troupe comes on board for an evening of local entertainment. (B,L,D)

Walking tour of Lindos. Guided Nature Walk or Free time to explore Rhodes

This morning a private coach takes you on a land excursion to the northern side of the island of Rhodes to the archaeological site of Lindos. On a steep rock promontory, the natural citadel was fortified successively over the centuries by the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, the Knights of Saint John, and the Ottomans. A walk takes you through this fascinating millennial site, which has been, unsurprisingly, a challenge for archaeologists to excavate and interpret. It contains, however, some stunningly restored sections such as the stadium, a marble odeion—a theater or concert hall, as well as four columns of the Temple of Pythian Apollo, and remains of the Temple of Athena Polias and Zeus Polieus.

Returning through the island’s rural scenery to the Old Town of Rhodes, you may choose to join an optional walking tour or enjoy some free time to explore and stroll on your own. (B,L,D)

Sail to Symi with swimming options. Optional Guided Walk

Your ship sets sail from the Rhodes marina early this morning—allowing you to relax and sleep in or enjoy the early morning sights as you cruise toward the island Symi. This island’s colorful history is checkered with invasions dating from the Trojan Wars through those of Italians during World War II. The harbor offers a view of tiers of white-washed homes rising from the water’s edge up a steep mountainside. En route, the ship makes a first stop at Pedi Bay for breakfast and swimming in the clear waters that were once home to a thriving sponge diving industry. Upon arrival in Symi, the afternoon is free to explore on your own, or join an easy guided walk, winding through the town’s narrow streets and neo-classic architecture to its highest point to visit a church and to soak in the view of shimmering sea and the island below. This evening you can venture out on your own to enjoy dinner at a classic Greek taverna. (B,L)

Sail to Kos with swimming and snorkeling options. Sail to Bodrum, Turkey

Departing Symi, the day’s destination is the island of Kos, known as the “Island of Hippocrates,” the father of modern medicine. Once the seat of learning during the Hellenistic age, the town itself is rich in Greek and Roman ruins, while overlooking the harbor along its cobbled streets are later Byzantine and Ottoman structures. The island’s beaches are considered some of the most scenic in the Aegean.

Later, re-boarding, the ship sets sail across the sea returning to Turkish waters and the port city of Bodrum, where you celebrate your final evening on board the sailboat.

Archaeological Museum of Bodrum. Excursion to Didyma. Transfer to Kusadasi

After breakfast, you disembark your lovely yacht, saying farewell to the crew. You begin this transfer day with a visit to the Underwater Archaeological Museum of Bodrum. Housed in the largest Crusader castle outside Europe, the structure was constructed by the Knights of Saint John from stones taken from the nearby, and now ruined, Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, another of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. On display are many of the finds from the multiple underwater archaeological excavations that have taken place since 1960 in the nearby waters of the Mediterranean, including three of the earliest known shipwrecks from the Bronze Age.

After lunch, you board a private coach to drive through the mountains, passing tranquil Lake Bafa, to Didyma. The site was a sanctuary connected to Miletus by a 12-mile-long sacred road. An oracle center of Apollo that rivaled that of Delphi, the first temple was built in the middle of the 6th century B.C. but destroyed by the Persians in 494 B.C. A second temple was constructed in the 4th century B.C., it is one of the largest temples of the Hellenistic world, comparable to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus and Heraion in Samos. You explore the famed Temple of Apollo before continuing through the countryside to the lovely seaside town of Kusadasi where you enjoy dinner at your gracious historic hotel; our last dinner as a full group. (B,L,D)

Full-day Guided Walking Tour of Ephesus. Transfer to Izmir Airport. Flight to Istanbul

You set out from Kusadasi with your archaeologist guides to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Ephesus, with its vast collection of Roman ruins. The port of Ephesus entered a period of extraordinary prosperity in the late 4th century A.D., becoming the most important commercial city in Asia Minor and the second-largest city of the Roman Empire, commanding the western end of one great trade route to Asia. However, the city eventually declined as silt from the Cayster River moved the coastline far to the west and by the early Middle Ages, the city was no longer useful as a port. The ruins that have been excavated provide a glimpse into Ephesus’s size and wealth and include landmarks such as the Roman Library of Celsus (125 AD), baths, a brothel, temples, and the main Harbor Street dominated by the Great Theater, believed to be the largest outdoor theater in the ancient world.

Nearby was yet another of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the now-ruined Temple of Artemis, the great temple that was built around 550 B.C. and rebuilt after being destroyed in 356 B.C. The route also includes the house of Meryemana, where Mary lived out her days after the crucifixion of Jesus, and a popular place of Christian pilgrimage. The full-day concludes at the Ephesus Museum, which houses an impressive collection of statues and other artifacts recovered during the city’s on-going excavation. You then make the short drive to Izmir’s airport to board a flight to Istanbul for your final night in Asia Minor. For guests continuing to the Cappadocia region, you transfer to Kayseri this evening. (B,L)

Departure from Istanbul

Minutes from the Istanbul airport, you depart for home or other destinations. (B)