My wife and I are planning a trip to Turkey this fall and would like to take a gulet cruise along the coast. I have three questions that I thought this forum's members might help answer.

First, do any of the gulet cruises visit Ephesus? This is a must on our itinerary, and if necessary we would make a separate trip there. But it would be ideal if our gulet cruise stopped there.

Second, we're pretty serious about ancient history and are fearful of ending up on a gulet cruise that's focused on solely on beaches, drinking, etc. Not that we don't enjoy great beaches and spirits, but we can get those closer to home. Is there one boat or tour operator that specializes in more serious gulet cruises and attract people who share our interests?

Finally, we're not necessarily looking for high-end luxury -- otherwise we wouldn't choose a gulet cruise! But are there gulet operators who run slightly more upscale boats -- just a cut above the average?

Thanks in advance!

For cultural gulet cruises you should post on Fethiye, Bodrum and Gocek Forums on Trip Advisor. There are Destination experts on both locations who live there some months every year and would know.

as far as i have heard the Turkish coast is really more beautiful than most places and people take the cruise for swimming and natural beauty, although there are a number of ancient sunken cities on the coast which can only be reached by boat.

Ephesus is further North of the standard gulet routes and about 20 kilometers inland of Kusadasi, the cruise ship port of call. If you could go back about 1550 years, it was still a port although already silting up and in trouble.

You could also get in touch with Burak, the friendly and efficient tour operator who is also a very ethical TA DE
at www.allaboutturkey.com or my favorite Turkish culture tour operator, Fest Travel even if just for ideas.

I second your desire to look for a somewhat more up market gulet so that you do not find yourselves in the midst of young rowdies.

Very few gulet cruises visit Ephesus, most are focused on the relaxing aspects of a blue cruise - the sun and the sea. However there is a specialist tour operator offering gulet tours with an expert guide and an archaeological theme that cruise north to Ephesus. In fact they are mentioned in the Fodor's Guide to Turkey.

Peter Sommer Travels - www.petersommer.com runs two Turkey tours by gulet that visit Ephesus, a 1-week one way trip, Sailing to Ephesus, and a 2-week round trip, From Halicarnassus to Ephesus. They have both these tours this autumn and it seems their 2011 tour schedule is up as well. You can see all their Turkey tours (they also do Greece and Italy) at http://www.petersommer.com/escorted-...logical-tours/

I had the pleasure of going on one of their trips a year or so ago and we loved the combination of cultural/historical visits with the delight of being on a gulet. Their Turkey tours aren't cheap, but they appear to use high quality boats and of course you get the expert guide etc. so I suppose you get what you pay for. We'd love to do another once we've saved up.

Thanks for two thoughtful and informative replies. I'll follow up on all your suggestions.

I explored the Peter Sommers site, but their tours don't seem to work with our schedule. Can anyone recommend another gulet outfitter?