It depends on what deals are available at the time of booking. It also depends on personal circumstances for example if you are travelling as a family with kids and what your budget is. Personally I love self catering in Turkey, that way you can suit yourself where you eat and try many of the lovely restaurants.

There has been a few debates before on all inclusive in Turkey. Some people think you are missing out and are a bit restricted. However, because you are all inclusive doesnt mean you have to be in your hotel/complex 24/7. I can understand people with young kids (maybe teenagers too) that opt for all inclusive. On the other hand we have been half board before in Turkey and had lovely food.

Really I have tried all different options in Turkey, enjoyed them all , but personally self catering is my first preference and having a fridge is a bonus to keep the drinks cold! Depends what suits you best though.

Big decisions!!

I suppose you need to look to your budget really. Some prefer SC and eating out all the time. Others like the relaxed atmosphere of going HB or AI everything paid up-front and then nothing to worry about money-wise. Your spending money is then truely for leisure and not just to feed you. If you are a young couple going for a week and want to live it up I would go SC and use your money in bars and restaurants, Ichmeler seems to get excellent reports for this type of holiday. As family of 4 for a fortnight I like to know everthing is paid and I can use all my spends on days out, shopping, sight seeing etc so go AI.

Research your resorts and accommodations properly as from what I read on here some places seem a lot more expensive than others for eating out and sundries. If you go AI some of the hotels can be islolated such as in Lara Beach as they offer the holidaymaker what they want on-site, but the AI's in Olu Deniz and Side are either in the towns or close to the town.

Doe

You will get loads of different answers to this. My personal preference is SC as you can then go out and eat where and when you want. We have two young children and we still wouldn't choose AI as they love going out to eat and it is very cheap for children to eat out. You can still find very cheap places to eat but it has go more expensive over the last few years. Unless you choose a very expensive AI and pay lots for your holiday you run the risk of haveing mediocre, bland food so although it can work out less expensive overall to do AI you will ony get what you pay for i.e. cheap AI holiday meann cheap quality food.

Obviously it all depends onthe type of holiday you want and what budget you are on.

I agree with Kedi (as usual!)

Its a personal choice... but I could think of nothing worse than staying in a 5* All Inclusive Hotel, surrounded by the same old, same old every day!

A client who is renting our apartment this Summer, stayed in a 5* AI last year, in Turkey (It was his first time in Turkey) and he said he could have been staying anywhere in the world. This year he wants to get out and explore with his family.

The food is outstanding in the majority of places. You can pay as much as you want, depending on the ambience/view etc... to as little as you want (eating in typical Turkish restaurants - where the food is outstanding!). And yes, you will find it more expensive than the last time you visited.

Turkey is such an amazing place, venture out... Bodrum pennisula has over 200 coves and bays. A wonderful little resort is Gumusuluk. Its a little pricey, but you get what you pay for - beautiful views and scrumptious fish (its well known for its fish restuarants), well worth an evening or afternoon there.

Personally, we prefer Self Catering. You can always have your breakfast in (the food is so cheap to buy in Turkey) and eat out everynight. You'd miss out on the genuine friendliness and banter that you can get in different places if you go AI.

So... its Self Catering all the way for us!

Good luck whatever you choose

Self catering in my preference. We go to Icmeler, and there are so many restraunts all charging roughly the same prices, although there are so very cheap ones aswell, where you can get a lovely 3 course meal with a glass on wine lager or soft drink for around £8 each. The local drinks are also pretty reasonable aswell, and what you have to think is if you were to go all inclusive you would only get local drinks and they usually charge alot more than bars and restraunts if you wanted branded stuff. So I think unless you get a fantastic AI deal, then self catering can often work out just as cheap and give you more freedom to enjoy the many bars and restraunts on offer.

Steve

Kadi, we definitely have the same holiday preferences

I think we may stay in Gumusluk this year, it is so lovely there.

I have been HB,AI and went to Icmeler last October B&B for the first time.
I will only go back there B&B as the quality of the meals were excellent and reasonable.I am going HB to Gumbet in May.I only chose HB because I got a good deal and dont know the area but we will out a lot in the local restauarants.
Some AIs advertised as 5 star are nearer 2-3 star especially the ones sold by Goldtrail,and you can spend a lot of time eating out anyway!The better AIs are very popular with East European guests which may or may not be very enjoyable.
To see what it cost us last year for food and drink look on the "Monies" thread on here.
When you decide on a hotel do your research before you book.

If you can afford it go S/C or B&B as there's so many lovely cafe/restaurants to choose from, hubby and I had a fantastic time eating out in different places, it's still relatively cheap too

No choice for me. It doesn't matter if its Turkey, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal I would always choose self catering over All Inclusive. Maybe thats because I'm part of a young(ish!) couple with no kids to think about but why restrict yourself to eating at the same place every day when you could choose from a variety of wonderful restaurants in the resort whilst helping the local businesses at the same time.

I couldn't have put it better myself. We have two children but we still don't want to be restricted and kids are well looked after and catered for in Turkish restaurants.

Hi, No choice but self catering for me either, love the idea of trying different restaurants on a night. We tend to eat breakfast in the apartment, and lunch if we are staying around the pool in the day time, then get ready and go out and try all the different foods in the restaurants on a night, kids love picking the places to go to. Love to go to the supermarket and get lots of different meats and cheeses, etc to try.

We've had several AI holidays in Turkey over the past few years. We have always stayed at 4-5* properties and the food and drink selections have been great at all of them. I wouldn't hesitate to go back to any of the hotels, but I have heard horror stories about some 3* AI properties. If you want to go AI, I would say go for the best rated you can afford, you generally get what you pay for.

Despite going AI, we often eat out when in Turkey and have had some fab meals, don't think we've ever had a disappointing meal. We went to Fethiye at Christmas on SC and really enjoyed fending for ourselves, though it was more difficult out of season when many places were closed for the winter!

We bought a property in Turkey last year so they'll be no more AI holidays there for us, but when we go this year, we are looking forward to eating out more and doing (a little) more self-catering

It really is horses for courses in Turkey, if you choose the right accommodation SC, BB, HB or AI can work - just make sure you really check out the reviews properly.

Cazz

this is very intresting it seems that sc is becoming the way forward again

Well, we're going back to Turkey in June - this time for our silver wedding, and despite other folks saying that, as it's a special occasion, we should go AI, we'll be opting for self catering again. There are so many great places to eat out very reasonably and as I love a bit of variety, that suits me to a T! We've got two teenagers and they both enjoy trying different places too. We love Icmeler and although we've been several times, we still haven't tried all the places which have been recommended to us, so we plan to do that this time.

Blondie,Have you tried the Keram restaurant on the canal? Its a really special place especially if you book the tables on the balcony.

I have, JayTrip - it's a lovely place, very atmospheric and absolutely delicious, authentic Turkish food. Such a friendly, warm welcome from the family who own it too - and the cheesecake is to die for! We'll definitely be going back in June!

Save some of that fabulous cheesecake for me.