Spring Flowers Study Tour in Lycia Turkey

BOTANICAL STUDY TOURS IN LYCIA TURKEY

The Spring Flowers of Lycia in South West Turkey

Walking with Flowers in Turkey 2013 - With Dr Patrick Harding

April 15^th – 21^st - NOW FULLY BOOKED

April 22^nd – 28^th - £675 per person NOW FULLY BOOKED - YOU CAN SEND AN ENQUIRY FOR NEXT YEAR

Turkey boasts over 9,000 species of wild flower, many of which are unique to the country.

April mild climate makes this the perfect time for both walking and enjoying the lush green landscape and an abundance of spring flowers.

Our base is the Ottoman Palace Hotel, Adrasan on the beautiful Turquoise Coast, where the majestic Beydagli Mountains fall into the crystal blue waters of the Mediterranean.

This dramatic landscape comprises natural and protected forest, national parkland and is dotted with the remains of the ancient civilisation of Lycia.

The walks will traverse a range of habitats including coastal, upland forest, meadow, waterside and ancient sites thus providing varied scenery and new flowers on each day.

Dr. Patrick Harding has been educating and enthusing adults for over 35 years and this will be his third visit to the Ottoman Palace. Patrick has also taken botanical study tours to Finland, Slovenia and La Palma. He teaches for both Cambridge and Oxford Universities; appears regularly on television and has written 8 books on flowers, trees and fungi.

The Ottoman Palace Hotel, a small, purpose built hotel provides full board (with plenty of fresh fruit and local produce) including packed lunches and a minibus service which will take us to and from our daily walks. These will be between 8 – 12 km long and with a minimum of steep inclines. The pace will allow us to find, identify, photograph and enjoy the flowers. Each evening there will be a pre-prandial session going over the finds of the day.

The course is aimed and those who enjoy both walking and flowers – we will not identify everything and both scientific and common names will be used.

In 2011 well over 200 flowers were identified including species of fritillary, hollyhock, star of Bethlehem, catchfly, bellflower and flax - not to mention nine different orchid species. We also saw tortoise, chameleon, white-breasted kingfisher and green-underside blue butterflies – a feast of natural history.

The nearest airport is at Antalya and the cost of the holiday includes transfer from and to Antalya airport. Direct flights to Antalya are available from a range of regional airports in Britain.

What's Included

The one week package is priced at £675, this includes:-

7 Nights Full Board (Bed, Breakfast, Packed Lunches & Evening Meal)
6 Daily Walks
Transfers to/from all walks
Transfers from and to Antalya Airport
Drinking water for all walks
Guiding and tuition on all walks and visits

A varied programme of walks is planned and will be combined with visits to at least two sites of historical interest, the first of which will be a guided tour of Olympos. This will include an introduction and overview of the Lycian civilisation’s origins, achievements and place in ancient history. The itinerary has been designed to include a selection of the variety of terrains and environments that exist between the coast and the Western arc of the Toros Mountains. The mountains climb directly up from the coast to heights in excess of 3,000m (approx. 10,000ft)

Single Supplement £155 if sharing a transfer £190 if not sharing a transfer. If you wish we will try to find you another guest to share transfers with.

Additional nights Half Board accommodation, if required £46 per person based on 2 sharing a room, £69 for single occupancy.

Reduction for 3^rd or 4^th person sharing a room £130 for the each additional occupant. (i.e. 2 x full price + 1 or 2 x £545)

Getting Ready for Your Trip

Flights

Flights to ANTALYA are not included in the package price, but are available from the majority of UK Departure Airports, form a number of operators

Airline	Departure Airports	Web Site Address
Thomas Cook	Birmingham, East Midlands, Cardiff	www.flythomascook.com
Thomas Cook	Manchester, Gatwick (close to exact dates)	www.flythomascook.com
Turkish Airlines	Manchester, Heathrow, Stansted	www.thy.com
Other Airlines Atlasjet, Pegasus, Easyjet	Various Schedules for April not yet published	www.atlasjet.com www.flypgs.com www.easyjet.com

Payment

We take a 10% deposit to secure your booking. The balance is due 6 weeks before arrival. Both the deposit and the balance can be paid into our UK Bank Account. The details of which will be provided at the appropriate time.

We can accept payment of the balance by credit card on arrival but this will be subject to a £25 handling fee.

What to Bring

You should bring good walking shoes

Also bring shoes or sandals for walking in shallow waters (Sport sandals, crocs, waterproof trainers or similar – not flip flops) If you don’t have such then they are available to rent for 3TL per day.

Light (summery) clothes for walking in.

Shorts are acceptable in all areas light breathable walking trousers if you prefer.

A light waterproof / wind proof or shower proof jacket.

Warmer clothes (a fleece or two) for cooler evenings.