This hilltop village, roughly 4 kilometres away from the world famous Olu Denez beach (very scenic but also wall to wall barbequing bodies) and 10 kilometres from the old fishing and market town of Fethiye, has recently developed into a self-contained and very lively mini resort, offering accommodation ranging from simple rooms in small Turkish run pensions through to the luxury of the really excellent Montana Pines Hotel (previous guests there have included the actress Greta Saccchi – unfortunately not when we were there, and ex Labour Government Minister Harriet Harman – unfortunately who was - the kids in her party giving a particularly impressive and toe curling embarrassingly impression of public school yobs).
Hisaronu itself is really little more than a cluster of central roadside shops, bars and restaurants, with local housing, facilities and tourist hotels set back from the strip and round the edges of the village and main roads. Many of the local shops are exactly what you would expect to find in tourist Turkey – selling fake designer watches, fake designer clothes (although there is a genuine Polo shop in the town and a couple of high class original boutiques selling Turkish designed ladies wear) and leather goods, some good, most awful. Having said that, if you are yourself selective, and seek out the good fakes - and not just the run of the mill fakes - there are some real bargains to had. I bought all my ‘Polo’ business shirts in the area up to three years ago and most are still going strong! Another tip – check sizes carefully – for some reason they all seem to be at least on size smaller than at home. It is also worth remembering that very many of the genuine designer clothes are manufactured in Turkey and the better quality ‘fakes’ may actually be slight seconds of the real article. I will leave you to make up your own mind on the morality of the fake market but when you can buy 10 pairs of ‘Calvin Klein’ boxers for £10 or a decent business shirt for £3 a time …..
Notice I used the £ sign. A useful tip here, and anywhere else in Turkey for that matter, is to trade as much as possible in £ rather than Turkish liras. Turkey has a frightening annual inflation rate and the locals are hungry for pounds – so take plenty of UK notes and maximise your bargaining power. Note also that I said ‘bargain’ – because like it or not that is what you will need to do in all but the ‘poshest’ shops (there you should politely enquire about discounts!). When you do bargain with the locals –and you will have to do this - try to come up with some unusual counter offers or remarks in response to their ‘over the top’ opening price quotes, and really do try to say something out of the ordinary. Remember they do this every day, day in and day out for the whole of the tourist season, so if you can come up with something fresh (and funny) in your replies they are likely to respond positively out of the sheer relief of hearing something other than bad Arthur Daley impersonations. Remember, bargaining is simply business, it is not personal. Don’t get rude or take offence. The best deals are made by being friendly. If you are offered tea by the shop keeper, take it, enjoy it but don’t feel obliged to buy – although they hope you will be.
Back to Hisaronu. Once a week there is a local market held on the Olu Deniz edge of town, with lots of stalls selling (you guessed it …..). Post bargaining prices can be lower than the shops in town but quality is also generally lower as well, although there are some good quality bargains to be had as well – check out some of the lacework offered by the old ladies – but watch out – they taught most of the stallholders how to negotiate! The market gets very busy and very, very hot so it is worth going early. The selling and banter from stallholders (who are not local townspeople) is also much more aggressive and women and younger teenage girls, in particular, may find the attention and comments that they receive intimidating at times.
Back to the town again. Foodwise, there is a pretty wide variety of restaurants to choose from, with a good choice of styles and menu, including Chinese, TexMex and Italian. My daughter still insists that the best Italian meal she has ever eaten was in Hisaronu. Most of the best restaurants have a selection of Turkish dishes on offer (no, I don’t just mean kebabs!) and these are often exceptional value. It is often worth eating slightly earlier (8.00 – 9.00 pm rather than later, 9.00 onwards) as the service is better. One night we were in The Piano Bar and my wife asked the waiter about local pide bread (which was not featured on the menu). Next thing we knew we saw him rush out of the bar and head off at a trot down the street. He reappeared shortly afterwards with a portion of pide which he proudly presented to my wife with the explanation that he had just nipped back home because his mother made the best pide in town and he wanted her to try it! (We were not charged for it.) The overall quality of the food is extremely high, beer is, of course, ultra cheap and the local wine is more than acceptable – especially the white. Beware some of the ‘house reds’.
There are a number of outlets in the village which sell a range of excursions and activity days. Many of these are the same or very similar to the trips offered by the holiday package companies and may be cheaper – although not necessarily better value. We tried :
White Water Rafting on the Dalaman River – brilliant, absolutely brilliant day out, included jumping off cliffs into the river and body surfing down rapids (outside the raft rather than in it). Sounds scary – and at times it was but guides also ultra safe, experienced and expert. The whole day was videoed for us, with the only bit missing being the sight of my wife screaming that she was divorcing me on the spot as we careered down the first water chute with her at the front of the raft. Cost of the video was about £10 and we received our copy within a week of our return to the UK.
Trip to Ephesus and Pamukkale (1 night 2 days) - unmissable visit for culture vultures to Ephesus, the site of one of the largest archaeological sites in the world, home of the temple of Artemis and one of the seven wonders of the world (I actually like the library better) and then on to Pamukkale, the naturally occurring Cotton Castle, created by thermal springs whose calcium salts have created a series of snow white cliffs, pools and basins. It is visible from 50 miles away but is getting over commercialised – although still worth seeing.
Jeep Safari (1 day) – tour of the local area, including visits to the Sakikent Gorge, Roman ruins at Tlos, mud bath and beach visit (great value at £20 per person).
Scuba Diving (1 day) off Fethiye – wife and daughter loved it – I got seasick!
Also available (but not tried) Tandem Paragliding from the top of the 6000 foot mountain above Hisaronu, landing on the beach at Olu Deniz up to 1 hour after take off (jump off?). Cost is in the region of £70 but this is one trip when it may not pay to seek out cut price alternatives. Claimed to be extremely safe but there was a fatality during our last holiday, due, it appears to an error made by the passenger not by the pilot or failure of any of the equipment.
Gulet Cruises, day trips and longer, day visits to Rhodes Town, Horse Riding plus the usual wind surfing, banana boat rides etc are all available.
Fethiye itself is worth a visit, or rather several. Catch a local dolmus (minivan taxi – great fun) from the centre of Hisaronu (30p fare) and stay on it for about thirty minutes whilst you are driven down from the mountain, and into the main shopping centre of Fethiye, with the harbour on your right hand side. Go into town in the evening, not during the day, especially during the main summer months, as temperatures down at sea level can be much higher than up in Hisaronu. Again, there is a good mix of shops (more designer fakes!), bars and restaurants – and it is worth exploring some of the harbour front eating places, although I have to say I found them relatively expensive, with noticeably poorer quality food.
Overall, we have been to the Hisaronu area twice, which, for us, is unusual and says something about the exceptional value which it can offer. Given the increasing popularity of the town and the numbers of tourists starting to pass though, it also says something about the friendliness of the place when we were recognised and warmly welcomed by several of the locals on our second trip. After all, we hadn’t really bought that many fake shirts the first time ……..
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Fantastic review, thanks, we've booked to go there next year but some of our friends were trying to put us off, saying it was dirty and there wasn't much to do. Your review has made up our mind not to cancel. You've covered everything I would need to know and not find in the brochures, including how to handle the sales pitches and down to earth reassurance on the abilities of the guides, which was a real concern because we're taking the kids. Great that you've named the best restaurants as well, most people come back from holiday and can't remember such detail. I might send a copy of your review to Thomas Cook and show them how they should describe the holiday, instead of the three line para I find in all their brochures, the sales reps don't know that much either. thanks again!
suki1964 08.05.2004 00:08
Great review. Having been to Hisaronu myself I doubt it very much if I could write a review that will match this. Well done. Btw I didnt get to eat Italian whilst I was there, but did have one of the best curries ever in 50.oC heat. The ice cold towels given at the end of the meal were a god send
davidbuttery 18.07.2001 03:07
An absolutely wonderful read - you've set yourself a high standard to live up to. Very, very good indeed.
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