So many of our guests have raved about the food served on our gulet cruises in Turkey and asked for recipes, that we decided to create a trip with an even more gastronomic flavour. Not only will you enjoy all the usual dishes served up by the onboard chef, on this trip you will get involved in the cooking, conjuring up some of the excellent Turkish dishes you’ll eat.
You’ll collect wild foods and explore a local market for fresh produce. You’ll cook with a Turkish family in their home and prepare regional delicacies in a small traditional restaurant. This is a journey to tantalise your tastebuds, a voyage of discovery through Turkish Mediterranean cuisine.
You won’t miss out on the history. Your expert guide, Serdar, is an archaeologist who has dug in Turkey for many years. He also happens to be a foodie, a man with a great passion for Turkish cuisine. He will lead you on a gourmet adventure along one of the most beautiful, least developed, and stunningly natural areas of Turkey.
Day 1: Our boat is about 40 minutes from Bodrum airport, in the city’s amphitheatre style harbour, on Turkey’s south west coast. Welcome drink and dinner aboard.
Day 2: We cruise east along the Carian coast, with stops to swim and relax, before preparing local dishes and delicacies in a family run restaurant.
Day 3: South to spectacular Knidos, where decades of digging, still ongoing, have revealed a beautiful and well planned ancient city, one of the most beautiful in Turkey. Set at the very tip of a sinuous peninsula, this was a city built for maritime trade, and fabled for its statue of Aphrodite, the first female nude in history.
Day 4: East To beautiful Bozburun, a picturesque village surrounded by hills. We’ll go to the home of one of the most longstanding restaurant owners and cook food with his family.
Day 5: To Loryma, a magnificent Rhodian fortress guarding a strategic bay. We’ll swim and eat warm delicious bread freshly baked in a traditional oven.
Day 6: Heading east we take a boat through a lagoon into the reed lined Dalyan River to see the city of Kaunos. Its monumental public buildings, surrounding a silted up harbour, speak of its once great wealth and fame. Serdar has been excavating here for many seasons. As well as exploring the site, we’ll cook and eat with one of the village ladies who prepares food each summer for the archaeologists.
Day 7: We sail to the pretty inlet of Ağlımanı and walk up an ancient track to the city of Lydae, set in a forgotten valley filled with the tinkle of goat bells. We break bread and have tea with a local goatherd. A last chance to swim then on Göçek, for our final farewell dinner.
Day 8: Transfer to Dalaman airport.
