and as for saying cheap package holiday, i don't think £1800 is cheap. would you?

I think that £1800 is cheap for a family of 4. I am looking for next year and the hotel I am looking is cheap compared to other tour ops. 2 rooms 4 adults and 1 free child £2880. I have looked at 3 adults and 1 free child in a 4 bedded room and it came out more less the same. This is in side turkey. We like to stay in hotels and we have to book 2 rooms which we have to pay 4 adult prices, its rare to find a hotel that has 4 bedded rooms.

Try Olu Deniz, its absolutely beautiful. We have been twice now to Lykia World but trying Side in two weeks time. My 18 year old daughter does turn a lot of mens heads and they make comments on her beauty, but we take it with a pinch of salt. They and we,realise it is all part of the fun, having a laugh with you when you are out shopping. They have many other 'lines' they use too and it is hilarious. If you don't like that sort of hassle then never go to Egypt, we went there earlier this year and it is off the hassle scale. Though again it is their way and that is why we go to these places to see something different. We would go again but to a different area as like Turkey there is so much to see.

Donny lad and lass I have never visited Turkey for the attention received, though doubtless many do and it will be a lot more visible if you like in a large resort such as Marmaris.

You only have to read these forums to find that is not the intention of the vast majority of visitors and if I were to receive attention of the kind you mention then I would visit another resort. In fact, I did get a bit of that when I went to Marmaris aged 25 and that is one of the reasons why I don't choose that particular resort for my holidays now, even though I suspect that the attitude of most men will have changed for the better since 1996.

I purely think you were ill advised on your resort choice - I do not wish to see women fawning over young turkish men either but please don't think that goes on in every bar in every resort (though you will get people meeting someone on holiday just as happens in all other countries).

Marmaris is not really typical turkish.......

You need to try a smaller resort with no fast food chains or English breakfasts in sight!

Dalyan, Kalkan and Kas all fit the bill perferctly - small restaurants run by families, a few bars, lots of small local shops, a small working town and markets and beautiful scenery. No fast food chains or Twentys type holidays.
Please don't let this experience put you off a beautiful country, you need to do a trip with an Istanbul tour in.....

donny, the pulling of hair and pinching of cheeks is a sign of affection (yes I know!) and it isn't just girls that get it. My son at 2 and 3 years old loathed having his cheeks pinched by all and sundry and even now at 13 he will move away if I go to touch his face. Obviously it left a scar but take a good look around at Turkish families when there and you notice that they pinch their own children's cheeks and pull the hair of their daughters. I didn't like people doing this to my son or having my own hair pulled but it is something that is peculiar to Turkey and is something to be shrugged off in the long term rather than anything sinister. If you are polite but firm you usually get an apology.

You have to remember that Turkey is a vastly different country and culture to the likes of Spain. Just 25 years ago when I first went there, the majority lived a rural life, didn't drive cars, didn't have colour TV's and so on. Life has changed dramatically since then but old ways still persist. I remember being shocked one day when I was out and about pushing my then 3 month old son in his buggy and was told by one elderly Turkish lady that I should tie my son's legs together to prevent him becoming bow legged! This because he slept in his buggy with his legs splayed outwards. There were lots of other incidents too but the point is I had to accept that this was their way even if it wasn't mine. You are a guest in their country they want to welcome you and most treat you with a lot more respect than we in the UK, treat our foreign visitors.

Hi....sorry to hear of your bad experience....but i too am a turkey lover and have been 15 times over 10 years....i go to Dalyan and when i go there it's like going home, it's the only place i have ever been where i would walk down the street at 3/4am by myself and i love it.

The first year we went out we visited marmaris and we absolutely hated it, a lot of people think i'm strange as i'm at the age where all i should be doing is 'partying' 'clubbing' etc and i should love marmaris, however it just wasn't my taste, we did get the hassle and also found it very expensive.

Dalyan is great, the people are amazing and i have some fantastic friendships out there, there is no hassle and plenty to do....

please, please do try Turkey again, there are plenty more enjoyable resorts out there and i'm sure once you find the right one, you will be addicted x

im sorry to hear about your experiences, but please dont be put off.

I have only been to marmaris a couple of times but i love it.

Turkish people are the most considerate people i have ever met. I can understand the fact that you didnt like your children getting all that attention, but they really dont mean to be nasty or hurtful.

Turkish people love children, if you think about the amount of kids that holiday in marmaris a year its hard for them not to take interest.

My ittle boy is blonde haired, at first my partner hated them pulling his cheeks but he eventually got used to it. My son pulls there cheeks back and makes a game out of it.

I agree about the lack of turkish food, i live in nottingham and theres a fantastic turkish restuarant- with proper turkish food

But i disagree about the comments about it been skeggy. Marmaris is beautiful, you can actually put your foot in the sea without it dropping off or being infected or having something horrid hanging of the end of it.

Can i just ask where you stayed! I've booked for next june- 2 weeks for me, my partner and my son who's 3 n has a free childs place. We r staying at the Club Atrium and its costing

£823 NOW THATS A CRACKING DEAL

To all the people that think marmaris is for the cheaper holiday maker i disagree i am by no means a cheap person i just dont see the point in spending loads of money.

I'm afraid it's a case of "horses for courses" Although I'm a Turkey lover I can understand your reaction as it's impossible for everyone to like the same kind of place. For example I hate Spain, I find the Spanish to be very arrogant and disrespectful and if I posted those views on the Spain forum I would expect the kind of response that you have here.
It is worth remembering that the Turks have developed their attitudes over the years becasuse of experience and there is no getting away from the fact that many British ( and other nationalities) expect and indeed encourage this kind of attention. Over the years we have seen hundreds of older women proudly hanging on to the arm of a young Turkish man, but hey, thats their holiday.
There is no doubt in my mind that they love kids and would do them no harm but they do love to banter with them.
I've always said that Turkey is one of those places that you either love or hate. It just seems that it isn't the place for you.
Happy holidays wherever you go.

Hi Donny,

You still haven't said why you posted such contradicting posts; either you think Turkish people are the friendliest you've ever met - or you think they're totally ignorant and rude! Which one is it?

As for the 'pinching of the cheek' - you'll find that most people from the Med are demonstritive in that way. My daughter often had waiters' pinching her cheek and calling her bella when holidaying on the Continent(and even when dining out in restaurants in this country.) They do it to all children. There is nothing sinister about it - it is just their way.

As for the women who enjoy all the attention; yes, it probably is embarrassing to watch - but then again, I don't watch fellow holidaymakers so closely as to allow them to spoil my holiday. I'm too busy having a good time!

Marmaris obviously isn't for you (and it's not for me either) but I certainly wouldn't judge the whole of Turkey on two weeks in a resort that is so geared towards Brits. Did you do any research before booking your holiday?

Strawberry

strawberry,
you obviously have took offense to my post ,as i said to your previous posts that is my opinion that they are ignorant and as you can understand you were not on holiday with me so you cannot appreciate what i am talking about. just because you feel they are o.k it doesn't mean everyone else does we just simply had a bad experience which is what i was posting about that is my opinion which i am free to have. and yes we did check on this site before we booked and everyone raved about Marmaris. and as for the fact that you don't notice other people on holiday, do you think i just sit there for 2 weeks watching other people i am merely stating something which we saw on one or two ocassions.

Well if this behaviour only happened on 'one or two occasions' it's hardly worth commenting on, is it?

Strawberry

I thought you were a bit touchy at my first post taking it far more serious than needed when i mentioned about the women on holiday. could it be because you have a turkish boyfriend?? i wonder

i have to say i totally disagree with this comment you made

in my estimation the majority of women that visit turkey do so because they get the attention that you do not get in other countries

maybe some do but certainly not the majority, i go because i love the country, people, weather, lovely beaches, good food etc and i would say a lot of HT members go for similar reasons as me. i went to morocco earlier this year and the hassle there is much much worse

before this post goes too far just a few points.
1.if you were in your city or town centre with your daughters and then some strange man came up to the 12 year old and led her by her arm into a shop would u be all smiles.i would say hand on heart NO.
2.when you walk by a bar and they ask you to come in you say no then they mutter somthing in turkish well i'm sorry but i would say thats not very nice.strawberry you must be the only person out of millions that doesn't watch other people but then again you must be partying for hours on end
i retract what i said earier about all turksh are ignorant we did meet some nice turks.i wish we didn't go to marmaris and went to a smaller resort.
end of the day some people may like there children being hassled and having there cheeks pinched non stop but we don't.

I for one think this post has run its course.
I do think you have some valid points.
Apologies for some ill chosen remarks as far as I am concerned is accepted.

Just hope you will give Turkey another try.
But best wishes to in whatever you decide to do.

Gene

Donna,

I do not go out partying for hours on end - as you've suggested. I have my own place in Fethiye (I'm in the process of buying another one too) and neither of them are in Marmaris.

Quite frankly, I would never have chosen Marmaris as a holiday destination, but some people like it there. I'm only surprised that you don't like it. I'd have thought it would have been right up your street.

Strawberry

I think you would have been better off going to somewhere like Bitez. It is a fairly quiet resort, and you get to know all of the bar and restaurant staff as you walk along the sea front. Once they get to know you, they are your friends for life. And you would trust your children and daughters with any of them.
Sorry you have been put off with Marmaris, I would have been too, if that had been my introduction to Turkey (sorry Marmaris lovers). There are so many nicer places to visit.
Hope you will consider returning.

Marn.

sorry strawberry but i don't like the attention of places like marmaris and turkey etc.but you sound like somebody what probably can't get no attention over here so youv'e been forced to move over there to get the attention go get em girl..
enjoy your doner...
this is my last post on the subject like i say alot of you like turkey which is a fair point but it wasn't for us.but strawberry seems to be trying to make skitty remarks which is up to her i suppose.