Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Tue Jun 19, 2012 9:14 pm  

Just come back from a gorgeous little town in Turkey called Kalkan, on the South-West coast. A nice simple lazy 2 weeks (my wife's medical conditions mean our touring days are done!).

Been to a few places in Turkey - fell in love many years ago with the dramatic green landscape, the incredible warmth of the people, the faultless weather, the epic history, the amazing food and of course the decent prices - but Kalkan beats them all hands down.

The focus, Kalkan Old Town, is just stunning. A maze of narrow streets, whitewashed buildings and a mix of shops, restaurants, cafes and bars to satisfy all tastes - except, crucially, the 18-30 crowd. None of the hassle you get in other towns and resorts, often just a 'hello'. We were lucky enough to stay only a few minutes from the centre - otherwise the steep slopes and steps that dominate this very hilly town would have been unmanageable for the wife.

Very few hotels, the majority of accommodation consists of villas or apartments for rent. We had a top floor veranda terrace on our duplex apartment, and never saw more than one other party by the pool in the day. Private villas are very common and reasonable if you can fill them.

The food is simply outstanding. I've never had a bad meal in Turkey, even when just getting a takeaway for a quite night, and Kalkan raised the bar further. The majority of restaurants are simply outstanding - on a par with anything I've had anywhere else. The staff are fantastic - we had some family including a 4 year-old with us for the first week (thankfully they went home & left the place to us!), and the workers thought nothing of entertaining him for a few hours - magic tricks, games, all sorts. Even several days after he'd gone home with his parents workers would ask how he was, by name: "Where is Lewis? How is he?"

And the restaurant scene is something to behold. Around a dozen buildings have rooftop restaurants - when you first walk out it's like another world - islands of light and activity above street level. The quality, again, is outstanding. There are tiny backstreet restaurants, seafront restaurants, roof restaurants - the choice is unbelievable and we only barely got round the ones we had picked beforehand, there were dozens left to choose from.

Nearby Patara Beach is 12km of unspoilt beauty with the fascinating site of ancient Xanthos a few hundred metres away. The usual boat trips are a good day out.

But what makes Turkey is the people - warm, friendly and incredibly welcoming. None of the tourist weariness or resentment you often come across longer-established tourist Spain and Greece - the Turks value your business and remember to reward repeat business, and as a few workers explained to us, "I must give better service than the competition so you will come back to us". Wonderful people.

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Wed Jun 20, 2012 6:05 am  

Cronus wrote:

Just come back from a gorgeous little town in Turkey called Kalkan, on the South-West coast. A nice simple lazy 2 weeks (my wife's medical conditions mean our touring days are done!).

Sounds idyllic, just like Greece used to be 30-something years ago.

My eldest daughter has returned from Rhodes very disappointed with the old town, from what she says its in the grip of a severe recession now and there aren't too many businesses surviving, I went there when I was her age in 1979 and loved the place so its very sad to hear her say those things - conversely she loved the day trip that she took to Turkey (not sure where the ferry took them to) and her and the youngest daughter are now looking at there for next years holiday - sounds like Kalkan would be my idea of paradise rather than theirs though

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Wed Jun 20, 2012 7:05 am  

Yes, Turkey is great. Sadly, there is some tourist weariness compared with 20+ years ago when it was a delight (but still very little in the smaller towns). Mention of Patara brings back memories. We like Dalyan - athough a long way from a beach. When we first visited it was about 4 buildings on the waterfront, now its a small, sprading town. It is in a conservation area though and so has development has not gone out of control yet. Yes, people love little kids ot at least boys. Buy them presents, etc.

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:36 am  

Wilde 3 wrote: Looking for somewhere to go in October (middle 2 weeks) - beach holiday, all inclusive. Want good weather so thinking Cape Verde or Dominican - is Egypt hot enough? Cape Verde and go Marlin fishing

Wilde 3 wrote: Looking for somewhere to go in October (middle 2 weeks) - beach holiday, all inclusive. Want good weather so thinking Cape Verde or Dominican - is Egypt hot enough? Cape Verde and go Marlin fishing

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:46 am  

I've been to Turkey four times, the first time being in the early 80's, to Bodrum.
Back then, it was a bit like Dally describes Dalyan.
I went back to Bodrum in the late 90's (for a wedding) and, apart from the castle being the same, half the town had changed beyond recognition.
The beaten earth around the harbour had become concrete with rows of palm trees, the little old breadshop that had been just a hatch in a wall through which you bought lovely fresh bread was gone, the little stony streets had become tarmac and the small shops replaced by shiny plate glass jewellers' emporia, and McDonald's and KFC had arrived, big style.

On my first visit, a waiter was puzzled by the tip (I had paid too much, he said), another refused payment for tea because tea was for conversation, not money, and another knocked some cigara borek off the bill because he didn't think they were very good.
On my second visit, the people were still just as honest and friendly but I don't think you'd get quite the same hospitality.

I'd guess that, away from the tourist hotspots, the old ethos prevails even now.

If anyone is thinking of going to Turkey, I recommend Cappadocia ... just Google it ... it's incredible.
We once spent a week traversing the South Coast (Crusader castles, Roman ruins, blue sky and bluer sea) as far as Tarsus and then up through the mountains to Cappadocia, then across the old silk route Westwards across the Anatolian plain and back down to the coast for a week of relaxation at Side (pronounced Seeday).
Fantastic.

Up at Istanbul it is different again, here the big city ethos is much more prevalent and there is so much to see and do that you need at least a couple of weeks just to scratch the surface. We followed that with a week at Kilyos on the Black Sea not far from Istanbul in terms of distance but a century away in terms of the total lack of hustle or bustle (there were chickens in the street).

I want to go again, to the Eastern part next time.

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:47 am  

rover49 wrote:

Dom Rep is hot, as is Egypt. The good thing about Egypt is the lack of humidity, which can be a pain in the Caribbean.

Never been to Cape Verde, but a friend has and commented that its lovely, but windy and as its a 'new' destination the infrastructure is a bit lacking.

Yeah we did Dom Rep last October for 2 weeks, dont think the temperature went lower than 35 so we were happy with that. Just didnt fancy it 2 years on the trot

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Wed Jun 20, 2012 3:12 pm  

Dally wrote:

Yes, Turkey is great. Sadly, there is some tourist weariness compared with 20+ years ago when it was a delight (but still very little in the smaller towns). Mention of Patara brings back memories. We like Dalyan - athough a long way from a beach. When we first visited it was about 4 buildings on the waterfront, now its a small, sprading town. It is in a conservation area though and so has development has not gone out of control yet. Yes, people love little kids ot at least boys. Buy them presents, etc.

Went to Marmaris around 15 yrs ago and enjoyed it, went to Alanya about 12 yrs ago and asked the rep to fly us back home after 4 days due to the no stop hassle from the Turks, never been back since. Has this improved since ?

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Wed Jun 20, 2012 4:55 pm  

rover49 wrote:

Went to Marmaris around 15 yrs ago and enjoyed it, went to Alanya about 12 yrs ago and asked the rep to fly us back home after 4 days due to the no stop hassle from the Turks, never been back since. Has this improved since ?

Never been to Marmaris, it always read as a bit too commercial for me, like a cheaper version of Cannes.
But what do I know, I didn't actually get there, so can't offer an opinion.

Alanya, so I hear, is the one to avoid nowadays, popular with mid-range Russian criminals with bodyguards and prostitutes.
But again, I only spent one night there back in the 1980's (it was OK then) so can't speak from recent experience.

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Wed Jun 20, 2012 6:41 pm  

Me and the wife love Turkey , May have to give Kalkan a go. We've rented a villa again in Torba for this year again but not doing the ancient sites this year as we did most of them last year, It's definitely feet up time this one.
Last time I went to Patara beach was about 10 years ago and there was nothing on it then but miles of empty beach.
I would love to try a week on a Gulet sailing around the coast.

Re: I'm thinking of going to/ has anyone ever been to (Holid : Wed Jun 20, 2012 7:09 pm  

McLaren_Field wrote:

Sounds idyllic, just like Greece used to be 30-something years ago.

My eldest daughter has returned from Rhodes very disappointed with the old town, from what she says its in the grip of a severe recession now and there aren't too many businesses surviving, I went there when I was her age in 1979 and loved the place so its very sad to hear her say those things - conversely she loved the day trip that she took to Turkey (not sure where the ferry took them to) and her and the youngest daughter are now looking at there for next years holiday - sounds like Kalkan would be my idea of paradise rather than theirs though

We had our honeymoon in Lindos a couple of years ago and things were starting to go down hill then ( With Rhodes ). Buses and ferries cancelled , Plenty of protests in Rhodes town and places closing down .
We still had a great holiday though , I found the south and the west coast of the island were dotted with little coves and beached with no-one on them. The drive on the west coast is one of the most idyllic I've ever drove on.