turkey holiday or not?

FiscalFanny

Hi Phebe

I have been following this thread with interest as am in a similar situation, looking for hot (but not too hot) holiday in August for a family of 4.

I started with Turkey because I was going down the line of keeping out of the Eurozone to keep prices low.

We also thought we'd give AI a try as I am fed up of self catering in France, cooking to avoid extortionate eating out prices. However, like you we're not big eaters or drinkers but do like a good standard of food. I am still a little tarred by the AI "shove it in 'cos it's free" mentality but that is going on heresay and may be incorrect, but my idea of a lovely holiday is not over indulgent characters of any nationality but I do like the idea of the kids (11 & 6) eating buffet style so they can pick what they fancy and be happy!

Having spent HOURS on the net on weather sites and this lovely Forum (I love Martin ) I think I really must say I think Turkey will be too hot for us. I think the difference between parts of Turkey are overall pretty minimal - it seems to be damn hot or just super damn hot!:rotfl:

I think I will look at the Belearics, Portugal and the more northern Greek Islands maybe Bulgaria and Croatia with good enough hotels.

Have ruled out:-
Tunisia (again heat -stifling in June - but oh so fab beaches& cheap - shame)
Crete & Cyprus (again heat, although loved both in late October!)
Egypt (again heat and gippy tummies, brother's a fan but puts up with tummy troubles)
Canaries (part heat but part egg 'n' chips brigade)
Morocco (again heat)
Italy (soooo expensive although gorgeous)
France (need a break from more than 10 yrs in France)

I hope this helps and would be appreciative on anyone's views (not a hijack as I feel the OP will benefit from any responses)

Fanny

greenface

bit of a fussy fanny then

littlereddevil

Bulgaria should still be cheap and not overly hot although not my cup of tea. Food not exciting !

salt_and_pepper

Hi we went to the Asena village- cost just more than 3k last august half board, 2 weeks for 6 of us- spread over 2 rooms- kids were 18,17,11 and 8. Hisaronu is a very british resort. I wouldn't hire a car though- the Turks are bonkers. If you want to go out and about walk into the village to book excursions they pick you up, feed you and drop you off. We did 2 boat trips, the jeep safari, the mud baths and horse riding and the trips were really cheap- we did Spain the year before and found that really dear. Before we went the teenagers were moaning at me for booking Turkey but we all fell in love with it.

lexilex

I have been to Turkey twice, to two different resorts, in 07 and 08.

In 2007 we went to Alanya, which is in the Antalya region. We absoloutely loved it here. It's not a huge resort, but there's lot's to do, loads of nice restaurants and bars. We went at the beginning on July, and it cost around £250 each for two weeks. We spent about £1000 between us in the two weeks, that was eating out three times a day, doing four or five trips, and a bit of shopping. The resort is not far from Side which will probably be where we go on our next visit to Turkey, supposed to be lovely. Shop owners would ask you to come into their shops, but a simple 'No thank you' would do the trick, and most of them would have a laugh and a joke with you. Not once did I ever feel threatened, and this was our first holiday abroad alone.

In 2008 we went to Marmaris, which we did not really enjoy that much. We made the most of it, and I would not say it was a terrible holiday but I wouldn't recommend it to anybody. IMO it is very English, and tacky. There is nothing Turkish about the resort, it is totally geared towards tourists. I did feel threatened here, especially at the markets were shop owners would actually touch you to get you to come and look at their stalls, and did not understand the word no, and would get quite aggressive too. I just did not find the people as friendly.

Don't let this put you off Turkey as a whole though, it's just finding the right resort for you.

Regarding the weather, yes it's hot, but my boyfriend is very fair and moans about the heat here in Summer yet he deals with it in Turkey. In fact he's the one who wants to go back there this year when I want to try somewhere new. There's always a breeze on the beach, and I think in Marmaris the temperature dropped to around 27 on an evening.

Enjoy your holiday wherever you decide to go.

Ponkle22

Hmmmm, your kids not fussed about wild nightlife - sounds like my family -so......I would say to you...... Don't discount the Bodrum Penisula - for a family holiday - just travel to the Bodrum Penisular. You've already looked at Trip Advisor - well check out the same site by searching the areas Akyarlar and Karaincir - they are about 20 mins from Turgutreis (or Turgutries). Turgutries is meant to be quiet and low key familiy holiday compared to other areas of Turkey but although I was happy to pop in an out of there I would not have liked to have stayed there (though plenty of people adore it). Was not my cup of tea (but better than other areas of Turkey). However, the two areas above are great for families, is VERY Turkish and the meals out are incredibly cheap. You can google villas and apartments to rent in those areas too.

However, the above recommendations are really for people who are happy for the English to be in a minority on holiday. (Mostly Turks with a smattering of English/German/Dutch). With the exception of Turgutries where a lot of English stay.

As mentioned above Olu Deniz photos are doctored, but have not been for there many years.

Ponkle22

Lexilex: are you SURE you want to go to Side? Having read about your dislike for Marmaris I am surprised you want to visit there. It is lovely but many years ago was almost too busy then. The choice of two beaches is lovely but now I understand it is not a nice place to visit - too busy, too chaotic etc - but maybe I'm misinformed.

lexilex

Ponkle22 wrote: »

Lexilex: are you SURE you want to go to Side? Having read about your dislike for Marmaris I am surprised you want to visit there. It is lovely but many years ago was almost too busy then. The choice of two beaches is lovely but now I understand it is not a nice place to visit - too busy, too chaotic etc - but maybe I'm misinformed.

To be perfectly honest I know nothing about Side whatsoever, just that several of our friends have said it's really nice and that we should try it so you could be right. I obviously would research if we were to go, at the minute I am trying to find somewhere for this summers holidays outside of Turkey for a change.

cubegame

Ponkle22 wrote: »

Lexilex: are you SURE you want to go to Side? Having read about your dislike for Marmaris I am surprised you want to visit there. It is lovely but many years ago was almost too busy then. The choice of two beaches is lovely but now I understand it is not a nice place to visit - too busy, too chaotic etc - but maybe I'm misinformed.

Agreed, Side is very busy. It's also quite isolated from things so if you fancy seeing the sights you'll end up doing a lot of driving. We enjoyed our holiday there though although found prices very very high for Turkey but I think that is general trend everywhere.

FiscalFanny

greenface wrote: »

bit of a fussy fanny then

Absolutely! :rotfl:Just ask my husband....

However, if people don't do their research as to what they will like and not like at a given country/resort/hotel then they cannot complain if they had a bad time.

I ain't spending thousands to decant my family and not have a well planned and great time.

Fanny