Oh wow, now you've asked a question!! You'll get loads of people on here telling which area is best. I can only tell you about the area I know and love (the Bodrum peninsula) - Gumbet is lively but you have the opportunity to walk out of the lively area and enjoy a good night's sleep so you may want to do some research on there.

Do be careful if you're looking for all inclusive as unless you go 5 star, AI isn't really the best in Turkey. Are you set on AI or would you consider half board or something else?

When you say lively, how lively do you mean? Maybe a bit of information about your age and what other places you like would give people more idea about what to suggest. Also when youi say good trips, do you mean to historical sites, to markets, on the boat or what?

Sorry not to be more helpful at the moment but if you give a bit more information, I'm sure you'll get loads of suggestions you can consider.

I love the Bodrum peninsular too, there are loads of lovely resorts there. Take a look at some resort reports and if something there takes you fancy and you want to know anything just give us a shout.

I also agree about AI. There was a programme on BBC last night about the really bad quality of some cheap AI hotels so do be careful, if the price looks too good to be true it probably is. Unless you are looking for a 5 star good quality AI do lots fo research first, you do get what you pay for.

Hi Michelle . Lovely to see you in the Turkey forum

choosing an A/I in Turkey is no different than Egypt . Personally I have never experienced a bad one . the quality of their A/Is in general and the turkish people themselves is what keeps us going back every year

AI isn't really the best in Turkey

Sorry Jakki but I have to disagree with you there . In fact the standard of a/Is in turkey are the best I have found anywhere in europe. Obviously you get the bad ones sold by the likes of goldtrail as featured on watchdog which is why we would always check out the reviews

There are some fantastic A/Is along the med coast of turkey with a vast array of facilities . I..e Belek, lara beach etc where you would fly into Anta lya but on the whole these are pretty isolated . Side could be an option on that coast . We are going to the Hemera in the summer , excellent reviews , some bars etc close by and a 20-30 minute walk from side town.

Our favouite resort is Olu deniz . http://www.oludeniz.com/index.html . (have a look at the videos)It's a medium sized resort , very scenic and enclosed by mountains with the most beautiful Turqoise sea . There are enough bars , shops and resturants to keep you busy and if you want something more lively you could get a cab or dolmus into hisaronu 5-10 mins away into the mountains . plenty of excursions available there such as paragliding , jeep safaris , boat trips , mud baths . loads really . There are also 3/4 good A/Is right in the centre . the club sun city,(although reviews have gone downhill a bit a late) ,The olu Deniz resort and Belcekiz beach hotel . All get mostly good reviews , particularly the Belcekiz beach where I can recommend . These will be smaller and more personal than those along the med coast but will more than make up in location . You also have lykia world a short taxi ride outside of olu but it is expensive and maybe a bit isolated for what your looking for .

Last year we stayed at the Aegean dream resort in Turgetreis. We had a geat time there and a 15 min walk into Turgetreis on the bodrum stretch of coast but reviews are often a bit iffy either side of july/ August when I suspect you would be looking at going . For some reason outside of high season they reduce the food available and activities on offer . there is another A/I right next door that looked lovely but I cant remember its name . can somebody help me there

Icmeler may also suit you although as a resort it is more geared towards the self catering market with the resturants and bars putting on your evenings entertainment . Its a reasonably large resort but music in the bars etc has to be turned off at midnight .There are a couple of A/Is there but reviews tend to be mixed . I wonder if somebody could recommend any .Beach is OK but not the best .

A few to get you started there

Do you mean La Blanche in Turgutreis? Haven't stayed there myself, but have looked at it in the brochures and it looks very nice.

Derwentrocker - when you say 'nice beach', does it have to be soft sand or will shingle do? If sand is important, check carefully, because a lot of Turkish beaches look lovely, but don't feel lovely! You can often get into the sea via jetties, to avoid walking on it though.

I think you will be fine with AI hotels as long as you don't go too cheap and of course, check the reviews, as I'm sure you will!

Do you mean La Blanche in Turgutreis

Yes thats it mehmeh . It looks lovely but I think you could do better for atmosphere and pool scene which I know you like Michelle .

We have been going to Marmaris for the last 7 years,and stay in the Armutalan area about 15 min walk from the lively nightlife,so we get a good nights sleep,we have a few bars and restaurants close by,but music is turned right down at midnight,and this is enforced,the police drive around slowly and will warn them.We are also trying Icmeler this year as well,we had some nice evenings there last year,as it is a short drive from Marmaris,scenery is beautiful in both of these resorts.We decided to try Gumbet a couple of years ago for a second holiday in Turkey that year,all I can say is that I am glad I never tried it for my first visit!or I may never have gone back,remember just my opinion,visited Turgetreis for a day while we were there and that looked nice.All the beaches at these resorts are not sandy,they are grey grit!!,not that it bothers me because Im not a beach lover,but happy to stay around a nice pool if not out on a trip.Ive heard there are nice beaches,sandy,towards Fethiya,Olu Deniz,so maybe I myself might give them a go soon.

The main bach at Olu whilst huge and stunning is fairly stoney and not really suitable for young families . You can however walk around to the lagoon that I believe has sandy parts or get one of the private beaches to collect you which they will do for free providing you are buying a few drinkies or lunch. Not been but 2 I know of are sugar beach and is the other one something like Suara beach . Ellie meg (karen) uses that one I think .I'msure these are sandy . When we stayed at club sun city several years ago they had their own private beach on the lagoon . Not sure if that is still the case but mini bus would leave/return the hotel 3 times a day .

They also do shisha pipes and bean bags on the main beach under candlelight during the summer which you might enjoy Michelle .

lyn

i think its important to know whether you want a sandy beach or not as you mention nice beach, a lot of the bodrum peninsular have very stoney beaches and getting in and out of the sea can be painful grrr as we found out last summer, also we found this area of turkey more expensive, we stayed at aegean dream in turgutreis in may and we didnt think it was that good,food below standard, had huge problems and going through ros to sort it out at the moment

lyn yes it is suara beach thats the sandy beach in the lagoon, but i think the name has changed recently. the views here are fab. olu deniz is a lovely resort, very scenic, just a nice size for us and you have hisaronu 5 mins in a dolmus up the hill for more bars, shops, restaurants etc. olu deniz has a good selection of all inc, olu deniz resort hotel and belcekiz seem to get the best reveiws, we stayed at lykia world which is a full board + and that is a fab hotel if you can afford it as its fairly expensive, but the food there is the best ive had in a turkish hotel, 19 pools, water park, have a look at its website, it is a taxi ride into olu deniz though as its about 1.5 miles outside

icmeler is another possibility although not as scenic as olu deniz, but theres more bars, shops, restaurants there and you have marmaris 5 mins away if you want a bigger selection of everything. the beach in icmeler can be quite shingly in most places, but its a fairly nice place, its fairly lively but not as lively as marmaris

check all reviews and resorts before booking as everyone likes different things and some of the all incs can be very bad quality, the lara area gets good reviews but we didnt like it there as beach wasnt great and theres not a lot to do around the hotels, so thats another thing to watch out for

My friend has stayed twice at the Belcekiz beach hotel and highly rates it. I've been to Olu Deniz but it was 21 years ago when it was a small village. My friend mentioned was with me at the time and she says it's changed but still lovely. As mentioned you can have the best of both worlds as Hisaronu is just up the hill with all it's bars and restaurants.

Hi Michelle

I have stayed at the Club Belcekic Beach hotel and had a great holiday there, but the hotel next door the Olu Deniz Beach resort is another one to look at. Seems to have similar standards, with good food for an AI hotel, great location and can come up cheaper than the BB.

Both of these hotels are availabe with Portland/Thomson.

The Belcekic Beach often gets sold out at popular times.

These hotels are not on the same large scale as hotels in Sharm el Sheik and other Red Sea Resorts. Although the TO's say they are 4 and 5 stars they are not chain hotels like Hilton, Marriot, Hyatt, Crowne Plaza etc but the Turkey hotels often have more character. They may suit you as you like the Sonesta which looks like a hotel with character.

If you can manage with half board there is another beautiful looking hotel called the Montana Pine which is halfway between Olu Deniz and Hisoranu, which might be worth looking at, its also with Portland. With this one you need to get the dolmus either down to Olu Deniz or up to Hisoranu, but it is in a stunning setting.

The main beach in Olu Deniz is not sandy, but the lagoon you can go to is.

Doe

a lot of these hotels are available as diy too so this might be another option to look at, i have just booked lykia world with monarch hotels for a week and the olu deniz resort hotel for the 2nd week with alpharooms, i went through topcashback and both co's gave me about 5% cashback too, for the dates we were looking at in oct both these companies i booked with were coming out the cheapest, i even rang lykia direct and their prices were higher. the only thing about the belcekiz is that it seems very dear to do a diy there, i got prices of over a £100 a night for 2 adults and 1 child in oct which i think is extremely high for turkey, so that might work out less for a package. most co's do lykia world

have a nose

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

Cor blimey that's a lot of reading to be had here, and i am truly grateful.

For those who have asked, i am as some know am an addict to Egypt, but that remains a winter destination for us now. So Next summer i would like a hotel that isn't in the middle of the action, action i mean restaurants and shops. Not bothered by night clubs and 18-30 style atmospheres. We are in our near middle 40s. In Egypt at night we may walk to Bazaars, and flop on the floor with a beer and have a go on the shisha pipes. Beach wise, not worried by shingle, but it would be a bonus if it wasnt, but like the sea, and as Lyn says like a lively pool scene

As for A1 it doesn't have to be, we only just started going A1 as prices are going up, as long as it isn't Self catering. I dont mind paying out for the food, as i do enjoy a good restaurant.

Does anywhere have quads to go on? on a trip?
Thats not important, but like action stuff,i hit the 40+ mark and then decide to do action

That's all of you turkey boffins

Michelle x

We always DIY for our Holidays. It's a lot cheaper than the TA's.

Ellie-meg, how do you go about getting discounts from topcashback? Is it easy to do?

This year we have booked flights with Monarch, the hotel with Alpha rooms, and a shuttle bus from the airport. We have also used Travel Republic in the past, who have a good selection of properties. Never had any problems at all.

Marn.

5 weeks on Saturday

yes its easy, free to join too, ive got £100's of cashback using this site, booking flights, hotels, packages, insurance, ebay, various shops etc all for nothing, i got £50 off my disney hotel last week too, so definitely worth using and watching your cashback grow

http://www.topcashback.co.uk/

Another vote for Olu Deniz and in particular the Belcekiz Beach. It's literally round the corner from the main street for shopping,bars etc.
I have been three times and because of where the rooms are situated you do not get any noise at night.
It only takes 15/20 minutes to walk to the lagoon and it's a lovely walk along the beachfront.
If you do consider this hotel though you would need to book it pretty soon to get the dates you want. It's expensive but you do get what you pay for, spotlessy clean, great food and drinks, an atmosphere you can't put a price on!

I think you would enjoy Olu michelle . Its not a nosiy resort and you wont have any problems chilling on a beanbag with your shisha . It's very friendly and there are some good late night bars but it's not a cluby resort . Everything is in a very compact area as well. We like a lively pool scene too and Iwouldnt recomend anything to you that didnt have that.



Not sure about Quads . I know you can do various jeep/truck safari type excursions , Horse riding up to the ghost village and you wont get a lot more action packed than the paragliding . Have a look at the videos on that link I sent you. The ride up the mountain is more scary than leaping off . You will be in the air for around 40 mins so that gives you an idea of how far up you are . Its all very safe . my kids have done it .

It's quite a challenge to find a decent A/I close to town never mind within one . I know as I go through the same process every year. Have a look at the Hemera in side as well . I havnt been yet so dont know what the actual resort is like . I'm expecting it to be more European in that part of Turkey

Yes, they do a quad bike trip in Olu Deniz. We did it when we stayed at LW the first time. It is offered by all the excursion agencies in Olu Deniz, though we booked through LW. They took us by minibus to Hisaronu. The quad bikes then went down the road (note not off-road - they said it wasn't allowed) to the beach at the place whose name escapes me, but it is opposite St Nicholas' island. Stopped on the way at a cafe for a drink and on the way back at Kaya Koy, the abandoned former greek village. Although on the roads, they are very quiet unused roads with little traffic and the scenery is lovely.

Two lads on our trip said they had done a different quad bike trip the previous week which had taken them to Calis Beach, beyond Fethiye. That was apperently a less sedate trip, possibly on the beach. They booked through an agency in OD.

We also did the open truck trip, which was good too. The jeep safari involves getting very wet in water fights and there are doubts about safety, but many people seem to enjoy it! It does go to nice places.

I can recommend Side too. The Hemera appears to be in a better position to walk to the town than the one we were in which was several miles outside. So watch this if you want to be close.

I was hoping to get prices for the summer time and alas all sold out I wont be going until next summer and have been looking into all your recommendations, all seem beautiful. When do brochures come out for summer 10? It seems i will have to act fast

You don't need brochures derwentrocker, just look on the internet. I't surprising what you find with a google search.

First, find your flights to suit you, then the hotel. Get them fixed up , and then the shuttle. It's easy.