Kalkan - in my view!

[woodybark]

We have just returned from 2 weeks in Kalkan and had a wonderful holiday. Some of this information may be of use to you.....
> Flights: We flew with Globespan, Edinburgh to Dalaman. We had carefully checked the weight of our luggage(4 people) and we reckoned we were a few kilos over at most. But then you have to get your hand luggage weighed too!! it cost us an extra £112 - so beware. Your 20 kilos INCLUDES your hand luggage!! I got my daughter to purchase extra kilos for the way home at a cost of 30 euros - and guess what - the girl at Dalaman didn't weigh it so we wasted that money. Having said that other peoples hand luggage was being weighed so I suppose we were just "lucky" The moral of the story is..keep your weight below 20 kilos per person or purchase extra baggage before you fly cos its cheaper than paying it when you get to the desk.
> Accommodation: We stayed in a private villa (Put Villa Tashla Kalkan into Google and drool) and it was VERY comfortable with loads of space and a fabulous pool. It was a wee bit further out of town than I would have liked but it was so comfortable I will overlook that small point. There were 4 of us and we had two double en suite rooms and there was still a third floor with a large roof terrace and bedroom which slept 3 with an ensuite shower room. Each of the double rooms had their own balcony and the dining area outside had a huge shaded pergola over it with a beautiful garden area to the side.
> Weather: hot and sunny the whole time - hardly a cloud in the sky although it can get very windy making the sea choppy. If you have a bit of a walk to your accommodation it's guaranteed that it will be mostly uphill on the way back. We live in the highlands of Scotland and believe me Kalkan wins hands down on steepness of hills - and in that heat carrying shopping from the supermarket I suggest you just get a taxi!(which seemd to be 10YTL any time before midnight!)
> Restaurants: I will be as brief as I can here because everyone has different opinions but these were our thoughts.> THE BEST: Coast, Sofra, Salt 'n Pepper, Olive Garden> NOT FAR BEHIND: Fish Terrace, Trio, and that really nice one overlooking the harbour(can't remember the name but it's right above where the fishing boats come in and does really good sandwiches!! - Its to the left of the Ice Cream stand)> CHEAP and CHEERFUL: Jimmy's on the harbour - great seafood tagliatelle!> GREAT BARS: Yali in the main street and Kleo Bar at the harbour.> > We had a wonderful meal on the last night at Coast. The food was great, the service excellent(thank you Cahil!) and the setting was fabulous - very sofisticated, comfortable, and the views are great.> Sofra is consistently good - we had two meals there and they were both excellent. Very good service too. We ate there 3 times on our last visit in 2006!> Salt 'n Pepper have the best steaks I have ever tasted - and that's something coming from a Scot! Two words of advice - the steaks do NOT come with accompaniments so order veg or chips or whatever you want. We had good service until two very large groups were seated and then the three waiters were overwhelmed with work and unable to see to us they were so busy. We would have ordered sweets and coffee but we just didn't get the chance! Having said all that DO try the steaks!!> OLIVE GARDEN: We had not booked to go to this restaurant but when we turned up and there were no tables on the top level - they made space for us turning a table for two into a table for 4. When you see the spiral staircase you will realise what a lot of effort they went to to make us feel welcome because they CARRIED the table, chairs and cutlery etc UP the spiral staircase. Do not go to this restaurant if you suffer from vertigo!They also do a lot of freebies so you get fab pre dinner"munchies" AND ice cream and other delights(some Turkish!) after your meal as well as a wee nip of something alcoholic. (BY the way most places DO give you hors d'ourves and sometimes they can be quite filling)> FISH TERRACE: Great setting, lovely food but the Maitre D is a wee bit up his own ****. We had a lovely meal one night and made a booking to return to celebrate the birthday of a member of our party. We requested an outside table(ie. overlooking the street) When we arrived there was no outside table for us but we said we had booked one - which he questioned with an "Are you telling the truth?" attitude. They "allowed" us to have an outside table but he didn't come near us fro the rest of the evening and barely raised his head to say goodbye when we left, after having spent a large amount of money on food and drink. We did not return but do not let that put you off trying it.> TRIO: Again great setting down by the harbour. Food very good but evening spoilt by them decanting not only the white wine(and thus it became warm) but also the bottled water to which they added lemon and mint(YUCK!) The waiters were also a bit smarmy for my liking.(But the food was lovely)
> TRIPS OUT: We hired a taxi to take us to Salklikent Gorge and it picked us up on time at our villa. We had planned to get the Dolmus but a taxi driver stopped us on the way to the bus station to check the timetable and offered to take the four of us for 60YTL including lunch - which we took him up on. It was a great day, the gorge was amazing and the lunch amongst the trees and rivers with bright blue dragon flies hovering in the bushes was unique.(Drinks extra) On the way home we stopped and visited some ruins at Xanthos(small charge)
> KALAMAR BEACH CLUB: We discoverd that they offer FREE transfers to and from your accommodation to spend the day here. You just phone them up and ask them to send a taxi! We went 3 times during our holiday it was so good. It's small but very well laid out with comfortable sunbeds, big sunshades, friendly staff and good food. The non motorised watersports, pedalo, kayaks and bouncy trampoline in the sea are all free. You pay extra for the motorised ones. We spent about £80 for the day for 4 of us which included lunch, drinks, ice creams and entry to the club - £20 pp(Including free transfers)- that's a bargain. They also have free internet access and a computer to check your emails! (And a changing room for getting out of your wet swimsuit below the main restaurant where there are loads of bean bags to laze on, piped music and cooling fans) The bean bags are also numerous beside your sun lounger so make lying sunbathing an absolute pleasure.
> ROMANTIK: We hired a 12 person boat for the day for 4 of us and it was £120 including lunch and snacks(drinks extra) We had the boat to ourselves and they stopped off at beautiful coves for snorkelling and swimming. We could stay as long as we wanted. Tea on arrival on the boat, a beautiful lunch with salads (5 different kinds and all freshly made!) and chips and bread. Later on we were given a huge platter of fresh fruit all beautifully washed, cut up and presented. Then later on in the afternoon tea and cake(the cake was a cross between chocolate cake and gingerbread) Excellent day - just wished we could have done it again but we ran out of time!
> PATARA BEACH: Again we went in a taxi both ways at a rate of 60YTL for the return journey, organised to pick us up when WE wanted. The beach is vast and very windy. There is a nice cafe bar where you can cool off for lunch. There are also showers and toilets. Worth a visit - we missed out on the ruins but reading the history of Patara I wish we had visited them.
> Other than that there are loads of nice shops in Kalkan selling very different kinds of gifts and souvenirs. Some fab clothes shops and you MUST go to JUST SILVER in the main street - its an Aladdins Cave. The leather handbag shops are also fabulous but seem a bit overpriced considering what you can buy in TK MAXX these days.
We were lucky to be treated to a FREE Belly Dancing show by FAED and her friends at the KLEO BAR whilst we were there. We got some great photos Faed - send me your email address and I will forward them - and thanks for the performance - it was a great night.
> Other than that - if you are looking forward to your Kalkan holiday I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. It wasn't too busy when we were there but I think it still retains its Olde Worlde charm with all the quaint houses and cobbled streets despite all the building that has taken place since our last visit. One more thing - if your accommodation has ants(and they seem to be everywhere) you can buy these great wee things in the supermarket which look like little white igloos. They really work!> Looking forward to our next visit
Woody x

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=3944.0

[Enjoy Kalkan]

Fantastic report Woody

Thanks so much for sharing it with us 

[Chucky]

Hi Woody
Hope my instructions helped in getting this great report on EK. (Their loss our gain  )
Thank you for taking the time to post.
Joan

[felicity]

yeah woody - go go go!!  Lovely report and lovely to meet you too!!

 

[shining-one]

Thank you so much for such an interesting and informative report. We will be in Kalkan in a few weeks and I can't wait!

[misty]

Great report many thanks we too hire the large Romantik boat for the day and as you say its fantastic how they cook all that food beats me 

[alisonh]

Fab report, lots of useful information in preparation for our next visit in August.  So glad you enjoyed yourselves and thanks for sharing your holiday experience with us.

Alison

[Blue Lizard]

thanks for taking the time in giving such an informative report......some old consistantly good evergreens mentioned in there!!