Not too long ago, Kalkan was a tiny fishing village jutting out into the crystal-blue Mediterranean sea. Flash forward, it has become an incredible hub for tourists wishing to explore a more traditional Turkey - away from the large 5* all-inclusive hotels of other resorts (although there is a place for those too!).
The first thing I should mention about Kalkan is that it is incredibly hilly! Although this can play havoc with footwear (comfy flip-flops or sandals are a must!), the steep nature of the town lends itself to incredible views from almost everywhere. Restaurants, bars and hotels have thought about how to use space to the maximum and indulge in the beautiful views. When you walk into the main town there are lots of beautiful rooftop restaurants that are perfect for a meal when the sun goes down. There are also lots of restaurants by the harbour, so make sure that you venture far enough to explore those too - although it is tempting to stop! We enjoyed a meal in the Doy Doy and also Sherlock Holmes Restaurant Bar and Lounge (the cocktails here were incredible with dry ice and sweets!) It is worth mentioning that some restaurants were hard to get into and required you to book in advance. I heard some people mention that they had booked their tables months in advance to get the perfect view! We didn't do this and we never struggled with beautiful views and delicious food, so it is up to you. If you had a special occasion that you were celebrating it may be worth phoning ahead for peace of mind. We saw lots of birthdays celebrated while we were away and the staff were so brilliant at making it special.
We stayed in the Oasis Hotel, Kalkan and found it to be wonderful. The main thing that I will take away is the kindness of the staff, the relaxed nature of the hotel and generally just how brilliant they made us all feel. Because the hotel is small and friendly (I think there are around 30 rooms) it felt personal. The hotel is an 'adults only' however, children are allowed to visit the beautiful restaurant with their families in the evening. The staff at the hotel made a big fuss of children and wanted them to feel like royalty, the same way they treated all the adults. We ate in the hotel restaurant a few times and loved it. The food was incredibly tasty and served on gigantic plates. Over the course of the week I tried sea bass, chicken pasta and a halloumi salad (I would recommend all three!). With each meal we were offered a complimentary starter which allowed us to be more adventurous and try some more traditional Turkish cuisine. The hotel is situated on a different levels which again allows for perfect views. If you are thinking of staying at this hotel, it is worth noting that a few rooms have private small pools (which we made great use of!) and the few rooms on the top floor have rooftop plunge pools. The main swimming pool area was a great size for the number of people in the hotel, but having this extra space to disappear to and enjoy privately was brilliant and well worth it. I cannot recommend this hotel enough!
There is a taxi rank in the main part of Kalkan that can take you to lots of beautiful nearby places, such as Olu Deniz, Fethiye and Kas. The taxis can also take you around Kalkan if your accommodation is a hilly walk away. The taxis are a reasonable price. From Kalkan you can also get water taxis to some beautiful beach clubs across the bay. This was a lovely treat to get a change of scenery and have a boat ride. At the harbour, you board the boat to your chosen beach club and you are well looked after from that point on. The ride in the boat is free but when you reach the beach club be prepared to spend money on renting sunbeds, food and drinks. The beach clubs do not allow you to bring food and drink from the outside so you do have to buy everything while you are there. It was a lovely way to spend the day and allowed us to swim in the gorgeous sea. It is worth mentioning, that while they are called beach clubs, most do not have a sandy beach. The club we went to was set on the cliffs so you had stairs taking you in and out of the water, but it was stunning. Some of the beach clubs, like Zest, have swimming pools as well, so if you are travelling with young children it may be worth looking at one of those as the sea is quite deep. Much like the restaurants, if you have a certain destination in mind a lot of clubs required reservation. However, we did not reserve and just walked to the harbour and boarded whatever boat was available without much research. It paid off - but not having a plan is very out of character for me!
I would definitely go back and visit Kalkan again. Especially now that I know much more about it. It is definitely a holiday you can make your own. If you want to go to all of the Trip Advisor hot spots be sure to book in advance as they are popular. If you would rather stroll and see what happens you can easily do that too and it worked out for us.
Have you been to Kalkan? Would you like to go?
Dalaman is the nearest airport to Kalkan and takes between 1hr 30 minutes and 2 hrs. The currency in Turkey is the Turkish Lira, however they also accept Euros.
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