Turkey! An amazing destination for cheap holidays

Back in the late 1980’s the then biggest cheap holiday company in the UK called Sunmed secured some great little holidays to what was then a pretty fresh and relatively unknown new holiday destination. Turkey. Apart from the locals themselves no one really holidayed there or had even considered it before Sunmed introduced their Go Turkey brochure to the general British public, and although Sunmed Holidays are long gone, in the last twenty years Turkey has developed and flourished into a fully fledged holiday destination contender and positioned itself into the top three holiday destinations not only for the Brits but also the rest of Europe.

Whilst the neighbouring Greeks’ attraction lies in the multitude of islands that you can choose from, the attraction of what was once Asia Minor (geographically speaking it is still Asia Minor), Turkey’s attraction lies in it’s sheer size stretching from Asia all the way down to the borders of Syria and therefore fringing North Africa. Each coast line has its own unique personality to cover all tastes and all holiday requirements you may have. The Aegean Coast of Turkey was one of the first established areas, with the Bodrum Peninsula with its myriad selection of resorts, small and large, quiet and lively with the added bonus is that transfer times from the airport are a little under an hour, which in the summer is a godsend. Further up the coast Altinkum’s metamorphosis from sleepy village to a bustling harbour town, brimful of ex-pats buying villas and apartments and actually living there has been truly meteoric. I remember begging my clients in the nineties to holiday in Altinkum and give it a chance and now within the last twelve years alone, Altinkum is one of the few resorts in Turkey that is booked at full capacity from May till October. Then of course you have what I call The Five Star City, Kusadasi where you have several kilometres worth of four and five star hotels offering Turkish All Inclusive to suit all budgets and tastes. The nearby attraction of Ephesus offers a double whammy of interest; ironically enough it was the first fully fledged Christian City in the World, the birthplace of a young Mary better known as the Mother of Christ, and of course the very famous Temple of Apollo. All this bit of Turkey may sound quite amazing but as you travel down the coast of Turkey and past the Bodrum Peninsula past the Aegean Seas and into the Mediterranean Sea you will get to see plenty more sights and sounds that definitely have that ‘Wow’ factor you feel when in Ephesus but for different reasons. The region of Fethiye for example with its very famous coast line, the Turquoise Coast and Olu Deniz in particular has acquired by now almost legendary status as the best beach in Turkey. In fact several years back it was voted to be in the top five beaches in the world, I remember been a bit dismissive when I heard that, until I went there, distinctly remembering the very loud ‘Wow’ that escaped me, I must admit I was instantly smitten! There are plenty of beaches on our little planet that have the ‘wow factor’, but Olu Deniz IS special; it is nestled in a valley, behind Olu Deniz where Hisaronu and Ovacik sit overlooking the bay of Olu Deniz and for you to get to your holiday in Olu Deniz you need to drive through a very drab Fethiye City up towards Hisaronu, your right side completely obscured by any view of the sea, and then by some divine miracle as the taxi turns right at the small T section at the end of Hisaronu, you are instantly faced with this astonishing slash of turquoise that devours the horizon before you and you simply cannot see where the sea and the sky meet nor care to be frank. Barring the obvious natural beauty of Olu Deniz the other things that make it practically perfect is the lack of gargantuan Hotels offering All inclusive and therefore downgrading the area, Olu Deniz is small and compact, they have stringent building laws and it was one of the very fist resorts in the Med to adopt an Eco Tourism approach, part of the blue lagoon is completely blocked off from tourists and locals to allow the Caretta Caretta Turtles to nest.


Further along the coast and further away from the wonders of Fethiye we come across the leviathan resort of Marmaris with its little neighbour Icmeler. It has long been a firm favourite with British Tourists who do not want to be too far away from the comforts of home, for instance McDonalds is a very familiar point firmly ensconced in Marmaris and the bright lights and loud nightlife of the harbour end of Marmaris calls its nightly siren song to all those who still have boogie in their hearts. Surprisingly enough despite the fact that Marmaris doesn’t really have the great beaches of Fethiye or nearby Dalyan, it still has much to offer in terms of things to do for those whose idea of anathema is staying on the beach and reading to be akin to them having pins inserted under their nails!

Dalyan of course is another firm favourite especially with a select bunch of ex-pats, who had been begging the local council to purchase property there for many years, before the ban on foreign nationals purchasing local properties was lifted a couple of years ago. Dalyan has a history spanning all the way back to the times of Kaunos and apart from the geological beauty of the area, you also have the Kaunos Rock Tombs, think Rose Red Sea of Petra but in Turkey and in Rock silvers and greys. It’s also another dramatic looking resort, and frankly I hate using a generic word like resort to describe what Dalyan is, as it is an ancient town that has been around for several thousand years. With its lake and the river that runs through the town with all the Kaunos Rock tombs on one side, the water taxis can cut through the river that runs into the Med and deposit you on virgin white beaches that rarely see any souls, and as for all those film aficionados the Very Famous African Queen with Bogey and Hepburn was filmed here!

The last bit of the destination tour of holidays to Turkey is the Antalya Region, which was first found by the German Tourists before the Brits started to creep in five or so years ago and it is also the only part of Turkey that is open twelve months of the year, enjoying on average more sunshine a year than the rest of Turkey and extraordinarily mild winters it is an inexpensive winter getaway and a more than reasonably priced summer destination, with uncountable All Inclusive hotels both big and small in resorts and cities spanning several hundred kilometres you are spoilt for choice. Side is quite amazing and still incorporates in the city centre the old Roman Market walls and arches into its current architectural setting that bellies the incredible history of this thriving port that was once the epicentre of all trade in the thriving centre of the Middle Eastern trade Routes between Egypt, Syria and Rome.

In finality holidays to Turkey has very much to offer the discerning traveller, from its rich and bountiful history to gorgeous safe beaches and plenty of shopping to keep even the most fidgety difficult traveller happy!