Gulet or Cruise Ship: Which Suits Your Trip to Turkey?

Gulet or cruise ship? Choose a cruise ship to see several ports in one trip, with a full day ashore in each. For those days ashore, our tours for cruise passengers plan around the ship’s hours. Choose a gulet to slow down on one stretch of the Turkish coast, with nights at anchor in small coves. They are two different holidays, and you can also combine them. Here is how they compare.

Gulet or cruise ship: what is the difference?

A cruise ship moves from port to port. In Turkey, ships call at Galataport in Istanbul, at Ege Port in Kuşadası for Ephesus and at the cruise port in Bodrum. You spend the day ashore and sail on in the evening. A gulet, by contrast, is a wooden sailing boat with two masts, a broad deck and four to six cabins below. It stays close to the shore and stops in small bays along the way.

What does a day look like on each?

On a cruise, a port day is built around the all-aboard time. In Istanbul, for example, you can see Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the bazaars, then return to the ship before it sails. On a gulet, the day follows the wind and the coves. You swim from the deck and eat lunch in the shade. Then you anchor for the night, while the captain picks the bays and the cook prepares meals on board.

Which suits your group?

A cruise ship suits travelers who want to see several cities in one trip and unpack only once. A gulet suits a group that wants its own space and its own route. On a charter, the whole boat is yours, and charters suit groups of 8 to 16 people. Couples can also book a single cabin on a set route and share the deck with other guests. Count the cabins first, because they matter more than the length of the boat.

Where do you sail on a gulet?

Most gulet weeks start in Bodrum, Göcek, Fethiye or Marmaris. From Bodrum, you sail into the Gulf of Gökova or toward Knidos. From Göcek and Fethiye, you work through the Twelve Islands or head east to the sunken ruins of Kekova. Our private charters last 8 days and 7 nights. June and September bring warm sea, so read the best time for a blue cruise before you choose your week.

Can you combine a cruise ship and a gulet?

Yes. If your cruise starts or ends in Istanbul, you can add a week on the coast before or after it. A domestic flight takes you to the coast, and a gulet waits in the harbor with its crew. Our gulet charter service plans the boat, the route and the transfers. On a port day, our shore excursions meet you at the pier and bring you back on time.

Gulet or cruise ship for a first trip to Turkey?

For a first trip, the answer depends on what you want to remember. If it is the great cities and Ephesus in one go, a cruise ship covers them. If it is a bay at sunset, a gulet gives you that every evening. For every route and boat, see our gulet cruises, and for the ports, read Turkey cruise ports 2027. We meet you at Galataport, the Istanbul cruise terminal.

Give us your week and group size, and we will plan the gulet, the port days or both.