A Week's Escape on a Mediterranean Yacht

8- Day : Including a 4-Day Mediterranean Gulet Cruise

Thursday Arrival to Istanbul

Click here for the private edition - Click here for the 11 day edition 
 or the 14 day edition with a stay at a sea side resort
Compare with one week sailing the Mediterranean Gulet Group cruise departure
or the 10-day group departure on Fridays

DAY 1 - Arrival Istanbul: Thursday
Arrive Istanbul Thursday or Friday, or choose your own arrival date (subject to boat(s) availability.
Our local rep. will meet you after you clear customs and passports formalities , and escort you to your hotel by the airport or downtown Istanbul .

Day 2 - ISTANBUL & BODRUM - Board your Gulet Cruise - Group Sailing - Friday (BD)
Breakfast at the hotel. Our local rep. escorts you back to Istanbul's Ataturk Airport and escorts you to the domestic terminal for your onward flight to Bodrum air fare is included in our rate , economy class, tax included . Bodrum was Known in ancient times as Halicarnassus, Bodrum was once the capital of King Mausolus, whose elaborate tomb, the Mausoleum, gave its name to all grand tombs which followed. Our staff drives you to the waterside Castle of St. Peter, built by the Crusaders in the early 1400s, where your yacht awaits you, moored beneath the castle walls. Step aboard and enjoy a welcome cocktail as you meet your captain and crew.

We will meet you with a private car / driver and a guide for an afternoon tour of Bodrum, after which we'll return back to your gulet / yacht and the crew will be preparing the first of many delicious shipboard dinners for you. Settle in and relax: you're a l-o-n-g way from any cares or worries here!

Day 3- KNIDOS - Saturday (BLD)
Weighing anchor at sunrise, we sail south through Gokova Bay, passing close to the Greek island of Kos (Karaada) and around the Resadiye Peninsula to Knidos, famous in ancient times for its superb statue of Aphrodite sculpted by Praxiteles. We drop anchor in Knidos's ancient harbor , swim snorkel and relax where Agean waves
meet with the Mediterrenean , or maybe go ashore for a tour of the ancient city ( on your own) . Return to the Gulet for dinner , in Knidos we remain anchored for the night.

Day 4- Mersincik , Orak Island- Sunday (BLD)
We continue our leisurely "Blue Voyage" to Mersincik, after lunch on board , we continue our meandering route through these classical waters, stopping at Orak Island . Today is filled with the pleasures of sun and sea: swimming, reading, relaxing, and enjoying a lazy shipboard lunch. Your yacht has everything you need for water sports: facemasks and flippers, sailboard, canoe and fishing tackle. We drop anchor for a calm night aboard, gently rocking in the pellucid waters of the Mediterranean.

Day 5- BODRUM & ISTANBUL - Monday (B)
Wonderfully refreshed by our voyage, we return to Bodrum harbor and tie up beneath the castle walls. Bidding farewell to our captain and crew, we drive to the airport for our flight to Istanbul, where we'll be staying in a charming Ottoman mansion inn.
Sultan Ahmet Palace, Avicenna , Arena or similar

Day 6 - ISTANBUL- Tuesday (BL)
Let us show you the City of the Sultans! In the morning we tour the top sights including Topkapi Palace, Sancta Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Byzantine Hippodrome. After lunch, come with us for a shopping spree in the labyrinthine Grand Bazaar, with its 4000 shops. In the evening, use your Lonely planet guidebook to bone up on Turkish cuisine, and to locate a good little restaurant near the inn for a romantic candlelit dinner.

DAY 7- ISTANBUL - Wednesday (BL)
"Imperial Constantinople in the Belle Epoque"
(late 19th century), the exotic romance of the "Paris of the East:"

Morning walking tour : We start with our guide in Karaköy where the foreign bankers and shipping companies had their headquarters, then take the Tünel up to istiklal Caddesi; stop in the whirling dervish tekke, and walk past the various old embassy buildings (now consulates), and point out the architecture. Stop for tea (included) at the famous Pera Palace Hotel.
Walk at least as far as Galatasaray Square, and have lunch in the Çicek Pasaji (Flower Passage); then walk up to Taksim Square and be picked up for the afternoon tour.
In the afternoon the tour visit Yildiz Palace Park and the Ihlamur Kasri, a mini-palace south of Yildiz, and finish up with a visit to the Military History Museum in Harbiye in time to hear the "Mehter," or Ottoman military band (mid-afternoon).

Then go on a shopping spree at the labyrinth of the Grand Bazaar.
Breakfast, Lunch.

Day 8- RETURN HOME - Thursday (B)
Our staff escorts you to the airport for your flight home, completely refreshed, and with memories to last for years. What a difference a week away can make!

RATES per person
Istanbul / Istanbul
Ottoman Mansion Boutique Style Hotels in Istanbul
Arena. Armada . Blue House or similar

YOUR OWN PERSONAL YACHT
Two travelers can have their own private yacht, with no other passengers aboard, for a supplemental payment of $600 per person added to our normal gulet cruise rates.

BODRUM OR MARMARIS?

Yachts may depart from either Bodrum or Marmaris, depending upon availability .Please see our sample Marmaris Yacht Itinerary.

Yacht masts at sunset in Bodrum ...

Turkey Home Page - Private Gulet

Your Mediterranean Yacht Escape Includes ...

• Private guided tour of Bodrum as per itinerary , including all entrance fees and lunch at a local restaurant including a large bottle of water , tea or coffer and one soft drink or fruit juice
  
  
• Domestic airfares within Turkey, including all taxes
  
  
  
• A 4 -day (3-night) cruise aboard a Turkish gulet, staffed by a licensed captain and crew
  
• Istanbul accommodation at an Ottoman-style inn or a stay in a hotel such as Conrad, Hyatt or similar , including continental breakfast , tax & service charges
  
  
• All meals aboard the yacht, and other meals as listed (cB = continental breakfast; B = Breakfast; L = set-menu lunch; D = set-menu dinner).
  
  
• All transfers ( private basis) in Turkey (between airport, hotel, yacht, etc.), including portage
  
• Private guided sightseeing tour in Istanbul, as per itinerary including lunch at a local restaurant including a large bottle of water , tea or coffer and one soft drink or fruit juice
  
• Admission fees for the listed tours of Istanbul and Bodrum
  
  
• The Lonely Planet guidebook to Turkey.
  
  

What's not included ...

• Turkish Visa Fee (US$20 per person for US citizens, payable in cash upon arrival at the airport in Istanbul)
  
• International air fare from / to your home country
  
• Travel Insurance. To participate in this cruise-tour, we must require you to provide proof of medical and travel insurance. We will be happy to send you information on how to purchase these policies if you do not already have them. Please contact us for details, we'll be glad to mail you the flyer
  
• Gratuities to guides, drivers, captain and crew (at your discretion)
  
• Meals and drinks not litsed above
  
• Yacht / Gulet shore excursions, we'll be glad to add them if you wish for additional $$$
  
  

  
  

As a thank-you gift for your paid trip reservation, we will send you a  copy of "Turkey: Bright Sun, Strong Tea," a humorous travel memoir  written by Tom Brosnahan, one of America's most prominent travel  writers. Brosnahan has written travel guidebooks to Morocco, Tunisia,  Egypt, Israel and Turkey, so he knows the Mediterranean well. "Bright  Sun, Strong Tea" is the story of his discovery of this wonderful area,  and how he came to write so many guidebooks about it. It's perfect  on-the-plane or end-of-the-day travel reading, and we'll send it to you  with our compliments. To read excerpts of the book, or to order additional autographed  copies, click here.

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When you reserve your cabin on one of our Turkish gulets, you will share the yacht with other travelers who have also reserved cabins.

If you'd rather have a yacht all to yourself, we'll make it easy for you.

YOUR OWN PERSONAL YACHT
Two travelers can have their own private yacht, with no other passengers aboard, for a supplemental payment of $600 per person added to our normal gulet cruise rates.

A PRIVATE YACHT FOR FOUR
Organize a group of four travelers, and we will provide your group with a private gulet exclusively for the four of you--no other passengers will be aboard. You'll love the extra room and privacy! We'll even throw in private airport transfers by private, chauffeur-driven, air-conditioned car or minivan at no extra charge. Also, you can plan your departure for any day; it needn't be on a Friday. The supplement for this service is US$ 400 per person added to our normal rates.

FOR SIX? EVEN BETTER!
If you organize your own group of six travelers, we'll give you all the same services as "A Private Yacht for Four," but you need pay only our regular rates--you need not pay any supplement at all!