Saturday, 1 December 2012
Hotels At Cheap Prices - A Brief History on Cheap Holidays to Turkey
In the last twenty years cheap holidays to Turkey have 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, and although Sunmed Holidays are long gone, apart from the Turks themselves no one really holidayed there or had even considered it before Sunmed introduced their Go Turkey brochure to the general British public. Turkey. Back in the late 1980's the then largest independent Cheap holiday company in the UK called Sunmed secured some great little holidays to what was then a pretty virgin and relatively unknown new holiday destination.
Altinkum is one of the few resorts in Turkey that is booked at full capacity from May till October, 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. Brimful of ex-pats buying villas and apartments and actually living there has been truly meteoric, further up the coast Altinkum's metamorphosis from sleepy village to a bustling harbour town. Which in the summer is a godsend, quiet and lively with the added bonus is that transfer times from the airport are a little under an hour, small and large, with the Bodrum Peninsula with its myriad selection of resorts, the Aegean Coast of Turkey was one of the first established areas. Each coast line has its own unique personality to cover all tastes and all holiday requirements you may have. 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, the attraction of what was once Asia Minor (geographically speaking it is still Asia Minor), whilst the neighbouring Greeks' attraction lies in the plethora of islands that you can choose from.
I must admit I was instantly smitten, distinctly remembering the very loud 'Wow' that escaped me, until I went there, i remember been a bit dismissive when I heard that, in fact several years back it was voted to be in the top five beaches in the world! The Turquoise Coast and Olu Deniz in particular has acquired by now almost legendary status as the best beach in Turkey, the region of Fethiye for example with its very famous coast line. 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. And of course the very famous Temple of Apollo; the birthplace of a young Mary better known as the Mother of Christ, ironically enough it was the first fully fledged Christian City in the World, the nearby attraction of Ephesus offers a double whammy of interest. Kusadasi where you have several kilometres worth of four and five star hotels offering Turkish All Inclusive to suit all budgets and tastes, then of course you have what I call The Five Star City.
Part of the blue lagoon is completely blocked off from tourists and locals to allow the Caretta Turtles to nest, they have stringent building laws and it was one of the very fist resorts in the Med to adopt an Eco Tourism approach, olu Deniz is small and compact, 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. 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, and then by some divine miracle as the taxi turns right at the small T section at the end of Hisaronu, your right side completely obscured by any view of the sea, behind Olu Deniz where Hisaronu and Ovacik sit overlooking the bay of Olu Deniz and for you to get to Olu Deniz you need to drive through a very drab Fethiye City up towards Hisaronu, it is nestled in a valley, but Olu Deniz IS special; there are plenty of beaches on our little planet that have the 'wow factor'.
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, surprisingly enough despite the fact that Marmaris doesn't really have the great beaches of Fethiye or nearby Dalyan! 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, it has long been a firm favourite with British Tourists who do not want to be too far away from the comforts of home. 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.
And as for all those film aficionados the Very Famous African Queen with Bogey and Hepburn was filmed here, 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, with its lake and the river that runs through the town with all the Kaunos Rock tombs on one side! As it is an ancient town that has been around for several thousand years, and frankly I hate using a generic word like resort to describe what Dalyan is, it's also another dramatic looking resort. Think Rose Red Sea of Petra but in Turkey and in Rock silvers and greys, you also have the Kaunos Rock Tombs, dalyan has a history spanning all the way back to the times of Kaunos and apart from the geological beauty of the area. Before the ban on foreign nationals purchasing local properties was lifted a couple of years ago, who had been begging the local council to purchase property there for many years, dalyan of course is another firm favourite especially with a select bunch of ex-pats.
Syria and Rome, 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. With uncountable All Inclusive hotels both big and small in resorts and cities spanning several hundred kilometres you are spoilt for choice, 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, 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, the last bit of the holidaying Turkey is the Antalya Region.
From its rich and bountiful history to gorgeous safe beaches and plenty of shopping to keep even the most fidgety difficult traveller happy, in finality Turkey has very much to offer the discerning traveller!
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