Mediterranean Turkey Family Holidays & Breaks

Head to the resort town of Marmaris, a thriving tourist hub. Lying in a sheltered bay, it has a seafront promenade that runs the length of the town, lined with hotels, restaurants and clubs (and locals touting for business). There’s a luxurious marina, an extensive bazaar, and busy holiday villages nearby.  

Discover Dalyan, a pretty riverside village worth visiting for the amazing Lycian tombs carved into the cliff-face across the river, its quayside restaurants, its hot springs and mud baths, and – best of all for kids – its wooden boat trips to Iztuzu Beach, famous as a rare breeding ground for loggerhead turtles. It’s been a protected area since David Bellamy made international headlines opposing the building of a hotel complex on the site.

From Fethiye, take the full-day ‘12 Island’ boat-trip, stopping at various islands and bays and allowing plenty of time to swim – many of the double-decker boats even have a slide into the water, which is a real hit with kids!

Visit Olüdeniz, Turkey’s most famous beach, and one of its best, with stunning turquoise waters, a beautiful lagoon and lots of watersports. From here there are cheap taxi-boat trips to Butterfly Valley, where between June and September you can see unique Jersey tiger butterflies – otherwise, it’s an unspoilt beach with a tiny restaurant, wooden beach huts and a few hippies.

Seek out the number of ruined Lycian cities in this area – Pinara, Myra and Xanthos. Or, if the ancient sites are too exhausting a prospect for family holidays, this is a region of rocky inlets, turquoise seas and pretty harbourfront towns – an ideal way of exploring them is by gulët, traditional wooden yachts.

Marvel at the sunken city of Kekova, on a small island and preserved by salt-water after being partially submerged during successive earthquakes. Adults and older kids can canoe over parts of it, or you can dock in a boat and explore the remains of a church, shops, houses, staircases and more.

Hop from Kekova to the pretty, jasmine-scented seaside resort of Kas, relatively unspoilt and offering tranquil cafés, bars and guesthouses. This is one of Turkey’s best sites for diving, with courses for ages 13+ offered by the likes of Nautilus. As well as dramatic dive sites (including shipwrecks), there’s a wealth of sealife to encounter, from octopus to dolphins. Don't miss Kapitas Beach.  

Spend time in the provincial capital of Antalya, an elegant town with a seaside setting and a dramatic mountain backdrop. Its boulevards are lined with palm trees, and it is famous for its shops and parks. It is also a good base for exploring a number of classical sites: Termessos, Perge and Aspendos.

Venture further down the coast to the picturesque resort of Side, where ancient remains are interspersed among traditional village streets. In this region to the east of Antalya, the Mediterranean coast becomes considerably less developed, and the ambience becomes much more Middle Eastern.