Ephesus & The Cities of The Aegean

Some of the most celebrated sites of the archaic world - Knidos, Halicarnassus, Notion - are dotted across the Aegean, and the Ionian littoral has played an equally prominent role in the history of Christianity: John wrote his gospels at Ephesus and Bodrum was once a stronghold of the seafaring Knights of St John.

After a leisurely cruise along the Bodrum Peninsula, the Sultan will sail across the Gulf of Mandalya to two of the best-preserved Ionian settlements in Anatolia: the sacred sanctuary of Didyma and Miletus, renowned for its philosophers.

The ancient city of Ephesus, visited by Mary, St John and St Paul, hosts the magnificent two-storeyed library of Celsus and a theatre that once accommodated nearly 30,000.

Notion, wild and lofty, and Claros, set in a lush valley, will make rewarding visits before a whole-day excursion to mountainous Priene, perched high above the Meander Valley. Hellenistic Labranda, surrounded by pine-clad granite cliffs, boasts a sprawling temple of Zeus and the most monumental of stairways.

At the extreme end of the Marmaris Peninsula lies Knidos, where the Sultan will drop anchor in the lee of the Hellenistic theatre. Perhaps the most spectacularly sited city in Asia Minor, Knidos once sheltered Praxiteles' Aphrodite, the finest statue ever hewn, according to Pliny the Elder.

We will then navigate the Ceramic Gulf in the direction of Bodrum, known to the Greeks as Halicarnassus, where the castle of the crusading Knights of St John dominates the old town of mosques and bazaars. We will visit the famous mausoleum built in honour of King Mausolus, one of the ancient wonders, and the superb Museum of Underwater Archaeology.