Protocol P-10, Turkey
North of Izmir the coast turns green with olive trees that run from the hills to the beaches. Ayvalık is an old Greek town of stone houses and olive presses; across the gulf, warm springs rise at the foot of Mount Ida.
Duration
6 days
Group
Up to 10
Season
Sep to Nov, Apr to May
Effort
Gentle
Meet at
Hotel hall, Mariánské Lázně
Indicative price
From CZK 39,900 per person
The price is indicative, per person in a shared double room. A manager confirms the final price when you send a request, because flights and hotel rates move with the season.
We run this protocol at harvest time in autumn and again in spring. The days are short drives and village walks, with time in the hot springs and at the table.
Effort profile
Day by day
Day 1
To the coast
We leave Mariánské Lázně before dawn for the airport, land in Izmir at midday and follow the coast north to Ayvalık.
Day 2
Ayvalık
The lanes of the old town, a working olive press and an evening on the waterfront.
Day 3
Cunda
Across the causeway to Cunda island, its old church and the windmill hill at sunset.
Day 4
Edremit
Round the gulf to the hot springs at the foot of Mount Ida, and an afternoon in the pools.
Day 5
Altınoluk
A walk in the olive groves with a farming family, lunch under the trees, and a last soak.
Day 6
Home
The drive back to Izmir airport and the journey home to the hotel.
What we arrange
- Flights from Prague to Izmir and back
- Minibus with driver
- Five nights in small hotels with breakfast
- Four suppers and the harvest lunch
- Entry to the thermal pools
What we leave to you
- Other lunches
- Olive oil you buy to take home
- Travel insurance
What to bring
- Old trousers for the harvest walk
- A swimming costume for both the sea and the springs
- A light jacket for evenings by the water
Harvest dates move with the weather. In a late year the press may not yet be working, and we visit a soap maker in Ayvalık instead.