Kusadasi, Turkey. Kusadasi is one hour south of Izmir's Adnan Menderes International Airport. It is also 12 road miles southeast of Ephesus, perhaps the most interesting Roman city to be found anywhere. Its theater still hosts performing arts two millennia after construction. Its marble streets annually host more visitors than does any other archaeological site in Asia Minor. Excavation meanwhile brings more of the city to light each year. While adjacent Greek Ephesus and the Temple of Artemis date from the eleventh century BC, there is also a rare Seljuk fortress nearby dating from the eleventh century AD. Kusadasi itself has an extensive bazaar, fine seafood restaurants, and unprincipled rug merchants. Port of Entry.

Cifit Kalesi, Turkey. Twenty-one miles on the wind northwest of Kusadasi. Gibraltar-like. Ancient Myonneus off which a Roman flotilla in 190 BC defeated a Syrian force under Antiochus III, ending Syrian hegemony in Ionia. Settlement remains include parts of a Cyclopean wall from the 5th Century BC and a causeway now knee-deep joining the island to the mainland.

Sigacik, Turkey. Eleven miles on the wind north of Cifit Kalesi. A charming walled village with fort originally Genovese. Freya Stark's choice of place to live in Ionia. Port two thousand years earlier one of two serving ancient Teos, the latter a short hike south through olive groves. Teos was founded at the beginning of the first millennium BC by Greeks from Boeotia, sailors who derived a living from the sea. To the surprise of almost no one, they were also devotees of Dionysus, the god of wine. The Temple of Dionysus at Teos still stands in part, an unusual trapezoid in the Ionic order. There are in addition theater, odium, walls, and south harbor mooring blocks among other items of interest not to be missed. Fine dining on Sigacik's waterfront near a thirty-ton marble block abandoned by the ancients.

Kirkdilim Liman, Turkey. Thirteen miles off the wind southwest of Sigacik. A swimming and kayaking respite (the TGE carries two kayaks, a single and a double) in seawater so clear visibility beneath the surface is limited only by the shore.

Cesme, Turkey. A beach resort and thermal spa twenty-five miles on the wind northwest of Kirkdilim Liman. Here in 1770 an Ottoman fleet met a fiery end after suffering defeat at the hands of Catherine the Great's Count Orloff in the straits east of Chios. The Ottoman fleet withdrew to Cesme where it was followed by two Russian fire ships. All of the vessels in port burned to the waterline. There is a 14th Century Genovese castle later improved by the Ottomans, but, as 1770 bore witness, not improved enough. There is also an Ottoman caravanserai dating from just before the naval disaster. Port of Entry.

Chios Town, Greece. An easy eight nautical mile reach west of Cesme. Chios Town is a bustling commercial port with the charm of places disdaining tourism. Numerous fine tavernas behind the waterfront. Another 14th Century Genovese castle. Departure point for road excursions through medieval villages of southern Chios, including fortified Pyrgi, and to the 11th Century monastery at Nea Moni as well as the ghost village of Anavatos. Port of Entry with numerous daily flights to and from Athens.

Oinoussa, Greece. Nine miles on the wind north of Chios Town.  An island off the coast of Chios mostly owned by Greek tycoons who discourage tourists.  Like Skorpios but more wealthy.  Luxurious summer mansions.  Deserted beaches.  Wonderful seafood.

Marmaros, Greece. A striking town missed by tourism in a striking setting on the north shore of Chios eight miles across the wind from Oinoussa.  The city of Kardamila perches on green slopes just above Marmaros.  Together they represent yet another bastion of Greek wealth, and in turn they are together represented by a statue of a seaman on Marmaros beach.

Plomarion, Greece. A 19th Century town on the south shore of Lesbos 31 miles on the wind northeast of Marmaros.  This beach city's narrow byways and bougainvillea-ed walls are overhung by wooden Ottoman balconies in a marriage of cultural architecture.  An array of excellent tavernas and popular ouzerias.

Mitilini, Greece. Nineteen nautical miles off and on the wind from Plomarion.  The capital city of Lesbos set under a Byzantine castle built during the 6th Century reign of Justinian. Like Chios Town, Mitilini has the charm of a bustling port apparently not the least bit interested in tourists. But there is nevertheless lots to see. Several daily flights to and from Athens.  Port of Entry visited by Saint Paul while returning to Jerusalem from his third mission (to Corinth).

Dikili, Turkey. Fifteen nautical miles off the wind from Mitilini.   Port of Entry from which to visit Pergamum, one of the more majestic of archaeological sites in Turkey.  Founded no later than the eighth century BC, Pergamum rose to pre-eminence during the hundred and fifty years before its last king in 133 BC bequeathed all of western Anatolia to Rome.  Pergamum today covers a terraced hill rising to 1300', its spectacular theater, library rivaling that at Alexandria, temples, gymnasium, Asclepieum with Ionic columns, roads, and walls, all leaving unforgettable impressions.  In modern Bergama at the foot of Pergamum's hill there is in the archaeological museum a life-size statue in excellent repair of a young man.  Sculpted during the 7th or 6th century, it comes from ancient Pitane (following entry).  As for Dikili itself, it is mostly famous as Atarneus, the port at which Xerxes in 480 BC made rendezvous with his fleet en route to the invasion of Greece.  The fleet comprised 1,207 triremes, according to Herodotus, plus 3,000 triaconters, penteconters, and support vessels, a gathering appropriate to an army numbering, again according to Herodotus, one million seven hundred thousand.

Candarli, Turkey. Eighteen miles off the wind from Dikili.  Ancient Pitane, blocks from which were used by Venetians in the 14th century to build the impressive castle still dominating what today is mostly a beach town.  Excellent seafood restaurants behind the harbor.

Foca, Turkey. Twenty miles off the wind from Candarli, Foca is the site of ancient Phocaea, a maritime city state which founded offspring throughout the Mediterranean, including Marseilles. While little (check the petrol station on the edge of town) of the ancient city remains, there is a large Phrygian tomb five miles east of Foca thought to date from the time of Midas. Any gold found there, however, should not be touched. A 13th Century Genovese fortress set amid cobbled streets and red-tile roofs commands the port. Fine seafood restaurants on the waterfront.

Ildir, Turkey. Thirty-eight off-the-wind miles from Foca.  An attractive beach town overlying Aeolian Erythrae. Modern restaurants set within the ancient wall.

Dalyan Ildur, Turkey. Eight nautical miles off the wind from Ildir.  A fjord town with upscale facilities and charm.  Several exquisite restaurants.

Cesme, Turkey. The aforementioned beach resort and thermal spa six miles off the wind around Top Burnu. Forty minutes by toll road from Izmir's international airport.