hi Hannah
it may be difficult to answer your question as there are many parts of Turkey that fit that description but they may be too quiet or out of the way for you but you could try Turunc,Akyaka and Fhetiye is a working "normal " turkish town that has bazaar and restaurants . All of these places are fine and i m sure that other members can point you in other directions but for me Icmeler is everything that you say .It can be whatever you want it to be thats the beauty of it.So good luck with your search and hope you find somewhere you want to go to
mick

One way is to book a Gulet Cruise, The ones we have been didn't have many english people. We've had Turkish, German, Belgium, Dutch couples. Each time there as been only one other english couple out of the 12. We have always had a good time and got on with everyone.

Cirali is a very small rural village located about 1- 1.5 hours drive from Antalya and boasts a beautiful secluded 4 km beach, the ruins of Olympos, the flames of the Chimeara, as well as a protected area by the WWF for the nesting of the Caretta sea turtles.

Protected by the WWF, Cirali is one of the last remaining villages on the med. coast that has not been taken over by mass tourism. Daily trips to surrounding areas like Antalya, Termessos, fish restaurants of Ulupinar, Kekova ( sunken city of Simena ), Demre, Myra, Arykanda etc. Also daily boat trips are nice to the surrounding islands.

Cirali only has a few quiet bars playing turkish folk music and restaurants on the beach and in the village center. No discos, or big hotels 5 star all inclusive hotels...just nice liitle family run hotels and pansiyons.

Cirali is it not one of those places catering to package tour holidays as it is more so a real rural village that caters to not only Europeans, North Americans as well as turkish families.

I think it is best described in an article from the travel.timesonline.co.uk from last year..for 20 of the best beach destinations..

4 CIRALI, TURKEY

Far from the package-holiday hordes, Turkey has dozens of pristine beaches, among the finest of which is Cirali, a long stretch of fine white sand at the mouth of a towering canyon. The beach, an easy walk from the ruined city of Olympos, is a protected nesting ground for loggerhead turtles. After dark, lights on the shore are extinguished so as not to confuse the hatching babies. On a moonless night, the view of the Milky Way is phenomenal.

You'll find no banana boats or disco bars at Cirali, just a perfect two-mile beach lapped by clear blue water, and walking trails that will take you into the drama of the surrounding coastal mountains.

my photos of the Cirali / Olympos area..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/canmom/sets/72157602793492234/

A couple of places along the way from Antalya I recommend are Ucagiz ( Kalekoy ), Patara and Kaya koyu near Fethiye. But the areas ( villages ) of Cirali, Patara, and Kaya Koyu are much smaller in comparision to the other larger more lively resort towns..

But you will not find any of these areas with all-inclusive..thats is the beauty of them..once the big hotels get in its changes the local area..Unfortunately mass tourism has changed the faces of so many beautiful areas along the coast with the build up of so many resorts.

...or you could always set up camp in the mountains... doubt if you will meet many english guys up there...maybe a few guerillas though!

Hisaronu, orhaniye, selimiye..this is where the turks go on holiday. Many lovely pensions/guest houses and only a few brits who want to escape the crowds.

C.B. better say... NOT Hisaronu nr. Olu Deniz (they may get a bit of a shock if they book there)..WAKI

Try Datca,almost an island and about an hour away from Marmaris over the mountains. None of the big package tours go there just Sunsail about 10 miles away and a few small places that take the odd Simply Turkey type customer. It is a small harbour town set in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Even in high season you can find an empty beach to share with a few ducks and goats. In the summer months many Turks from the cities go there to their holiday homes and it is most definately a Turkish holiday resort. At the end of the peninsula is the ancient city of Knidos. It has not been developed and there are rarely more than a handful of people wandering round the vast site, costing only 5 lira to enter. Datca is a prime spot for wind and kite surfing and in addition to the Sunsail club there are two other clubs. The mountains are fantastic for walking and mountain biking. It is also a photographer and painters dream. The long mountainous but beautiful journey from Dalaman has in the past put many off but now the road has been greatly improved and takes just over 2 hours from Dalaman. You can also reach it by ferry from Bodrum, journey time 2 hours. Do try it - the ancient philosopher Strabon said 'Those who God wanted to live long lives he sent to Datca'. It is certainly a magical place ranking 3rd in the world for air and water purity. I wrote a thread a while back listing some hotels. It is best to go independently and if anyone wants phone numbers for transfer companies etc I'll gladly give them.

selimiye and bosborun (spelling sorry) are lovely and we also love akyaka. have a look at this website, we having been going for a few years and only see a small handful of brits even in the summer mths, its in a conservation area so theres no high rise hotels etc and no usual package tours except anatolian skys. its about 1 hr from dalaman airport

http://www.turkuaz-guide.net/gokova.html

here here............

still havent decided where to go in september, as want to get away from it all.
especially brits, beer swilling, loud lot, as work with a loud lot just outside of london, and want R&R and piece and quiet.........

not animated pools and club resort hotels, and cant find at the moment!!!!!!

HELP

Well finding nemo there are plenty of ideas above. You will do better avoiding package tours and 'do it yourself'. It's easliy done and you may well find it cheaper. There are plenty of small pensions and boutique hotels in Turkey to suit all pockets.

Near to Bodrum there are several places where more Turkish people go: Ortakent, Gumusluk, Torba, Turkbuku etc. these are smaller resorts, much more laid back and in my opinion far nicer than the typical holiday resorts. The problem with trying to get away from the British is that it is more difficult to find accomodation because these are the places British travel companies don't do packages to but if you have time to sort it all out for yourself you will find somewhere nice..

You could always have a look at Holiday Letttings, Holiday Lets, Owners Abroad etc and find a private apartment or villa, you will definitely get peace and quiet then.

I agree with Chelsea Boy - Hisaronu Koy is very quiet and very Turkish. Unspoilt by tourism but still with loads of character. A great centre to explore the Datca and Bozburun penninsulas.
It is not set up for mass tourism so is completely different from the touyrist centres. Small friendly restaurants where the old men play cards, backgammon or drink tea. All very laid back. Small villages that seem locked in a time warp - life in the slow lane. Very undiscovered - no loud, noisy tourists. The locals are friendly and the scenery is breath taking.
Prices are a whole lot cheaper also - eating out is very, very affordable and the quality very good.
As Chelsea Boy says the area is very popular with Turkish people. On a Sunday there are many Marmaris based Turks out for a day at the beach.
I find it quite amusing seeing people from the shops and business in Marmaris, whom you normally see in suits or overalls, strutting their stuff on the beach in swim suits!
A gentle sea breeze off the sea during the summer keeps the temperature more bearable than the enclosed heat bowl of Marmaris.
It is why we bought our villa here. Close enough to pop back to Marmaris if need be but well out of it all to chill by the pool and unwind.
There are some rental villas in the area (including ours!) - look on Chelsea Boy's Marmaris Yellow Pages web site.
If you enjoy just chilling but with the odd trip back to civilisation then this is the place for you.
I can't recommend it enough. I don't think you can say you have truly been to Turkey unless you experience a true Turkish environment like these small villages.
Even if you just rent a car and do a day trip - get out there. There is so much to see.

I tried to book a hotel last year in turkey...............gulp

what a nightmare.........
i didnt get a response to emails, and when i telephoned and run up big bill, i couldnt speak any turkish!!!!!

so gave that up as bad idea!!!!

If you want to go to Datca I don't mind helping. I know several hotels/pensions where the staff speak English and one where the owner's brother's partner is English and I can give you a UK number and e mail address and she will deal with it for you along with the transfers. Datca is frequented by wealthy Turks and so most things including hotels are a little more expensive than some of the big resorts but it's still reasonable and of course you don't have the expensive euro to contend with. However in return you get peace and quiet in the most beautiful location and you will hear very few English voices while you are there. I first went there 15 years ago and it still remains one of my two favourite places in the world.

Not many brits in Kars, Van, Erzerum,Isparta,Trabzon to name a few. You will be away from it all when you get there:

nice one chelsea boy m8 ,i forgot about Selimye went there last year on carols "surf and turf" and thouroughly enjoyed it ,my mrs absolutely fell in love with the place so when the kids have left the nest guess where were going?

I have found its better to use an travel agent, rather than contacting the hotel yourself, their prices are slo cheaper. I have used http://www.otbeach.com and I heard travel republic is good. If you search through these forums you will get some other contacts

That's great if it works for you. I found exactly the opposite when finding hotels in France recently, the best prices were when I contacted the hotels directly. The one we eventually went for threw in free breakfasts and the price was less than through an agent. With the Turkish ones if you are going out of high season you'll probably be able to negotiate a discount if you deal with the hotel directly. Many things in Turkey are negotiable. The agents must take a commission somewhere along the line.

Try having a look at Exclusive Escapes web site. There hotels are mainly in out of the way places.

You can always ring their offices and they will have someone who knows each place intimately.

That should give you a start.

11 weeks & 6 days to my 20th holiday in Turkey.