Turkey (again)

[charlieblue]

Another Turkey novice here seeking advice. We ideally want to spend 3 nights in Istabul (have been before but only for a day from a cruise) followed by a week in one of the resorts. No idea if this can be done but before exploring further want to work out which resort will be best.

We need:

Good hotel with swimming pool for DS and decent facilities for us
Interesting town for wandering in, not loads of clubs and pubs but nice restaurants, shops etc
some interesting day trips to historical type things

Will these requirements I reckon DC and DH will be happy - a spa for me is extra bonus.

What's the best area for this - have focussed down on Fethiye/Olu Deniz and also the Antalya area but really not sure.

Advice very welcome!

Firstly, if it is at all convenient for you Pegasus airlines www.flypgs.com/en does reasonably priced flights to Istanbul plus really cheap internal flights all over Turkey. (These can be bought separately so perfect for stopovers).

You may enjoy Kalkan. Your list of requirements are exactly why my parents bought an apartment there.Fantastic choice of restaurants, there and a really excellent base to see all the sites of Ancient Lycia plus Kas town, Patara beach, Kaputas beach and Fethiye/Olu Deniz. They own on the Patara Prince Resort. The boutique hotel part is overpriced but the privately owned apartments are good value and have access to all the facilities: 3 seaview pools, direct sea access, tennis courts, free children's club and a really good spa/beauticians/health centre.

Anyway, let me know if you want any further recommendations.. have a whole list of hotels I've compiled for when I can start to tour the country more with older dcs.

Thanks for that - will investigate! also good to know about airlines as I sense we'll end up arranging this ourselves.

Easyjet fly into Istanbul from both Luton and Gatwick. To get from Istanbul to down south there is always the long distance bus, this takes from 10 hours + but is cheaper than the plane and it's nice to see the country. Buses are very comfortable and give out cold drinks during the journey[free]and the fare is approx £20 one way. Akyaka is a small Turkish seaside resort, no fast food or noisy bars and within easy reach of day trips and is 1 hour from Dalaman airport.

If you wanted a package Anatoliansky do a few days in Istanbul and then onto a seaside resort.