Firstly, welcome to Holidaytruth, you will find this a very helpful website. Dalyan I can't help you with but Kalkan is not a place for people with walking difficulties, the beach is shingle and people use swimming platforms, having said that, Patara Beach is a short dolmus ride away and that is sheer paradise. Icmeler is a resort that I would suggest you have a look at, also look at Olu Deniz, Hisaronu/Ovacik(these are a dolmus ride from Olu Deniz).

Les

Dalyan has a lovely beach via the dolmus or a boat. The town is very accesible. Water sports not sure what is avaialable. Dalyan is not as built up or as pressured as other parts of Turkey. Plenty to do and see, one small water park but do not expect wall to wall discos and niteclubs.

hi , off to dalyan in a few weekes just woundering where the small waterpark is thanks

Sorry can't help with the waterpark bit.

As you mention beaches that may be the 1 downside with Dalyan. Iztuzu Beach is gorgeous but around 40 minutes away by boat or 20 by dolmus. The latter end is free of the daytrippers from other resorts so much quiter. You can almost have it to yourselves at times. As compensation you do have the river and nearby Koycegiz Lake with its mudbaths. As said the place is not really a party animal town but there is still plenty of night life and lots of top quality restaurants. There is the usual good selection of day trips both on land and sea.

Villas and apartment complexes seem to be shooting up all the time so should be OK there - try the owners direct kind of sites. Several small to middling supermarkets for all your catering needs.

Mozzies were a concern for me when I went in May but used a strong high-deet spray and lemon handwash and suffered hardly at all.

I have holidayed at both resorts and my preference is Kalkan.

However, that's because I think the place is beyond beautiful, it's old, full of flowers, cobbled streets and character. It's a dining out paradise. However, it is steep and many of the villas are quite a strenuous trek or taxi rides away so that might make a difference to your party. The town beach is shingle but there are a few beach clubs which are great and mean you get the access to the sea but without the sand!

Dalyan I did like the hotel I've stayed in because it was situated on the riverside and the setting was just gorgeous. I didn't, however, have a hugely great opinion of the town itself. Lacking in character I thought. But for chilled out days just perfect. I had no problem with mozzies (I was there first week of July) and had only brought some cheap repellant from my local Netto (anticipating that I would make do with that for the first day then buy some local stuff but I didn't need to). The evening I didn't put any repellent on - returning from a beach barbecue at 9pm, I did get bitten. It's really no worse than other resorts.

Thank you all for your advice.

What a great site this is where one can ask a vague question and get sensible & helpful replies in return!

Well, back to the browsing, but I am grateful for your replies, thank you.

Kelpao

Bradjohn said the location of the beach at Dalyan may be the downside - I wouldn't say so at all - when we had a holiday there, going on a wonderful boat trip to the beach was a highlight! It's such a lovely journey in beautiful surroundings, then when you get there the beach is just perfect!
There was a thread last week where a member put a link to their photos of Dalyan, have a look for that - the photos are great and really help you to get a feel of the place.
Having said all that Kalkan is another place we'd love to go to but haven't quite got there yet. There are so many nice resorts in Turkey, something to suit everyone!

All of the resorts I have been to so far in Turkey have been so different to each other - that's part of the problem. You can have somewhere of a similar size but it have a totally different vibe.

I visited Datca whilst on my gulet holiday the other week and that's different again - very Greek and didn't even see any other brits aside from us few.

I think you should just find out which resorts have what you do want and what you definitely don't want and go from there. The vibe in Olu is different to Kalkan, which again is different to Gocek which again is different to Dalyan.

The solution is to go to all of them.

The small water park is about 40 mins away by Dolmus, I forget the name of the town, the Dolmus goes right past it and will pick you up afterwords. It has about six slides and a few pools.Ask at ant tourist office or your accomodation.

40 mins?? so does anyone know which direction. im guessing the sultan one in calis ? grand ucel in Ovacik or the other direction towards marmaris? familar with most of turkey, but havent been to dalyan for 15 years

Alfie

I did only say maybe! You are quite right, it is gorgeous and I loved being there. My reasoning for the slight reservation was that for some the beach is everything and I did wonder if the beauty of the trip might lessem a wee bit if you were going by boat or bus each day. Nothing more sinister than that, honest guv!

You go through the new road tunnel to get there if that helps. Mind you our Dolmus went the old road over the mountain to avoid paying the toll for the tunnel

Hi there

Having visited both places, for me and my family Dalyan is by far the best. We found Kalkan to be too steep, although we're only in our 40's, there was no such thing as a leisurely after dinner stroll. It was just too exhausting with all the steep cobbled streets. We were there in August 2007, and the temperature and humidity was very high. We also had a problem with persistant electricity cuts (due to forest fires) and often had to go come in on an evening and light a candle. Half way through our holiday we had had enough, and made arrangements to travel to our favourite place, Dalyan, and were lucky enough to get booked into some lovely apartments we had stayed in before where our holiday was back on track.

Kalkan was very beautiful and did have some lovely restaurants, but it wasnt for us. Dalyan has everything we need for a fantastic holiday and very stunning scenery - the best. We have 2 boys aged 12 and 15 and they also love it.

Hope this helps you make a decision.