5 Nights / 6 Days
Anatolia's Greatest Wonders
5 Nights | 3 Cappadocia · 1 Pamukkale · 1 Kuşadası — fairy chimneys, Pamukkale's white travertines and Ephesus.
Turkey / Collection
The Aegean Coast
Bays, olive terraces and harbour towns from İzmir down to Bodrum, with a Greek or Roman city behind almost every one.
Turkey's Aegean coast runs south-west from the Çeşme peninsula through İzmir and down toward Bodrum, tracing the same waters that ancient Greek ships crossed. Ruins of cities that once held tens of thousands of people stand within sight of working harbours, olive presses and vineyards that still produce the same crops they have for centuries.
The Ancient and the Everyday
Ephesus draws visitors to one of the best-preserved ancient cities in the eastern Mediterranean. The Library of Celsus, the theatre carved into the hillside, the marble-paved street where footsteps wore channels over centuries — these survive in remarkable condition. But the coast holds older and quieter places too. Remnants of Greek and Roman settlement appear in hillside towns where the ruins are part of the everyday fabric, not behind velvet ropes.
Coastal Walks and Terrain
The landscape is a long alternation of promontory and bay. Stony paths through maquis scrub connect small coves. Olive groves, some of them centuries old, cover the gentler slopes inland. Walking here means passing through land that has been cultivated and navigated for millennia — the routes often follow lines that go back further than the monuments. On the higher ground there are views across to Greek islands on clear mornings.
Towns, Food and Light
İzmir is a port city with a long waterfront and a bazaar quarter. North and south along the coast, smaller towns have grown up around fishing harbours or thermal springs — seaside places that have been resorts in Roman times, in Ottoman times, and remain so now, each layer visible in the architecture. The food reflects the Aegean kitchen: olive oil as a base, fresh fish, herbs gathered from the hillsides, vegetables grown in the coastal plains. Breakfast tables in the region look the same as they have for generations — small plates, shared.
What the Coast Offers
Guided small-group itineraries on this coast move between archaeological sites, coastal walks and the interiors of towns, staying in locally relevant accommodation and eating in places that serve regional food. The pace is deliberate. This is a landscape that reveals itself slowly — the quality of the light on the water in the early morning, the way the hills hold the afternoon warmth, the quiet of a small port town where the harbour is still the centre of things.
Tours that visit The Aegean Coast
2 Nights / 3 Days
Sacred Lands & Ancient Cities
2 Nights | 1 Pamukkale · 1 Kuşadası — Mevlana's Konya, Pamukkale's white travertines and Ephesus.
8 Nights / 9 Days
Turkey's Golden Triangle
8 Nights | 3 Istanbul · 3 Cappadocia · 1 Pamukkale · 1 Kuşadası — Hagia Sophia, fairy chimneys, white travertines and Ephesus.
Good to know
Before you book you should know
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Is this trip right for you?
Our groups are capped at eight travellers, which is about a third of what the industry calls a small group. Eight people share one vehicle, one table at dinner and one guide's attention, and the day can change on the road without anybody being left behind. If you are looking for a coach, a fixed script and a microphone, this is not that.
Most days involve real walking, often on ground that was laid two thousand years before walking shoes: marble worn smooth, cobbles, uneven steps and long site paths with little shade. Bring shoes you can spend a morning in.
Some days move between regions and are largely a drive, with stops along the way. Summers are hot — well over 35°C inland — and winters are colder than most people expect, so layers, a hat and sunscreen earn their place in the bag whatever the month.
How demanding a particular trip is, is written on the trip itself: the physical rating in the header, and the day-by-day itinerary above.
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Rooms, and travelling on your own
Trip prices are per person, sharing a twin room. Each traveller picks their own room while booking, so a party can mix the three:
- Twin share — two single beds, shared with someone you are travelling with or with a traveller of the same gender.
- Travelling as a couple — one double room.
- Individual room — a room of your own, for a single supplement on top of the trip price. Availability is limited, and the supplement for a given date is shown next to the option when you book.
Solo travellers are welcome on every departure, and most of our groups have one or two aboard.
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Accommodation
The hotels named in an itinerary are a guideline rather than a guarantee. Where one is full, or has dropped below the standard we booked it for, we substitute a property of a similar standard in the same area — we would rather change the hotel than the trip.
Check-in is usually mid-afternoon. If you arrive early we will ask for the room, but no hotel can promise one before its own check-in time; luggage can normally be left at reception in the meantime. If you want the room from the night before, ask us and we will add the extra night to your booking.
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Passports, visas and insurance
Entry requirements depend on your nationality and change without much notice, so the only reliable source is the official one: the government of the country you are travelling to, and your own foreign ministry's travel advice. Check both before you book a flight.
Many countries ask for a passport valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates, and for blank pages. It is worth looking at yours now rather than at the airport.
We ask every traveller to carry travel insurance covering medical treatment and repatriation, and we would strongly encourage cover for cancellation and for your luggage as well.
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Your departure is guaranteed — the day can change
Once a departure is on the calendar it runs. We do not cancel a trip for want of a minimum number of bookings, so a booked date is one you can plan flights and leave around.
What can move is the shape of a day. Museums and archaeological sites change their hours, roads close, weather turns, a local holiday lands in the middle of the week. Where that happens your guide reorders the day, or swaps a stop for one of the same weight, and tells you why. Changes to a booked itinerary are covered by our Booking Terms & Conditions.
