Day 1 :

Boarding will be usually after 4.00pm with a Guletbookers champagne welcome and introduction to your crew and gulet. Spare a backwards view of Gocek as you sail away. First stop is at the ancient Roman and Ottoman Tersane Adasi (Shipyard Island) to see the ruins of a Byzantine church and dockyards on the beach. Continue to Batik Hamam (sunken baths) Bay, the ruins of an ancient Roman bath, for dinner and the evening.

Day 2 :

Cruise to Bedri Rahmi cove – one of the most important inlets of the gulf. Bedri Rahmi Eyüpoglu was the famous artist who with his writer brother and friends pioneered the Blue Cruise over 50 years ago. He painted a fish on a rock behind a fountain in 1973, so the inlet was renamed after him. Continue to Aga Limani, where you can take a 30 minute early evening hike to ancient Lydea to explore sarcophagi, temple walls, cisterns, Corinthian columns and inscribed tablets from the Roman and Byzantine periods. Evening dine and stay aboard in Aga Limani.

Day 3 :

You may wake early in the morning to feel the boat moving out along the coast; it is moving towards Ekincik Bay where a late breakfast will be served. Then the option of taking an excellent riverboat trip** is yours. The river boat trip travels up through the labyrinth of the protected Dalyan River Delta formed by dense reedbeds, to the ancient city of Caunos opposite modern day Dalyan. Lunch can be in one of the many small riverside family operated restaurants. See the rock tombs of the Lycian Kings; bathe in the mud baths on the lakeside, and on your return wonder at the great long sandy Beach of Iztuzu, famous as the nesting grounds for the endangered sea turtles or Caretta caretta. Return to your gulet for dinner and overnight in another of the bays of Ekincik.

Day 4 :

The captain lifts the anchor for an early start for the popular town of Marmaris, where you will have time ashore for swimming, shopping and sightseeing while your captain clears the gulet for departure into Greek waters. Cruise across to Rhodes, the largest of the Greek Dodecanese islands and see the old medieval city where the remains of centuries of Christian and Muslim can be seen. Explore the Knights of St. John fortress, and museum. Dine aboard in Rhodes harbour, and enjoy the nightlife of Rhodes.

Day 5 :

Cruise to the small Symi Island, stopping first to visiting Panormitis monastery in its protected bay, and drop anchor for lunch and a swim in one of Symi’s spectacular coves sheltered by high cliffs. On arriving in the island’s only town and harbour, explore the pastel coloured Neo-Classical architecture of Symi with its maze of streets, shops and tavernas. Dinner and evening in Symi Harbor.

Day 6 :

Cruise across to the quite isolated and waterless Halki Island, where many of the neo-classical houses in Emborio town have been restored by new owners and the roads are almost completely free of traffic. After lunch, the most active can hike out of town to explore the crusader castle, monasteries and churches. Dinner and evening aboard in Emborio harbour where the island’s fishing fleet moors.

Day 7 :

Set sail for the pretty and once fertile island of Tilos with its only 500 inhabitants remaining in summer. The gulet may stop on the way at Aghios Antonis beach where vulcanized human remains from a 600BC eruption can still be seen. The hilltop medieval town of Megalo Horio is worth catching the bus for. Explore the town, the vast Crusader Knight’s Castle, and the fossilised pygmy elephant bones in the grotto of Harcadio. Harder to get to is the monastery of St. Pandelimona but worth the journey too. Dinner and evening in the port of Livadia.

Day 8 :

After breakfast cruise to Nissyros Island, with its impressive volcano peak and black beaches with sulphur spas. Take the trip up to explore the crater in the heart of the island and listen to the rumbling - ‘Hades calling from the underworld’? The crater top villages are very pretty, and taking an evening stroll along the promenade of Mandraki harbour is quite enjoyable. Dinner aboard and overnight in Mandraki.

Day 9 :

Your crew take the gulet across the Aegean to the popular tourist island of Kos, stopping along the coast for swimming and lunch. After docking in Kos Harbour explore Kos town, with its castle, and the Asclepion- the first world’s hospital founded by Hippocrates. The ancient tree of Hippocrates is a must-see also. Dinner can be taken in town or aboard the gulet in the small harbour with a view to the very close Turkish mainland.

Day 10 :

Time to leave Greece and sail for Bodrum, stopping along the peninsula for swimming and lunch. Cruise to the west side of Black Island for a last dip in the turquoise seas, then enter Bodrum harbour for the final dinner aboard and overnight.

Day 11 :

The last breakfast and then it’s time to say farewell to your gulet and crew. We wish you all the best and hope to see you with us on another GULETBOOKERS cruise.