MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE & LYCIA TREK

To start a little information

Lycia (this name meant "the Land of Light" in ancient Greek) is located on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey (formerly Anatolia, or "Le Lever du Jour", ie the east, the 'orient seen from the Greek coast) between Marmaris in the north and Antalya in the south. According to Greek mythology, Apollo and his twin Artemis, children of Zeus and Letoon, were raised there (in Xantos) and enjoyed themselves there as much as Apollo, the God of beauty, received the name of `` Son of the Light''. As for Artemis, the Goddess of fertility, abundance and fecundity, we know the superb path she has traveled in history ... The Lycian civilization lasted more than two millennia, disappearing during its assimilation to the Roman Empire at the very beginning of our era. In particular, she left very beautiful tombs carved into the cliffs and sarcophagi with maritime-inspired lids and bases. LYCIA is a region of sea, mountains and mountains and wonders.

The "Blue Cruise", which connects Marmaris to Antalya, is a pleasant coastal journey taking advantage of the beaches and the many secluded coves to anchor there at night, in peace. Specialists in walking trips, we have added discoveries on foot and hikes. These discoveries of coves and natural beaches are complemented by discoveries of Greco-Roman and Byzantine remains, so that the whole person is satisfied, from head to toe, and with all his senses.

The trails are accessible to any average hiker, they overlook the sea and the coast. Sometimes they will take us to sheepfolds or isolated farms; tea will be offered to us there, as well as some crafts or local production. Opportunity for us to enjoy Turkish hospitality. The "Blue Cruise" in LYCIE is carried out in two stays of one week each. One goes from EKINCIK to FETHIYE, the other from ANTALYA to KAS. Here we describe the first cruise.

8 day (s) / 7 night (s)

Day 1: Arrival in Bodrum

Reception at Bodrum airport. Transfer to Lake Bafa. 

Night in pension.

Day 2: Bodrum - Ekincik

Morning hike in the region of Lake Bafa itself formed by the siltation of the old bay into which the river Le Méandre emerges. This lake is dominated by Mount Latmos (1375 m.) Whose tormented shape has earned it the nickname by the Turks of "Mountain of the 5 fingers". In the morning, hike to the site of ancient Heraclea.

Men settled very early in the caves of Mount Latmos and left traces and paintings that archaeologists date back to 11,000 years ago. Then, 3,000 years ago, it was the Cariens who in turn discovered this secluded place and built their villages there. Under King Mausoleum, they created the port of Heraclea which took on great commercial importance until siltation cut it off from the sea and prohibited ships from docking there. 

In the 7th century AD, a large colony of monks (300) driven out of Sinai by the Arabs colonizing Egypt and Palestine, stopped here in their flight. The site is grandiose, wild and very beautiful, and offered them safe shelter in the caves of this tormented mountain overlooking the lake. They built many fortified monasteries there and left many Byzantine paintings in the caves and fortified convents.

Then transfer to Ekincik (4h) and installation on the boat. 2 hours 30 of walking.

Overnight on board.

Day 3: Caunos - Dalyan - Aga Limani Cove

Breakfast on board around 8:30 am and disembarkation on the coast with our picnic to begin our first hike of around 4 hours.

Maritime path, which undulates under the pines and runs along olive groves overlooking the sea. Picnic along the way. We arrive at the impressive site of ancient Caunos.

From the 6th century BC, the Lycian Caunos was already a very active port, with many commercial exchanges. Under the Greek Empire (from - 334, conquests of Alexander the Great, to 130 BC, beginning of the Roman Empire) and in the early days of the Roman Empire, its salt and slave trades continued to enrich Caunos. But two terrible evils plagued it: the silting up of its harbor and, in the lagoons, the proliferation of mosquitoes. These spread malaria to the point where the inhabitants presented a sad cadaverous appearance (Homer, tongue-in-cheek, confirmed that the air was so healthy in Caunos that even the dead walked in the streets!). You will see how the siltation relegated the ancient port of Caunos inland, similar to the phenomenon in Ephesus. The ancient Greek theater, embellished by the Romans, a temple of Corinthian influence, a nymphaeum (monumental fountain), the Roman baths, the gymnasium, a Byzantine church: so many vestiges of Antiquity which made Caunos an important city .

By boat, we will approach the Lycian tombs carved and carved into the cliff, above the current village of Daylan.

Still in a boat, we descend the river, lined with reeds, whose alluvium has silted up the ancient port, to find, after its mouth on Dalyan beach, our large boat which awaits us in the open sea.

Boarding. And drive to the cove of Aga Limani (2h30 of navigation), at the entrance to the large bay of Féthiye. Anchor anchor in the cove of Aga Limani. Bathing.

Dinner and overnight on board.

Day 4: City of Ikaros - Cleopatra Baths - Binlik Bay

Morning swim, breakfast, and disembarkation on the coast. We take a path that will, in 4 hours of seaside hike, lead us first to the ruins of the ancient city of Ikaros, then to the baths of Cleopatra, finally to the bay of Binlik where we will join our boat. . Archaeologists have not been able to explain much of the remains of Ikaros, from the ruins of its temples, its cisterns, its piles of stones. Ancient city (before our era, then reworked by the Romans) too far from the main roads, too isolated. Good for us adventurers! A few sheepfolds and isolated farms along the way. Pine forests and arid hills.

Picnic. Descent to the cove called "Les Bains de Cléopâtre", without the passage of the star being strictly guaranteed! (Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, ally and lover of Roman Marc-Antoine, political and sentimental competitor of Emperor Julius Caesar; the allies were defeated by the Romans loyal to Actium in 31 BC).

Continuing our seaside hike we reach Binlik Bay where our schooner awaits us. We are still in the bay of Féthiye, but in a very sheltered sub-part, dependent on the port of Gökcek. Bathing.

Dinner and overnight on board.

Day 5: Binlik Bay - Fethiye

After a morning swim and breakfast, we weigh anchor to cross the bay from west to east and anchor in front of Sarsali beach where a huge seagull has been painted.

Landing on the coast and start of our 5 hour hike. Path, pine forests, rock gardens, southern Mediterranean landscape. A few Lycian tombs and sarcophagi scattered over the ridges.

Picnic. We return to the ‘’ Cleopatra Baths ’to continue further north. In the afternoon, our boat joined us and picked us up on the coast where we arrived. Boarding. Navigation (2h30) to Fethiye.

Mooring at the quay. Walk around town, visit the ancient Telmesso (Greco-Roman theater, Lycian tombs), shopping.

Dinner and overnight on board.

Day 6: Kayakoy - the island of Saint-Nicolas

After breakfast, start of our 3 hour hike in the morning (Féthiye-Kayaköy) and 2 hours in the afternoon (Kayaköy-Oludeniz).

From Féthiye we take an old Lycian path and climb a pass (drop 250 m.) Allowing us to reach a plain above which 1,500 houses in ruins form a curious end-of-the-world landscape. Previously, we visit the Lycian necropolis of Geceler.

The ancient Lycian city of Karmylassos became, during the Byzantine Empire, the "Greek" city of Levissi, and today is called Kayakov. In 1923, when the Republic of Turkey was created, the League of Nations (which became the UN) organized an exchange of populations: the Turks living in Greece and the Greeks living in Turkey were invited to return to their respective homeland, in exchange of accommodation and compensation. The "Greeks" of Levissi created near Thessaloniki and Athens the current "Neo-Levissi". And the Turks from Thessaloniki arrived to create Kayaköy in the plain below, unwilling to live in the houses of the former occupants.

These abandoned houses form this ghost town, weathered by bad weather and erosion. Two huge churches and a large number of chapels bear witness to the worship activities of the "Greeks" or those taken for such. As in Cappadocia and other places in Anatolia, the inhabitants of these pockets, neither Turkish nor Muslim, were not necessarily of Greek origin, of Greek ethnicity. But, since the invasions of Alexander, and over the Roman Empire, Greek continued to be the language used by the people (former Lycians defeated and assimilated, Greek colonists then Romans, various foreign contributions, ...). The preaching of the Christian religion first employed and here later retained Greek for its liturgy and the recitation of its dogma. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the pockets of Orthodox Christians in Muslim countries, using Greek for their liturgy and internal communication, were equated with colonies of ’Greeks’, with inhabitants from Greece. The confusion was confirmed by the S.D.N .: the Orthodox (prayer books in Greek) were sent to Greece, to the supposed country of their ancestors, which is less than certain, except for a tiny part of them…!

Lunch break.

Afternoon hike (2 h). From Levissi (visit of the abandoned village) we go up (250 m of vertical drop) to a pass where an Orthodox chapel slowly ages. Then magnificent descent, through holm oaks and carob trees, to a cove called `` Les Eaux Froides '' (resurgence in the warm waters of the Mediterranean freshwater mountain). Our schooner is already at anchor there!

Boarding; bathing. Engine: we will anchor the anchor at the foot of the island of Saint-Nicolas (Gemiler) at half an hour of navigation. Visit of the island. Hundreds of buildings, churches, chapels, dwellings, were superimposed on an island where not a square meter of land allowed to grow a foot of salad. The Byzantines of the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries built there an impregnable place of retreat. Then the Crusaders of Saint-Jean-de-Jerusalem, coming from Malta and Rhodes, around the 12th century, added a layer, finding there a formidable bastion of lookout and fallback.Curious Mediterranean Mount Saint-Michel ... of sun from the top of the islet.

Dinner and overnight on board.

Day 7: Olüdeniz - Milas

After swimming and having breakfast, a short cruise and farewell to our crew and our schooner. Disembarkation at the "Eaux Froides" cove. Our hike will only be a 2 hour walk, but what a beauty! Path overlooking the sea and discovering Oludeniz, the most famous beach in Turkey. A lagoon with turquoise waters where part of Commander Cousteau's “World of Silence” was filmed. Picnic, swimming.

At the start of the afternoon, our minibus picks us up in Oludeniz to make the return journey to Milas. 4 hours drive.

Installation at the hotel. Evening and dinner free.

Night at the hotel.

Day 8: Milas - Bodrum - Departure

Transfer to Bodrum airport and fly back home.

- End of Our Services -

Included in our services

All transfers and land transport by private minibus.

The various accommodations: 2 nights in a hotel in Milas, 5 nights in a schooner. Double rooms or cabins with W.C. and private showers.

Supervision by a guide

Meals, except: meals and dinners on Day 1 and Day 7. Those on Day 8.

Boats (schooner, boats, tenders, etc.)

Are Not Included

Entrances to sites, historical monuments.

Comprehensive Travel Insurance.

Drinks and personal expenses.

Dinners and meals on days 1 and 7 in Bodrum, Milas. Meals possibly on day 8.

Domestic and international flights.

Non-contractual tour and given as an indication (for more details and all the useful information, please contact us