I've only been to Icmeler, but I have friends who've visited both and much preferred Icmeler. They visited Kusadasi the previous year, but said it wasn't a patch on Icmeler and wished they'd found it first.

It all acords to what you want, Kusadasi, is a town that is lived in all year round, it has a port, and when the cruise ships come in every thing increases in price, there are many resturants that are used by the locals, meaning that it is cheaper than a resturant, for the tourists. It is close to Ephesus, we did the trip on local Dolmuses, for around £9.00 each, it has many beaches, but very few hotels that are close to the beaches, so you have to walk or get a dolmus. I did enjoy Kusadasi.

Ichmeler, has the advantage that it is very quiet, it is a little bit more expensive than Marmaris, but it has better beaches than Marmaris. and you can just jump on a dolmus to get to Marmaris, you have the quietness, and the night life if you want it. If it was me I would go for Ichmeler.

Icmeler is certainly not quiet, well over 100 restaurants and bars and depending on your mood you can have a loud or quiet time. I also find that Icmeler is just as cheap as Marmaris.

Kusadassi was my first time in Turkey in 1997 and although I did enjoy it I think that Icmeler is the better of the 2 resorts. Kusadassi has the advantage of having Ephesus/ Pamukkale nearby if that appeals to you

The beach in Icmeler is better than marmaris but is not that great to be honest, lots of shingle on both beaches

Stewart

I agree that Icmeler is the better of the two resorts, it all depends what you want out of your holiday. If you want to go to somewhere different then I recommend you look at Kalkan, Olu Deniz and Altinkum.

Les

My first holiday to Turkey in 1990 was to Kusadasi and although it was good to have the wonderful Ephesus just up the road I have never been tempted to go back.
Icmeler on the other hand is my favourite place in Turkey despite visiting lots of other resorts.
I would stick to Icmeler as its the most friendliest and reputed to be the cheapest for eating out because of the many many excellent restaurants.

Hi there, although I have not been to Icmeler, I went to Kusadasi in 2002. In my experience Kusadasi is a place of commerce rather than a holiday town. It appeared to be a busy port for cruise ships and I was surprised to see beggars in the back streets. Obviously eight years on this may have changed.I have several friends who have been to Icemeler and have only good things to say about it. I visited Hisaronu last year and am returning in August this year. I hope this is of some help.

thankyou all for your replies. hisaronu is another resort we've been looking at going to. two weeks booked off work from 20th aug & still not booked anywhere yet! sorry for the spelling- kusadasi!

Hisaronu and Ovacik are literally a short dolmus ride up the hill from Olu Deniz so check out all three. All the best.

Les