How was your Explore Tour Leader?

Bayram did a good job of leading a group of 17 of us through the coastal countryside of southern Turkey, by allocating backmarkers each day and keeping a good eye on people walking at different paces.  

 

What tips would you give to someone else booking this tour?

Early / late season departures that are Saturday-to-Saturday don't use a direct charter flight to Dalaman, but use the scheduled services of Turkish Airlines with a change in Istanbul instead.  This makes for quite long travel days at the beginning and end of the trip with early starts and only a brief opportunity to visit the Greek village of Kaya Koyu on day 2 of the trip.  

 

Do you have anything else to add?

The walking is mostly on good trails and, as a regular hillwalker, I found the going quite straightforward.  Accommodation is comfortable throughout (although cosy in the village homestays) and there was no need to bring a sleeping bag, even for the cooler month of April.  The itinerary states that swimming is available most nights, but none of the swimming pools were filled in April due to it being too early in the season for all of the tourist facilities to be open.  

 

How was your Explore Tour Leader?

Our leader, Bayram Dinc was very kind, helpful and considerate.  He was also knowledgable and had a great sense of humour - even when suffering with a heavy cold!

What tips would you give to someone else booking this tour?

The Trip notes advised taking a sleeping bag but we never used it, just a sleeping bag liner at the village house.  Take a hydration system for easy sips of water on the move, although Bayram made regular 'water stops' and advised us daily on how much to take and whether there would be a spring to top-up our supplies.

Do you have anything else to add?

"George's Place at Faralya is in a spectacular setting high above the beach below, with super views of the sunset.  Flip-flops (thongs) were useful for getting to/from the WC and shower block.
Our room in the Hotel Pataros, at Patara was cramped and fairly basic for a 2-night stay - and our small bin wasn't emptied.  Also there were LOTS of mosquitos.  I stayed in Patara about 16yrs ago but don't recall such problems with mosquitos - and I'm prone to bites!  I felt the manager had very little interest unless we were buying drinks at the pool bar.  The swimming pool was very nice though with comfortable loungers."

This was a pretty much perfect holiday. The walks were well balanced and varied – with every day having a slightly different flavour to it. Before going I did worry whether I would be fit enough to do the walks, but it was absolutely fine and all the challenging bits did, is make me feel like I’d earned my meals in the evenings – and the food was definitely one of the highlights of the trip! (If you are a veggie as well, don’t worry – you will not feel left out). Beautiful views, loads of ruins and trees laden with fruit along the way… The holiday was also helped by having amazing weather – beautiful blue skies every day without being too hot for walking (I went in mid October). Particular highlights were the two nights not spent in hotels – made the holiday feel a lot more special, and the boat trip on the last day felt like utter luxury and heaven after the week of walking. Our tour guide, Bayram was fantastic too – obviously very experienced and knowledgable and I didn't have to worry about a single thing. The one thing I regret is that I should have booked an extra night in Kas at the end for one more lazy day of shopping and sightseeing. Couldn’t recommend the holiday more.

Despite some unseasonable rain currently plaguing Turkey, a beautiful week for a bird's eye view of some of Turkey's most spectacular west Mediterranean coastal scenery, only occasionally   meeting a trio of other hikers. Tortoises,   butterflies, varieties of insects and flowers were abundant however.An unexpected honour was to be able to join in an evening with the villagers of Gey saying farewell to 3 young men off to do military service with traditional music, dancing and singing   Typically in Turkey we passed ancient sites and tombs and in the last 24 hours saw 3 completely different ancient theatres in Patara,  Kalekoy and Kas.Some of the terrain underfoot is uneven ranging from limestone pavement to loose stones on narrow quite precipitous ledges but the hike  is graded moderate to strenuous and is totally worth   it...(LW - 17th April 2010)

A great trip. There was a large variety of beautiful scenery and some special highlights amongst the walking, including a roman viaduct, an ampitheatre, with ancient ruins, and of course the sunken city. Plus throw in a beach that made the Times top 10 in the world. Advice - early in the season its cold at night on the first two nights as you are staying at quite a high altitude, so be prepared. Explore allowed us to break our journey in Istanbul on the way home - for no extra charge. (LW - 10th April 2010)

For anyone that’s got just a week to spare, this is a great trek. The scenery is fantastic, the food is excellent and plentiful, and the local Explore leader could not have been more helpful and pleasant. The accommodation used varied but was always clean, one of the highlights being the family house in the village of Gey where you have the option of sleeping on the roof under the stars. The walk and boat ride from Kas on the last day was excellent and nicely finished off a perfect holiday. (LW- 10th May 2010)

Walking in sparkling sun with the Med far down below. Delicious food, in our 'village home' particularly; and the patience and encouragement of our leader, Bayram, getting us across the steep slippy bits I would normally freeze at! And, as always, good company. (LW- 1st October 2009)