The Lycian Coast, Turkey

South-Western Turkey is considered to possess more age-old ruins spot for area than any other region on the planet. Since the beginning, conquerors, merchants, and travellers have beaten a path to the great ancient monuments, however the sites by no means fail to impress even now. And, gliding through the serene waters past these treasures as the sunlight shines on the sea and you appreciate a meal of fresh seafood cooked to order on board your gulet, the feeling of total peace can’t be surpassed.

Set stunningly on hillsides, carved into seaside outcrops, or set in fertile valleys, the panoramic surrounds in Lycian Coast simply create to the drama and romance of the ruins. However large and loud the crowd (especially throughout the local school holidays), the historic sites never appear overwhelmed or overawed. Massive, majestic, and peaceful the ancient monuments loom over everything, colonized only by the wildflowers and butterflies that make their homes here.

On a mighty column on top of a huge Corinthian capital, a stork designs a poor nest. As the sun starts to sink in the sky the charter tour bus celebrations disappear and the ruins are all of a sudden all quiet and sullen once again. Turned crimson by the last light of the setting sun, and highlighted against a darkening heavens, the landscape appears as marvelous, eternal, and enduring today as it must have done thousand years ago.

The boat proceeds through the aqua blue waters, past pine-forested land, with the unexpected stop for a relaxing swim or to go ashore to a attractive little village to drink tea in a charming square. You might see a shephard marshal his woolly charges along a narrow street, or farmers with black moustaches patiently selling small jugs of amber honey from the roadside as women in heavy dresses and patterned headscarves collect wild herbal plants from the meadows. And at sea, around yet another spit of land, a sheltered cove or gorgeous seashore beckons from the base of a magnificent cliff. The Mediterranean sea, set against the bleached blocks of old stone, looks almost luminous in its blueness as a couple of gulets gently drift by, glistening and hazy in the heavy temperature of the mid-day sun.

At Olu Deniz stop off to appreciate the impossibly turquoise sea at the Blue Lagoon. Nearby, pay a visit to Butterfly Valley, given its name after the Jersey Tiger butterflies that colonize the area in countless numbers during the summer time.