Greek fishermen bring their catch to shore at the end of the day. Their craggy faces are etched by long days at sea, toiling under the same sun that rose and set for eons over their ancestors…

Long ago, these Greek Islands and Turkish Ports were the landing places for an endless tide of invaders from far off lands. From ancient Phoenicia, Persia, the Peloponnesus, Imperial Rome and Constantinople they came. Followed by waves of European Crusader knights, Genoan mariners, Venetian merchants and turbanned Turkish troops of the Ottoman Empire. They stormed ashore to conquer, only to be vanquished by time and absorbed into the dry volcanic earth. All that remains are their stone ruins, ghostly shapes wrapped in myth and mystery. Today the Cyclades are an inviting playground for pleasure seekers aboard Star Clipper.

White-washed churches point tilted Greek crosses heavenward in skies of brilliant blue, while sun worshippers bask on the beaches under Helios' golden gaze. Twisting cobblestone alleyways lead to tavernas where octopus salad and ouzo are in order. Ancient Minoan palaces and medieval fortresses whisper tales of pagan rites and knightly rituals. In hidden coves, Star Clipper finds harbours where pristine sands and warm crystalline waters beckon you to explore underwater grottos while beachgoers laze away under sun-blessed skies; yet another dream-like day in the mythic, magical Cyclades.

In the Eastern Mediterranean, between the bays of Fethiye and Antalya, the deeply indented Lycian coast is an area of stunning natural beauty, of pine covered mountains laced by tumbling streams spilling down to thyme and lavender blanketed headlands, dramatic bays and sun-washed beaches. Along these shores, on almost every hilltop or hidden in the countryside by twining grapevines, you will find mysterious sarcophagi and necropolis. These poignant cities of the dead are the last remnants of an ancient democratic civilization that pre-dated the Greeks. The Lycian League was a federation of 23 city states whose parliament, the first in the world, was located in the port of Patara . The League was the originator of representative government, a system of ideals that has been admired and adopted by almost all republican governments existing today, including the framers of the U.S. Constitution. Star Flyer will sail from Monaco to Rhodes to explore Greece and Turkey's Lycian Coast on alternating 7-night itineraries before heading back to the Western Mediterranean.