Gulet cruise and walking holiday in Turkey. Helping Dreamers Do

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£1150

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8 Days excluding flights

More info:7 breakfasts, 6 lunches, 7 dinners, 7 nights in twin or double cabin with private facilities on board a Turkish gullet with linen and full crew, harbour fees and diesel for 3-4 hours cruising per day, English-speaking walking guide. Cruise may operate in reverse or from Marmaris back to Marmaris. Family Friendly departure available. For groups we can offer private departures and tailored itineraries, and discounts may be applicable. Contact us for more details.

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“Enjoy the Lycian Coast onboard a Turkish gulet as you take a week to walk and sail to rocky tombs, Roman settlements, secluded beaches and the hilltop citadel of Tlos.”

Highlights

Description of Gulet cruise and walking holiday in Turkey

This gulet cruise and walking holiday in Turkey is a perfect combination of the country’s idyllic, ancient walking trails and also its Lycian islands. A small group tour, we set sail from Marmaris to explore the Gocek Islands and then finish our odyssey in Fethiye after a week, although you will feel as if you have been away forever, thanks to the other worldliness of these seascapes.

We host maximum sixteen guests on board this gulet, and the minimum age is fifteen years old. We have twin and double cabins and, depending on conditions we may operate this cruise in reverse, or in a circuit from Marmaris to Marmaris. It will be up to your skipper who knows these waters like the back of his hand, and who will safely guide you to beauty spots such as Sarsala Bay, Paradise Island and quiet beaches, supported by the ever friendly and welcoming crew.

On land, we make the most of the region’s ancient coastal trekking routes, known as the Lycian Way, taking in sites such as the ruined city of Tlos or the spectacular ruins at Kaunos. We also fit in some gorge walking, particularly spectacular in this part of the world, with Saklikent Gorge a particular highlight. Then back on board to enjoy our dinners at sea, as we cruise onto the next gorgeous spot.

Travel Team

If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.

01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.com

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Check dates, prices & availability

Date

Price per adult

Basis

Status

12 Sep 2020

£1150

excluding flights

Available

Click here to enquire about or book the 12 Sep 2020 departure

26 Sep 2020

£1150

excluding flights

Available

Click here to enquire about or book the 26 Sep 2020 departure

Our top tip:

The on-board team are all from the area and know plenty about the terrain and communities you'll find on-shore. Don't be afraid to ask questions, even if you just want to find out where's best to buy a couple of bottles of good quality local raki.

Trip type:

Small group. Maximum group size 16. Minimum age 15.

Activity level:

Leisurely/moderate.

Accomm:

Twin en-suite cabin on-board a fully-crewed Turkish gulet.

Included:

Accommodation, English speaking walking guide, harbour fees and 3-4hrs cruising per day.

Meals:

7 breks, 6 lunches, 7 dinners.

Solos:

Solo sailors welcome. 1 single room (with supplement) available per depature.

Vouchers

Accepted

Holiday type

Small group holidays

Small group travel is not large group travel scaled down. It is modelled on independent travel – but with the advantage of a group leader to take care of the itinerary, accommodation and tickets, and dealing with the language. It’s easy to tick off the big sights independently – but finding those one-off experiences, local festivals, travelling markets and secret viewpoints is almost impossible for someone without the insider knowledge gained from years in the field. If you’re heading off on a gap year your, perhaps – but for those with a two-week holiday, a small group tour will save valuable planning time.

The leaders are not guides – they’re not there to shepherd you around. Instead, they’ll let you know which local restaurant serves great value food – without running the risk of travellers’ tummy. They’ll allow you to avoid hour-long queues at train stations and attractions.

We like to think of small group travel as the Goldilocks option. It is independent travel without the fuss, worry and bunk beds – and organised travel without the coaches. And it’s cheaper than a tailor made tour. It’s sits somewhere in the middle – and we think it’s just about right.

What are the main benefits?

Big experiences
Have big, life-enriching experiences that would be impossible to organise without lots of time and insider knowledge.

Simplicity
Make the most of your holiday time by letting someone else do the hard work and boring logistics!

Peace of mind
Small group tours take care of the security aspects – and provide a safety net should anything unexpected happen.

Who is it ideal for?

Travellers who are short of time
If you don’t have three months to spend exploring, small groups trips let you cover more ground in less time. Your days are not spent queuing for tickets or finding hotels – so you can squeeze more into your holiday.

Solo travellers who’d like company
Likeminded travel companions plus peace of mind for those travelling alone. Single supplements are usually available – providing privacy if you want it.

Less confident travellers
Stray from the tourist trail without worrying about getting lost, and meet local people without dealing with the language barrier.

Mythbuster

“I won’t get any privacy!”
Couples and friends have private rooms, and you can choose to eat alone or not. Single supplements give solo travellers their own room.

“There won’t be any free time”
Free mornings or afternoons let you explore on your own, or just relax.

“The accommodation will be basic”
Trips are as high or low end as you like. Though off the beaten track destinations won’t have luxury hotels, this is all part of the adventure.

“I won’t like the other travellers!”
Tour operators try to create groups with a similar demographic – age, families, activity levels... Chances are, you’ll even make new friends.

“Will we be following an umbrella?”
No.

Meet a group leader

As well as taking care of all the day-to-day practicalities, your group leader is the one who will turn your trip into an adventure. Leaders are extraordinary characters – the kind of person who has spent 14 Christmas days on the slopes of Mount Everest, runs marathons wearing tiger suits to raise funds for their conservation and thinks nothing of leading an overland trip in Sudan or Afghanistan. Fearless and inspiring, group leaders are as important as the destination itself.

Meet a local guide

No matter how experienced your group leader, they can never make up for the knowledge gained from a lifetime in the destination. That’s why many of our trips work with local guides around the world – who invite you into their homeland with pleasure. As well as doing crazy things like climbing Kilimanjaro 100 times, they also donate their time to local projects supported by travellers – such as rebuilding Sri Lankan villages following the 2004 tsunami.

Responsible tourism

As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.

A combination of hiking and sailing is the ideal way to explore the natural and cultural highlights of a region, travel under your own steam and minimise the impact on the environment.

The natural landscapes we explore on this part of Turkey’s coast are some of the richest, though fragile environments on earth. With education, experienced leadership and appropriate equipment and techniques, it is possible to travel responsibly through these regions. For us, it is critically important that such wilderness travel experiences do not diminish the natural values of the environment.

Our environmental sustainable principles: True sustainability is a guiding aspect in all aspects of our business planning and operations. Specifically our tour operations should be managed in a way where the natural and cultural values of the host region are undiminished in the long-term.

Where possible, we engage in partnerships with local environmental groups and/or land managers to actively campaign for conservation or promote environmental protection and/or rehabilitation.

Our Responsible Travel Guidebook: Our philosophy since 1975 has been to leave only footprints and take only photographs. To reiterate this, every customer who travels with us receives a copy of our award-winning Responsible Travel guidebook. This detailed book outlines our environmentally sustainable principles, and outlines how each customer can minimize their impact while traveling.

Global Warming and Carbon Balancing: The root cause of Global Warming is society's dependence on emission creating fossil fuel. Planting trees is not going to reverse this trend or cancel our carbon emissions very quickly or effectively. We believe the way to reduce these dependencies is to create clean energy production. Therefore, we support renewable energy projects like wind and solar power, and we are aligned with Climate Friendly, the gold standard setter in effective, meaningful action addressing climate change. So, while we believe that tree planting can play a small role in greenhouse gas abatement, we have gone the extra mile in promoting a longer term solution. Is this cheap? No. Is it responsible? Absolutely!

The Impacts of this Trip

After a thoroughly rewarding day you will be warmly welcomed back to your boat, which is crewed by local staff. A delicious and hearty evening meal is definitely the order of the day and you’ll be introduced to the local delicacies. All meals provided use mainly locally-grown produce from the region, such is the way of small businesses supporting other small businesses within the rural communities you’ll visit.

Friendly local staff are ideally placed to give you a knowledgeable insight into the local terrain, flora and fauna and an authentic account of the history of the region.

Our responsible travel principles: Our company aims to maximise the positive benefits of tourism for host communities. This includes training and employment of local staff, using local suppliers and assisting in the development of sustainable local businesses.

We actively minimise the negative effects that tourism can have by ensuring that tourism does not divert resources away from local communities or drive up prices on local resources.

We provide opportunities for real cultural exchange, where locals and visitors alike can share and learn from each other in an environment of mutual respect.

We contribute to the welfare of the host community. This is epitomised in our Community Project Travel program where we organise for our travelers to spend time in disadvantaged villages upgrading basic facilities such as health, education and water access.

We strive to educate our travelers about the destination and its local cultures as well as providing guidelines on appropriate behaviour to minimise impact.

No local payments policy: Local cash payments are becoming increasingly popular with many operators in the adventure travel industry. This policy seems to benefit the tour operators more than the local economies or the travelers, as it avoids local taxes and transfers the costs and risks of cash handling onto the travelers. In accordance with our Responsible Travel practices, we have chosen a policy of not asking for such payments.