For a refreshing outdoor experience, the northern Aegean village of Assos in Çanakkale has everything to offer, from small fishing boats to stone boarding houses on green hills and a historic harbor endowed with clean waters and beaches.To make your Assos vacation more tempting, the upcoming Gastro Kamp (Gastro Camp) held by Kolektif Chefs, an independent Istanbul-based gastronomy community, will create a joyful and educational environment for everyone at the Neverland Camping Site, a perfect way of saying goodbye to summer.From Sept. 24-25, the gastronomy camp will be enriched with gastro talks by senior chefs, demo sessions and presentations. For each course, all participants will cook together and taste their food while enjoying the last of the year's sunny days in Assos. Along with chefs, guest speakers will join the "Interdisciplinary Gastronomy" program discussing the relations between food and other disciplines.The camp will be all about food, as guests will be watching gastro-themed movies while having fun around a campfire in the evenings.Happening four times in a year, this two-day camping event will be the second edition following the first one that took place in mid-August. A number of workshops on specific subjects including the relation between gastronomy and cinema, the tasty history of traditional Anadolu cheeses, food styling, bread and "erişte" (a noodle dish) making, were some of the topics covered in the last edition.For this edition, seven chefs and culinary experts will be discussing different aspects of gastronomy for the guests. While Ahu Ulusoy will give a workshop on food videos and food styling, Chef Ozan Taş will deliver a demo on Anatolian pasta species. Another culinary workshop will be about the production of "Ezine" cheese native to the Çanakkale province by Şaban Evcil and H.Ö. Öztürkler. The camping will get even more colorful as guests will be learning mains sauces with Cenk Ülker. Similar to the previous edition, the program will also cover a demo on breadmaking and wheat production with Soner Göksu, and Anatolian cheeses with a specific focus on Gruyere cheese native to the eastern Kars province with Yalçın İnam.Speaking to Daily Sabah, Chef Ozan Taş said: "In the last few years, gastronomy has made a name for itself in the tourism industry and has taken its place among the top preferences of tourists, most notably for intellectual tourists with high affordability. The Gastro Camp is a product of gastronomy tourism and from its basic content the members intend to bring it to a festival level in upcoming periods."Gastronomy tourism has become a major and rapidly growing element of the tourism industry in recent years and more people care about what they eat along with what they see in a vacation, so similar camping activities will pull more tourists to certain regions. "The Kolektif Chefs are working to form new gastronomy societies and provide additional training," Taş said, mentioning two regular gastronomy events titled, "Chef Talks" and "Interdisciplinary Gastronomy." The chef said, "Our group comprises of chefs with different specialities. We are coming up with new ideas to improve Anatolian gastronomy and the camp is a step to achieve our targets."The last day for registration is Sept. 20 and participation is limited. The event is held on a quarterly basis with a new edition being featured each season. Participants arrive at the Neverland Camping Site by their own means. For further details for accommodation, go to the event site "Gastrokamp 2" on Facebook or visit the Kolektif Chefs page on Instagram.ASSOS

Assos, also called Behramkale, is an ancient city in Çanakkale packed with small hotels built of rock, numerous fishing boats, and a short, rocky shore. Founded between 1,000 and 900 B.C. by colonists from Lesbos, the village is where Aristotle once lived and is home to the remains of the Acropolis introducing a panoramic view of the Aegean.The name "Behramkale" is more often used for the center at the top and "Assos" refers to the harbor area. Assos has developed in recent years and surpasses the port area with its competitive hotel and accommodation prices. The area is a very popular tourist destination in summer with many hotels, camping sites and a beautiful shoreline.The peak season for travel is between June and mid-September. However, the weather from October to November may be still suitable for tourists and much less crowded. The Temple of Athena, situated on the top of the hill over the old town, is the major attraction of the village. Dating back to the 6th century B.C., it is the perfect place to watch the sunset.