help us find paradise on the Turkish coast
 

We're looking for the most pristine and idyllic spots on the Turkish coast for our honeymoon. Please offer any and all suggestions on towns, accomodations, restaurants, etc. Also, how would one hop to Santorini or Crete from the Turkish coast: ferry? plane? Thanks!

Damon <BR> <BR>It really depends on what you are looking for as resorts vary enormously – many of the resorts on the South East Aegean coast have been totally spoiled and are now built up and cater for the mass European package holiday market i.e. Marmaris, Kusadasi, Alanya etc. But Kusadasi is a good base if you wish to see the ruins at Ephesus. Bodrum still retains some charm but is a bit of a party town. <BR> <BR>A beautiful part of the coast is the corner between Fetihye and Antalya (nearest airport being Dalaman) where there are a number of smaller quieter resorts that still have a genuine Turkish feel and hospitality. Travelling around the area is very easy and cheap on the comprehensive bus network. Olu Deniz is picture postcard stuff but the villages behind are getting spoiled, Goceck is an upmarket yachting centre. My favourites are the small former Greek villages of Kalkan and Kas. Both have very good restaurants – far too many for singular recommendations particularly Kalkan. I don’t know if you are looking for a beach but both resorts lack these (which is why the mass market tourists have stayed away) and instead have swimming platforms carved into the mountainsides that tumble down into the sea. However, Patara beach is only a short dolmus (Turkish Minibus) ride away – this is a 17km pristine beach with no development on it as it is one of the last remaining nesting sites for loggerhead turtles – together with having an ancient city buried in the sand dunes at the western edge of the beach. Between the resorts is Kapatas Beach sited at the end of a gorge. For a honeymoon I would recommend the Villa Mahal or the Kalkan Regency. There are a couple of websites: www.kalkan.org.tr & www.kalkanturkey.com <BR> <BR>Getting to Greece from Turkey is not as easy as you might think-and airfares are very high for the relatively short distances involved. I think you may have to travel to Istanbul to Santorini via Athens. There are ferry services from the Turkish mainland to the neighbouring islands but I wouldn’t think any would go to Santorini. Try a search on the web for the routes. <BR>

Another possibility would be to take a ferry from the Turkish coast to Rhodes firstly, spending a couple of days there, heading then to Santorini. <BR> <BR>Rhodes, although a touristic destination, is lovely, with many wonderful beaches, and a totally different scenario, if compared to Turkey and Santorini. There's the walled city, and also the Acropolis of Lindos, and many wonderful beaches. <BR> <BR>Surlok

I would nominate Kalkan as an aboslutely wonderful holiday destination. Very unspoilt and very romantic. At night all the quayside is lit by little restaurants bathed in candlelight and the winding little cobbled streets are a pleasure to visit. Extremely friendly unpush locals. Only downside no beach to speak off but the nearest beaches are just a bus ride away. You can spend all day for about &pound;7.50 on a boat that takes you out and stops in little bays for you to have a swim with lunch included. It is definitely worth a visit.

I stayed in Daylan last year, and it is a little piece of heaven. No beach, but we had a car and went exploring on our own. Very beautiful and quiet beaches close by. We took the all day boat trip, and it was about $5.00 US and included a nice lunch! It is in the same areas as Kalkan and Kas. We checked out Fethiye also. Larger and not nearly as nice.We stayed at the Holiday Cablis. Nice simple rooms, lovely pool, and a pool bar. The bartender is a really nice guy, as is everyone else there.No big fancy resorts on Daylan, for that, try Kas(SP?). Have fun!!

You're getting great advice here. I agree with David 100%. Kas and Kalkan are amazing. My secret Turkish spot is Olimpos, near Antalya. This is where Turkish people vacation. From here you can hike to see the mythic Chimaera. <BR><BR>Stay away from Marmaris, Kusadasi and Oludeniz. Unfortunately I believed the hype and ended up at Oludeniz for a night -- found hundreds of British tourists drinking British beer, eating British food, listening to loud British music -- what a waste. It was truly awful.<BR><BR>The best way to get from Turkey to Greece (or vice-versa) is by ferry. The two easiest routes are Kusadasi-Samos and Marmaris-Rhodes. From Samos or Rhodes you could island hop (via ferry) to Santorini/Crete.<BR><BR>Enjoy Turkey!<BR><BR>PW

As a local my favorite spot is bodrum, it may be filled up with locals and stuffed with people in summer time.<BR>it is recognised as the lovers paradise by the locals. Since you are gooing there for a honey moon that caould be a good bet. and lots of discos around. If you dont like noise go to simena or kale which is off the beaten track.<BR><BR>&yacute;f youa re going to bodrum my favourite hotel is antique theater ( great view great location worth around of 100 $ per double , it was once.<BR>have anicce trip.<BR>hakan<BR>www.turkishpeople.com<BR><BR>

hi again ,<BR>forgot to mention that from almost all town around the agean cost of turkey you can easly move to the greek islands especailly from bodrum marmaris there are hidro ferries.<BR>by again<BR>hakan<BR>www.turkishpeople.com<BR>

To us there are two places really look like paradise in the med. coast; Kalkan and Olympos. Idylic and secluded... Only danger is if you are not merried for sure one of you will propose to another after staying only one night there and after watvhing the sunset...<BR><BR>Great escapes... There are few hotels which are favorite to us and they dont have more than 15 rooms...

I completely agree with Olimpos. That was just gorgeous! :)<BR><BR>Though I guess since there are mainly basic tree houses available for accomodation, it may not be the most idyllic honeymoon spot. I still have memories of waking up to shoo the chickens away that woke me up at 5am.<BR><BR>Though those wild tortoises were something.

Hakan, how long would it take to ferry from Santorini to Turkish Coast? Are leaving in 3 weeks and still have not sorted it out - fly or ferry? Help! Thanks!!!

Wish I had seen these posts before we had gone to Turkey. We too, were looking for great beaches. The best we found was Patera, unspoiled and just perfect waves and beautiful warm water.

The village there is not much and not sure about the accommodations. We stayed in a small B &amp; B. One thing I would caution, find a place with either air or mosquito nets over the bed.

Hope you find your idyllic spot and tell us about it. Happy honeymoon!

We were in Turkey and did a 4 day gulet from Antalya to Kas. We met a honeymoon couple who chartered an entire gulet for themselves for their honeymoon. Anyway, one of the places we stopped was a village called Kale. Very near Olimpos. I think you could only get there by water and there was an ancient fortress on top of the town. Beautiful terraced homes and gardens and ofcourse carpet shops! I only saw one pension. Didn't look very luxe, but with the town looking as it did who cares!

Wondering if anyone has been to Istanbul and the beaches in August. We are looking to spend a couple days in Istanbul, then head to a sandy beach for a restful few days. I've heard it can get really hot at the more Southern spots.

Can anyone recommend sandy beaches along the northern Aegean coast or Sea of Marmara. Looking for something relaxing--and have no idea how far these beaches are from Istanbul or how one travels there.

Many thanks.

anyone??

there are plenty of paradise's in Turkey.... Every paradise has its own speciality. Also paradise changes the shape according to the budget. Luxury paradise, budget paradise, naturally paradise etc... :-))

Amyg; how far you want to go and how long ?

i recommend you to join canoeing trips in turkey. I think head office of that company is in patara St nicholas travel. You may find cheaper accomodation on that web site. Patara is cheaper but little bit quiet. here is the website www.stnicholastravel.org

On the off chance that brownarch didn't seek out Fodors and register here just to advertise this canoeing site (and I DO mean off chance), I strongly suspect, brownarch, that in the three and a half years since damon made his post, he's pretty much firmed up his plans for that trip!