Turkey: Foca

Foca is a picture perfect fishing town on the Aegean coast – it’s small and not touristy and very authentic. The town was founded by ancient Greeks as Phocaea and then leased in Byzantine times to the Genoese who remained in control even during the Ottoman times (the remains of a Genoese fortress are still here). The town wraps around a cute harbor, filled with fishing boats, fishermen unrolling their nets, and fish restaurants touting the freshest catch imaginable.