CRUISE THE BLUE
Cruising the sublimely beautiful coast of southwest Turkey, where the Aegean merges into the Mediterranean, is one of the great holiday experiences. Limestone cliffs soar spectacularly above turquoise waters, unsullied strands of fine sand beach welcome nesting turtles and the atmospheric remains of ancient Carian and Lycian cities straddle ridges or nestle in deep valleys.
Indeed, few people who have sailed along this magical coastline in a traditional wooden sailing boat known as a gulet ever go back willingly to a hotelbased seaside holiday.
Life aboard is one long round of sunlounging, eating meals remarkable for their quality (given the small on-board kitchen), reading, conversing and dozing. Interspersed, of course, with swimming stops in unspoilt coves and trips ashore to explore an ancient site or potter round an attractive harbour town. Watch out for curious dolphins arching their way through the blue waters alongside your vessel and, much harder to spot, flying fish skimming the waves.
The night sky viewed from the top deck is fabulous too. A veritable panoply of stars on moonless nights, the yakamoz (a Turkish word for moonlight reflected in water) spectacularly bright when the moon is gibbous or full. Bodrum, Marmaris and Fethiye are the major starting points for blue cruises; either privately charter an entire gulet, or book onto a cabin charter (where berths are let out individually).
Blue Cruise (020 8968 7770; bluecruise. co.uk) offers one-week cabin charters from £549 per week excluding flights. Gulet Escapes (020 8354 4818; guletescapes.com) has one-week cabin charters from £735. If you’re travelling independently, Alaturka (0090 252 612 5423; alaturkacruises.com) offers three-night cruises from £190pp