Daily Telegraph: A good value guide to Turkey - 10th February 2012
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daily telegraph"A good value guide to Turkey" - A report in the Daily Telegraph:
Holidays to the Turkish coast are as competitively-priced as ever this year. Sophie Butler has some advice on how to make your money go even further .

By Sophie Butler - 10 Feb 2012

With the pound strong against the lira, Turkey looks like a contender for best-value summer holiday this year. A good choice of direct flights from regional airports in Britain to the main hubs of Bodrum, Dalaman and Antalya makes it easy to get to, and the large amount of accommodation available means prices should remain competitive, especially outside the summer peak.

olu deniz turkey If you’re on a tight budget, a cheap sun-and-sand package with a big tour operator can be tempting, but be wary of overdeveloped resorts such as Marmaris.

Instead, consider the smaller harbour towns and villages around Akyaka, the protected areas of Dalyan, or inland areas such as the Kaya Valley. For scenic cruising, head for the Lycian coastline (depart from Fethiye or Göcek), which is rich in archaeological sites, islands and beautiful anchorages. Prices in Turkey for holidays including watersports, kayaking, hiking and mountain biking are also good value compared with elsewhere in the Mediterranean.

How to make savings

It’s perfectly possible to find packages in decent family-run hotels for less than £300 if you’re not tied into the summer peak. For example, one of the biggest beach-holiday companies, Olympic Holidays, offers the three-star Bagevleri Hotel in Gumbet (near Bodrum) for £299 per person, departing in late May, including flights and transfers.

For boutique-style accommodation, prices aren’t quite so low, but you can still save by travelling outside July and August. The specialist operator Cachet Travel says the eight-room Mandarin hotel near Fethiye, a stylish seafront property catering for adults only, costs £725 half board per person for a May week, based on two sharing, including flights to Dalaman and private transfers. This compares with £983 for the same seven-night package in August.

Families looking for value in the school holidays can save by travelling over the Whitsun half term, which this year falls in the first week of June.mediteran First Choice offers seven nights at the all-inclusive 4Sun Holiday Village Turkey in Sarigerme, near Dalaman, from £2,902 for a family of four departing from Gatwick on June 3, compared with £3,172 to depart on August 5, a saving of £270. Prices include flights and transfers.

The last two weeks of August (from 25) also throw up savings for families. A seven-night stay at the three-bedroom Villa Ayse, with sea views and private waterfront, booked through Exclusive Escapes, costs from £1,484 per person, based on six sharing, including return flight, transfers and seven days’ car hire. This compares with £1,634 per person for departures a week earlier, an overall saving of £900.

Other strategies for saving money include staying a little way inland. Mountains and villages such as Islamlar and the Kaya Valley are more competitively priced and, while you won’t have sea views or private waterfronts, you can still find the same standards of accommodation and private pools. Operators say that in July, a week’s stay for four in a high-quality rural villa, a 20-minute drive from the sea, will typically cost around £900 per person (including flights, transfers and car hire) compared with £1,100 per person for a similar property overlooking the bay of Kalkan.

Gulet holidays on beautiful motoryachts continue to be in high demand (watch out for rogue websites offering “bargain” holidays, as high standards of maintenance and crew necessarily come at a price). Note that food and drink usually cost extra, but should be charged at cost (around £30-35 per daypatara beach per person based on eight sharing, excluding alcohol). For full board, expect to pay from £1,080 to £1,700 for a fortnight’s gulet cruise in June for two people sharing a cabin. The beauty of these holidays is that there’s nothing to pay once you’re aboard (except, perhaps for port charges if you visit any Greek islands).

Which port you depart from makes little difference to price, although you can keep transfer costs low by choosing one near an airport. You can, however, save money by doing without air-conditioning. The gulet specialist Daydreams Travel offers four “budget” options among its 30-strong fleet. The cheapest weekly boat rentals start at £3,850 in May, rising to £4,995 for an eight-berth boat, with captain and two crew, and no-air conditioning (prices go up to around £6,500 for this facility). These prices compare with £7,500-£8,500 for a mid-range boat and £9,500 for a luxurious gulet sleeping up to 12.

If you’re prepared to take the slight risk of poor weather, October sees prices drop. Exclusive Escapes says that seven nights’ full board on Aleyna, a fully crewed gulet, costs £950 per person departing on October 13 (including flights and transfers), compared to £1,750 in August.

Beach clubs are also a great option; although they seem expensive, activities and most meals are included once you arrive. Expect to pay around £650 per person per week, departing on May 7, rising to £1,350 in mid-August with Neilson. The cheapest school-holiday departures are in early July and September.

Car hire has become cheaper in Turkey but prices are still high compared with those in other holiday destinations. Expect to pay £200 a week for the smallest two-door car in peak season. Reduce your costs by staying in or near resorts such as Dalyan or Kaya, where you can walk to restaurants, or use the efficient and cheap system of public buses (dolmus) to get to nearby beaches.

Tour operators and agents

Bigger companies

Thomas Cook (0844 412 5970; thomascook.com) includes Thomas Cook Style (affordable mid-range hotels and self-catering).

Thomson (0871 230 2555; thomson.co.uk) has an all-inclusive brand, First Choice (0871 200 4455; firstchoice.co.uk), which highlights more than 50 resort-style hotels for summer 2012.

Monarch Holidays (0871 423 8568; monarch.co.uk) offers value hotel and self-catering holidays around its flight hubs of Dalaman, Bodrum and Antalya.

Olympic Holidays (0844 576 2386; olympicholidays.com) has added 30 hotels to its existing portfolio of nearly 400 properties in resorts ranging from Turgutreis and Gumbet on the Bodrum peninsula, along the Mediterranean coast, through Marmaris, Içmeler, Fethiye and Olu Deniz and to the east of Antalya through Belek to Side.
 
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