Well there are lots of different places in Turkey and everyone will recommend somewhere different. I will star by telling you about the resorts around the Bodrum Peninsula as that is the area I know best.

You may like to have a look at Gumbet, it is the bigest resort in the area and can get quite lively in the height of sumer but as long as you avoid the main strip along Bar Street it wont be too rowdy. There is a decent beach there wth lots of watersports and there is also a waterpark nearby which the kids would love. Ther are a wide range of day trips available and you can also explore the rest of the Bodrum Peninsula by bus if you fancy going a bit further afield. It is just 10 minutes by bus to Bodrum where you can do a bit of sightseeing or shopping. The transfer time is less than an hour by coach (35 minutes by car), which is always a bonus if you have children, some resorts are 2 hours or more transfer on top of a 4 hour flight

There are also other smaller resorts - Bitez and Turgutreis are nice too, not as big as Gumbet but still with nice beaches and good accomodation. Yalikavak, Gumusluk, Torba etc are all lovely resorts but I think they may be a bit too quiet for you.

Let me know if you want to know anything else.

Kedi

resorts do vary a lot in turkey, so have a good read up on the boards. is a nice sandy beach important to you as a lot of beaches in turkey are shingly or very stoney, we found the beach very stoney in turgutreis last year, and you had to wear beach shoes as it was so painful to get in the sea, i wish we had known about this before i booked it, especially for my daughter as she wouldnt go in the sea.

ive never seen any trampolines in turkey doesnt mean to say there isnt any, might be i just havent noticed them. the resorts we like are icmeler and olu deniz.

icmeler has a good selection of bars, restaurants etc, nice views although the beach is slightly shingly, marmaris is about 10 mins away and has 2 water parks for the kids.

olu deniz is very scenic with a great lagoon which is sandy and you can either walk or get a free beach mini bus, the main olu beach is slightly shingly. this is not as big as icmeler but in my opinion better scenery, hisaronu is 5 mins up the road in a dolmus for more shops, bars etc. theres a hotel that allows you to use their small water park for a fee. olu deniz is nearer to dalaman airport about 36 miles away

i highly recommend lykia world, its wonderful for kids, 19 pools, a water park, great entertainment, kids club and the best food ive ever had in turkey. its quite dear but there are lots of options to book it, from packages to various diy. ive just booked to go in oct with monarch hotels as diy and got an excellent price. its about 1.5 miles outside olu deniz. have a look at this link and good luck with where ever you choose

http://www.lykiaworld.com/Cultures/en-US/Default.aspx

I think I saw those big kind of trampolines that kids like to go on in Hisoranu last summer. There is a chap (maverick maybe?) who posts on here who has a place there so he might be able to confirm this.

If you stay in Hisoranu though you have to come down to the beach in Olu Deniz, but this isn't really a problem and loads of folk do it, although personally I prefer to stay in Olu Deniz and go up to Hisoranu if I want a lively night out as being close to the sea is more important to us.

It might be worth your while researching both of these resorts. If you are on a budget I beleive Hisoranu is cheaper and there is loads of self catering accommodation up there. If you want a hotel there are lots in Olu from BnB to HB to three good AI's the Belcekic Beach, the Olu Deniz Resort and Club Sun City. Lykia is fantastic, I stayed there last year, but it is off the beaten track and you need to get cabs in and out all the time to Olu Deniz, but you could go in on the first day of your holiday and never leave if that is your kind of thing as it is a resort in its own right.

Good Luck, I am sure you will love Turkey, its great for family holidays, its just a matter of picking the right reasort. In general though I would say it doesn't have great beaches, you need to seek them out as there are lots of sand/shingle combinations.

Doe

hi there are deffinately trampolines buoncy castles and a small fun fair in hissaronu we were there last year had a fantastic holiday we stayed in a 3 bedroom 3 bathroom appartment witht he pool right out side our door,this yera i am off to marmaris and have been told that there are trampolines in the amutalan area next door to the september bar.

Thanks for your help but after consultation and discusion with the others, we have decided on Side. Now all we need is a decent AI hotel.

Haven't stayed at this hotel but we are booked to go to the Royal Wings (Lara Beach) and the reviews are top class!! They have a sister hotel in Side which I think only opened this year called the Royal Dragon and it seems to be getting similar reviews. We are looking at this hotel for next year!!

Sorry I'm not much help but never been to Side before.

The Royal Dragon is a fair way out of Side.
I considered it when it first opened but decided on somewhere else because of the area it was in.

Have a look at the Hemera Cazz. We are off there this year after all the good reviews and we got an excellent price from direct holidays as soon as the prices came out this time last year. Walking distance to side and there seems to be a few bars etc close by.

Seems to get booked up very early and has been sold out for a long while for this summer school holidays
lyn

went to side a few years ago, there were deinately no trampolines or fun entertainment there, with children i would go to hissoronu icmelor altinkum or marmaris, these are all child friendly i found side very laid back more for couples or more mature person, dont get me wrong it was lovely but i didnt have any children with me.

Thanks everyone but I think, since looking at loads of hotels, we've whittled it down to Royal Dragon or Royal Wings, they ticks all the boxes for the bairn entertainment wise and we'll be hiring a car so not bothered about the distance out of Side. Also Titanic in Lara Beach looks good too, just waiting for quotes fro TA as I'm having real bother with the internet freezing when I go for qoutes.

Both Hotels way too expensive so opted for Titanic £1899 for the three of us.

Am sure you will have fun in Side. Although its reccomended for couples, we found plenty to do with 2 girls (8 & 14), and within 36 hours of landing at East Midlands, we had booked to go again.

We will be staying at the Arum. Can't wait - 19 days to go!!!!!!