Turkey as a holiday destination

MikeL93

Me and my girlfriend are looking at holidays for us and our 1 year old for when we’ve got a week off booked at the beginning of October. Obviously due to the time of year we have to be more cautious about where we look at booking to ensure we get the nice weather.

Originally we were looking at the Canary Islands but the recent protests about tourists have put us off. After looking at different places we seem to be settling on Turkey.

The only issue is neither of us have been to Turkey before and I’m just a bit cautious about going due to probably misconceived opinions. My girlfriend however knows a few people who have been and all say it’s lovely.

Is Turkey an ideal holiday location for a young family with a toddler? We’re just looking at an all inclusive where we can chill out for a week and take our little boy in the pool. 

elsien

It’s like anywhere, it’s down to the  area and what type of tourist it attracts. You ismight be a bit more specific than just Turkey, to get opinions.

daveyjp

Don't worry about weather in early October.

All the southern European countries still have warm sunny days and the flights are shorter.  

35har1old

daveyjp said:

Don't worry about weather in early October.

All the southern European countries still have warm sunny days and the flights are shorter.  

Flight time roughly 4 to 4.5 hrs
 Canaries 4hrs
Time zone wise at the moment Turkey 2hrs ahead

cantbelieveit23

From experience of just one visit last Spring, I would say that your toddler will be welcomed everywhere.  I guess that you will be looking for a relatively low key beach resort rather than a party town.  As Elsien says, that is probably more important than the country you are visiting.  There are currently some political issues, but easily avoided especially on the coast and away from Istanbul.  Cyprus could be another option.  We go to Spain every October and considering you have a young child and won't want adult sunbathing weather, that would be fine too.  Just bear in mind that sea temperatures on the Atlantic beaches of Spain and Portugal are very cold, also in Andalusia the nearer you get to Gibraltar.

Pollycat

Going All Inclusive in Turkey for a week, you probably won't even notice that you're in Turkey.

I'd worry less about the country destination and concentrate on finding a AI hotel that suits your requirements.

NoodleDoodleMan

Where a one year old child is involved, I would suggest a shorter flight time of approximately 3 hours to Spain rather than a 5 hour haul to Turkey.

It's a long day for a toddler when you factor in the time spent getting to the airport ahead of flying followed by the time it takes to get through the arrival airport and transfers to the hotel.

The weather in the Costa del Sol is usually very acceptable in autumn.........there are several family friendly all inclusive hotels based on flights to Malaga.

thommo41

Been twice in the last 2 years, best holiday to date I think. Superb all inclusive - TUI Magic Life Belek. I would say that I do not really enjoy it being so hot, so my only gripe is one I should really only blame myself for - it's roasting! Kids can get grouchy if you do not keep them creamed up and in the shade as best as you can. I am so critical as a person, I have little to complain about, transfers and flights can be what they are but make up a small portion of your holiday time, you can soon forget the stresses there and relax. Food was really so much better than I expected, expensive you initially think (if you're me!) but so worth it.

pattycake

We’ve been to both Lanzarote and Tenerife this year.  I fact we going again to Lanza in two weeks.  We’ve not experienced any antagonism towards tourists so I wouldn’t let that aspect deter you from the Canaries.

Doshwaster

pattycake said:

We’ve been to both Lanzarote and Tenerife this year.  I fact we going again to Lanza in two weeks.  We’ve not experienced any antagonism towards tourists so I wouldn’t let that aspect deter you from the Canaries.

Same here. I was in Tenerife for Easter and will be in Lanzarote in July. There were a few protests in Tenerife outside hotels but that was about pay rises for the staff. Never seen any hostility towards tourists,.

One of the things I like about the Canaries is that it usually doesn't get too hot in summer unlike the eastern Med and is more of a year round destination.

I've been to the Turkish riviera twice (Bodrum and Marmaris) and they were OK but they do involve longer flights and transfers so not ideal with a young child. They've also had very high inflation and currency shifts recently so it isn't as cheap as it used to be.