This review is based on my own experience and my own thoughts about Marmaris Turkey. Marmaris is located 100km from Dalaman airport, it sits in a natural bay surrounded by breathtaking mountains.
We wanted to visit Marmaris for a number of reasons, an opportunity to experience local life, meet the local people, enjoy the fabulous cusine and relax in the blasting sun.
Turkey is an enormous, culturally rich and scenically diverse country and chooseing where abouts to go was hard but the last few years we have had heared so many good things about Marmaris and that's were we ended up going.
Airport There are four airport's in Turkey ( I think). One in Izmir, one in Antalya, one in Istanbul and the local airport is Dalaman International Airport, this is the one which we flew into. The airport is quite small, around about the same size as Humberside Airport and is located 100km from Marmais. It took us about 1 hour and 35 minutes by bus to our hotel which felt very long. Car-rental and Taxi's are also available from the airport.
Beaches. Well I'll be laying if I said Marmais have the best beaches around, because they don't. The sand is
a black and grey colour and is slightly gritty, so make sure you take a pair of beach shoes with you as you'll find it a little uncomforable walking on it. There are sunbeds and umbrellas which you can hire for a small fee.Some days the beach would be packed with only a few inches between the sunbeds. There are lots of little hut type things and bars to buy refreshments from.
On the other hand the sea was perfect,beautiful, fairly warm and clear.
Shopping. The streets are full of shops of all varieties.The shop owners may want to give you something to eat or drink when you enter their shop.we accepted a few times,this doen't mean you are expected to buy anything, they are just being curteous. Marmaris has some of the best shopping in Turkey and is haven for those craving top designer labels at low, low prices.
Food. There's a huge variety of restaurants in Marmaris, serving everything from traditional Turkish food, British food and even Indian food. The Netsel Marina is renowned for its fine dining.You have to try some of Turkey's delights, borek is filo pastry layered with cheese or mince or try the popular sigara borek, which are rolled pastries filled with cheese and deep fried. I think all the food in Marmaris was extremely good. There is enough variey to keep you interested for a couple of weeks, you will find some great street food and great retaurant food. All the food which I saw being prepared was maded with fresh food and was very clean. The kind of food which was found on the streets were Kebaps, Pizzas, an assortment of sandwiches and burgers. I have to see we saw alot of fish restaurants around Marmaris these were not cheap, especially compared to the street price of fish. Breakfast in Marmaris is very cheap costing only £1 for a full English breakfast (even with HP brown sauce). The only thing I found a problem was the people outside the restaurants, they literally tried to pull you inside to eat in their restaurants. There is even a Macdonalds.
Nightlife. Nightlife With its non-stop nightlife and varied cuisine, Marmaris is ideal for all of those night crawlers out there as there are hundreds of nightclub's, most of these can be found along the beachfront. The night clubs got very busy about 11- midnight, you had to push yourself through everyone just to get to the bar. The bars are very pleasent, you meet and talk to a lot of different people. You can always get a seat at a table or stand at the bar. Nightlife in Marmaris has a nice atmosphere which could be described as romantic. Talking of romance, you can take a lovely romantic walk on the beach.
One thing I can say about Marmaris is that you will never be bored as there are plenty of things to do. Here are just afew things which you can do while in Marmaris.
I think that the Horse Safaris are a perfect day out, you will ride through the beautiful countryside, take a lovely long swim in the natural pool then stop for a bite to eat, something like a chicken salad, chips and have a cool drink, after lunch you will take a stroll through the beautiful forests, then ride back to base. The Turkish horses are a bit smaller than the horses back home, I would call them ponys but they are very strong and very well trained. To go on a horse safari it would cost you around £25-£30 per person, the trip lasts around 4 hours.
You can also go on a diving tour, a bus will pick you up from your hotel and take you on a boat, you will have your own instructor and you will have dinner on the boat also.
Enough boat trip which you would enjoy is the BBQ by boat, this is a daily boat trip and you will visit the coves of Marmaris and the other marvellous bays for a swim in the rich blue sea.This boat trip starts in the morning till around 5.30pm. this will cost you around £10 per person but this price includes lunch, transportation, insurance and guides.
The Turkish Bath was quite an experience.You are supposed to be in the nude but I wear my swimsuit (chicken). Everything is made of marble; the walls, the seats, and the floor, the floor was also heated which was nice, made us nice and warm inside this luxuious Turkish bath. This is a real must. One thing you most do while in Marmaris in visit Turtle beach. Turtle beach is several kilometres long, with very hot brown sand, and very blue/green shallow water. There is a small cafe there and sun loungers and umbrellas are available.I think the best way to reach Tutle beach is by a boat ride, it only takes around 20 minute's from the pleasant and relaxed Dalyan town. The swamp bugs can be irritating and there's lots of bird life here, especially swallows. This is one place not to miss.
Transport. During the summer months ferries run daily between Rhodes and Marmaris. Taxis are very cheap in Marmaris, all the taxis have meters and I think about 10% tip is expected. A quick note for you, Taxis are called Taksi and the drivers drive abit mad so hard on tight. Taxis can only carry four passengers at one time. The local minibuses which are called Dolmush is a great and cheap way of sightseeing. You can catch them where ever you want and be dropped off where ever you want. There are plenty of companies in Marmais were you can hire a car. Please remember that they drive on the right. Our car was in very good condition and fully insured.
Useful Tips. As with many cities, the ideal way to explore Marmais is on foot, so take a nice comfty pair of shoes.
There are lots of public telephones around Marmaris if you wanted to phone home and they are easy to use, you will have to buy a phone card at one of the many shops around Marmaris.
They are lots of chemists in Marmaris with English speaking staff.
Only drink bottled water, never drink water out of the taps. My Thoughts Myself, I think Marmaris is a beautiful place to visit, with all the wondefully warm and welcoming people, all the shops offering everything from designer clothes to flea markets and not forgetting all kinds of water sports, you really can't go wrong with booking a hoilday in Marmaris. The weather was beautiful, the food was wondeful and the nightlife...................Let's just say that was romantic. I would recommend Marmaris is anybody, you will find it very interesting. Any comments and thoughts about my review are very welcome.
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Mar 5th, 2007
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