My husband & I lived in Europe for 3 years and visited so many countries but we did not get to finish our list. We will be going on our 10 yr. anniversary trip in June 2006. We will probably have 10 days total. I'm starting to research now. Our choice is the Mediterranean. Places that intrigue us are the Greek islands, Turkey, and Croatia. We like beautiful ocean water, friendly people, delicious food, nightlife, and sightseeing. Should we go on a cruise or island hop? Where do we definatley need to go? Please help. We want to make the right choice.

Oh, this answer is so easy. I can't say I've been everywhere in the mediterranean , but I've done my share and nothing, NOTHING beats taking a Turkish Gulet around the med & Aagean coast of Turkey. It is a traditional Turkish wooden ship, with a few bedrooms, I think 4 to 6 and a crew that consists of a captain a cook and a, I don't know what else to call him so for lack of a better term I'll say a butler/activity director. You can rent a cabin or a whole ship and slowly tool around the coast of Turkey stopping at ancient ruins, villages only accessible by water with hilltop palace/fortresses, jump out of the boat into the med to snorkle or kayak. They'll tie up to an island for the nite that is home only to a family of goats and all you see is olive trees. They'll catch fish and thats dinner! They'll stop in some village that time forgot and buy a giant pancake filled with cheese or jelly made on stones by really old women and that will be tea. We slept under the stars on deck on sun mats and the stars were so big and close I thought I could touch them. I could go on and on. It was so romantic, but also fun. We plan on doing this again someday, but I would go tomorrow if I could. Have fun whatever you choose but do investigate a gulet.

Some of those Turkish ships are absolutely gorgeous!! I lovedwalking around the marinas of Bodrum looking at all the different ones docked there. So much imaginative use of wood and color.

But don't discount the Greek Islands. They're also beautiful, and in June the weather will be superb. It won't be too crowded yet and you'll be able to find all the good food and nightlife you could want.

I always recommend Santorini to honeymooners, especially the most beautiful and romantic village of Oia at the north end of the island. The nightlife in Fira will be up and running in June and the island has a very good archaeological site at Akrotiri.

zwho--do you have a gulet company you can recommend?

The Sunday Times (Ireland) travel section did a big feature on Croatia today. I'm sure you can access it online.

Hi Rufus, When we did this in 2000, we used Pasha Tours. These were simple with no a/c. I also found one called Key Tours that seemed very similar to ours. There are more luxurious ones, Credo for 1, (hope these are still in business). I know you can go down to the dock and just hire one last minute, but thats not for me. Put a search in here for Turkish gulets and also the web and you should come up with lots of them. Ours with Pasha was very reasonable and so much fun. Good luck.

Thanks, zwho. I had done a search and found a few, but I appreciate your suggestions based on your experience.