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DAY 1 June 5, Thursday
- Arrive
in Istanbul
Welcome to Istanbul!
You are met on arrival at Istanbul’s Ataturk
International Airport and transferred to
Ciragan Palace
by beautiful Bosphorus. Dinner on
own.
DAY 2 June 6,
Friday
- Antalya, Phaselis 
09:10 o'clock flight to Antalya. We do a
sight seeing tour to see some of the monuments
of the city such as Hadrian's
Gate and Fluted Minaret. Then we visit Antalya's wonderful
Archaeological Museum. Afterwards we drive 37 miles to Phaselis, visit
the ruins of the town and then board our gulet.
We overnight in the ancient harbor of
Phaselis.
 DAY 3 June
7, Saturday
-
Olympus, Chimera
We leave Phaselis in the
morning and drop anchor in the beautiful bay of
Olympus. We go ashore to drive to the
site of Chimera. About 35-minute uphill hike
takes us to Chimera, where a fire-breathing
monster was slain by Bellerophon, the Lycian hero.
There are still flames bursting from the ground
supposedly where the monster fell. We then get
back to the shore and tour Olympus, the natural
and ancient beauty among the lorel trees and
fresh water springs. Olympus became headquarters
of the pirates who were eliminated by the Romans
in the 1 C BC. Overnight in Porto Geneose.
DAY 4 June
8, Sunday -
Finike, Arycanda, Myra, Gokkaya
 Early
in the morning we set out to Finike. Then we
drive to the mountains in the north to visit
Arycanda. Perched on a
hillside with magnificent views, Arycanda has
breath-taking ruins dating from BC times. We have lunch at a
local traut restaurant and visit a local fruit
market next to a cold waterfall. Later we drive
down to the coast again and continue on to
Myra to see some of the oldest and finest
examples of Lycian rock tombs set in the
hillsides just behind a Roman theater. Lastly we
visit the Church of St. Nicholas, patron saint
of the sailors, children and scholars . He was
born around 300 AD in Patara, another Lycian
town and he became bishop in Myra. Famous in his
own time for the miracles he performed, he
became known as Santa Claus in the west,
after his legends passede through Scandinavian
myths. We meet our gulet at Cayagzi or Andriace,
the ancient harbor of Myra. Overnight in
Gokkaya Bay in the Kekova area.
DAY 5 June
9, Monday
-
Simena, Kekova Island, Kas
We
take a morning hike through a flat valley, not
very common in the hilly terrain
of the Lycian
country. At the end of the hike we climb up to
the castle of Simena, from the top of which we
get a breath taking view of the whole area.
We then
 cruise alongside Kekova Island to see
submerged ruins. In the afternoon we cruise
1hour 45 minutes to the town of Kas, a lovely town of
traditional houses. We see a Lycian sarcophagus dating from 5 C BC in the middle of
the town and may take a short walk to visit the Hellenistic theater. Before the dark we motor out of the town to a natural anchorage.
Dinner and overnight on board in a quiet cove.
 DAY
6 June 10, Tuesday
- Kalkan, Xanthos, Tlos, Gemiler Island
This morning we sail to Kalkan to start a daily van trip.
We drive Xanthus, the capital
of ancient Lycia and the city of the most heroic
people of the history. Then we continue to
Saklikent Canyon, 990
feet deep and 11 miles long. After
the canyon we have a village lunch and then visit a village
 cooperative where famous Turkish carpets,
woven by one thousand women in the surrounding
villages are sold. Later we visit Tlos,
one of the six most important cities of ancient
Lycia. Tlos was a splendid city in a beautiful
environment and it bore
the title of the very brilliant
metropolis of the Lycian nation under the
Roman empire. We end our drive in
the bay of Gemiler Island where we meet our
gulet. We
overnight at Gemiler Island.
DAY
7 June 11, Wednesday Gemiler
Island, Kayakoy
 After
breakfast we explore Gemiler Island where Byzantine ruins spread
among the wild olive and oak trees. We hike up
to the top of the island for a spectacular view
and then descend back to our gulet for swimming. In the afternoon we start
a 3 -hour hike
through fields filled with wild sage, thyme and
lavender to the ghost town of Kayakoy, an abandoned Greek settlement, now a weird ghost town. The
inhabitants deserted this town during the population exchange between Turks and Greeks
in 1923. To feel the history of this place and
life of the people before and druring the World
War I please read the emotional novel of
"Birds Without Wings" by Louis de Bernieres. We
overnight in the Soguksu Cove.
DAY 8 June 12, Thursday Fethiye,
Sunken Bath, Ag Limani
 In
the morning we sail to the beautiful
cove called Turuncpinari and have breakfast there.  After breakfast we sail to Fethiye, a nice coastal town
overlooking a beautiful bay strewn with islands. Just above the town are the ruins
of a fortress built by the Knights of Rhodes on the hill. In Fethiye, we take a
town walk visiting the local fish and vegetable markets and famous
rock tombs dating from 4 C BC. Just before noon
we sail to another beautiful bay called Batik Hamam (Sunken Bath) where the ruins of partially sunken Roman bath
is placed at the end of the natural harbor.
We swim and have lunch there. In the
afternoon we hike
across the peninsula through the ruins of Lydae. At the end of the beautiful hike we meet our boat in the
marvelous cove called Ag Limani (Harbor of Nets).
Overnight in Ag Limani.
DAY 9 June 13, Friday
- Ekincik, Caunus, Mud Bath,
Dalyan
 We
leave our anchorage early
in the morning
and cruise to Ekincik Bay where we leave the
boat. We hire a river boat,
load our luggages and
start a 2.5-hour up
and down hill hike from Ekincik through a beautiful natural
pine forest to the Dalyan delta, one of the breeding places of the Caretta
sea turtles.
. We meet the river boat again and motor along the water alleys bordered
with reeds along the river of Dalyan.
We first visit the ancient city of Caunus and
then have lunch by the river opposite the rock
tombs dating from 4 C BC. Then we go
to a natural outdoor sulphur mud bath.
Later in the afternoon we check in the hotel
Club Alla Turca, just outside the town Dalyan.
DAY 10
June 14, Saturday
- Istanbul
We
take 10:10 flight from Dalaman to Istanbul. We don't directly go to our hotel but
first visit
the
Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent, St. Savior in Chora (a Byzantine church with its magnificent mosaics and frescoes,
known today as Kariye Camii), the ancient shrine of the Life-Giving Spring - known
locally as Balikli Kilise (Church of the Fish)
and the a ncient city walls. Then
we check in the hotel, get ready for dinner and walk
down through the
Spice Market and take an early evening
boat trip along the beautiful Bosphorus. We have
dinner at a fish restaurant at the sea front.
Overnight at
Four Seasons
Hotel
in Istanbul’s fascinating Old City, the Sultanahmet.
DAY 11
June 15, Sunday
- Istanbul
This
morning we continue exploring this
 exotic city
that
was capital to three great empires – Roman,
Byzantine and Ottoman. We visit world famous
sites such as the Roman Hippodrome, the
exquisite Blue Mosque and Topkapi
Palace, the home of Ottoman
Sultans for 400 years.
We visit the Harem, the Treasure and the other
sections of the Palace.
In the
afternoon
we see the great church of Haghia Sophia
and Justinian’s Basilica
Cistern.
We have
dinner at a decent restaurant.
Overnight at Four Seasons
Hotel.
DAY 12 June 16, Monday
- Departure
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Hotel accommodations in the
itinerary & shared yacht cabins
Balbius Travel