Gulet cruises in Turkey
| country: | Turkey |
| location: | Lycian Coast |
| departures: | 2010: 24 May, 31 May, 7 Jun, 14 Jun, 21 Jun, 28 Jun, 5 Jul, 12 Jul, 19 Jul, 26 Jul, 2 Aug, 9 Aug, 16 Aug, 23 Aug, 30 Aug, 6 Sep, 13 Sep, 20 Sep, 27 Sep, 11 Oct, 18 Oct 2011: 30 May, 6 Jun, 13 Jun, 20 Jun, 27 Jun, 11 Jul, 18 Jul, 25 Jul |
| price: | From £725 - £842 (8 days) including flights from the UK, from £433 - £536 excluding flights. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
introduction to Gulet cruises in Turkey
The Blue Cruise
The gulet has come a long way since it first accommodated a small group of Turkish artists - two writers, a poet and a painter - on an idyllic exploration of the Aegean, half a century ago: their fishing boat offered little luxury beyond bunk beds, a toilet fitted in its fish-hold and a freshwater tank on deck. The experience was nevertheless blissful enough to capture the artists' imaginations and they dubbed it their Mavi Yolculuk - their 'Blue Cruise'. The Blue Cruise soon became a household name in Turkish coastal sailing and today's gulet provides for the comfort and safety of the modern traveller without compromising on the traditional features: the craft is still built entirely by hand from the finest hardwoods and pine, and run by an experienced captain and crew.
Our Gulets
It is a matter of pride for the crews to keep their vessels impeccably clean, functional and gleaming with varnish. Each gulet has a sundeck and fully furnished double or twin cabins - with en-suite WC/shower. There is also a salon-bar supplied with cold drinks and local wines as well as a shaded afterdeck, where meals are taken al fresco. Local specialities are prepared aboard by the gulet's own cook. Your Explore tour leader travels with you, helping to arrange walks or on-shore excursions to sites, sleepy villages and old harbours. We have designed a flexible route providing plenty of opportunities for swimming, snorkelling and onshore sorties. Relax and unwind. Enjoy one of the world's most enchanting locations at a leisurely pace.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Fly London/Dalaman, transfer Fethiye and board gulet. |
| Day 2: | Sail by gulet from Fethiye to Kalkan with an optional excursion to Patara and Saklikent gorge. |
| Day 3: | We cruise to the Kekova area and sail over the sunken city with a walk to see Simena Castle and along the coastal trails. |
| Day 4: | Sail to Demre Cayagzi with an optional excursion to Arycanda, one of southern Turkey's most dramatic sites on the slopes of the Taurus Mountains. |
| Day 5: | Gokkaya Island - a great place for a swim and there's the chance to sea kayak over the sunken city at Kekova. Later we sail to the picturesque harbour town of Kas. |
| Day 6: | Sailing west we enjoy time swimming and walk up to the view point at the top of Gemiler Island. |
| Day 7: | Continuing west we relax and swim at coves on our way towards Fethiye. |
| Day 8: | Short cruise to Fethiye where we transfer to Dalaman and fly UK. Note: Routes may vary depending on local conditions. |
small group adventure holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places. how this holiday makes a difference
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Learning about the country we are travelling to is really important on our tours and Turkey is just brimming with history and culture! One of the reasons we prefer to use local tour leaders where possible is they can give a real insight into the local culture; anything from learning about the education system, to making sure we don’t fall foul of any taboos!
Secondly it is our policy to generate business and employment opportunities in the countries we travel to by employing local people. All our leaders in Turkey are locals and we’ve personally trained them all too so they are comfortable in their work and you get great service. You can be fairly confident that your money is benefiting the local community in the area. Naturally our boat crew are locals, the boat is locally owned, all provisions for our (delicious!) Turkish food are sourced locally and we use a few other local suppliers too, such as cafes, kayak owners and drivers. Add to that that all our tours work to a strict Responsible Tourism Policy and you can be sure that even we’ve considered every aspect of our operation in Turkey and are confident it is best practice. As well as the above, we support a variety of charities and projects worldwide which support vulnerable communities and habitats including Friends of Conservation, Hope Worldwide and Send A Cow. We are also actively engaged with UK travel industry bodies which promote best practice in responsible tourism, such as Tourism Concern, The Travel Foundation and AITO. Our commitment to responsible tourism is not limited to our overseas operation and we have measures to ensure our UK office operates according to our responsible tourism policy. Carbon offsets for all flights booked with us are included in the tour cost. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
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