Arriving in Kalkan next week

[James83]

Hello all, great website and forum!

I was hoping I could get some advice from some of the regulars on here. We are arriving next week...still many things to prepare though! Apologies for the barrage of questions in advance...

How much is food around Kalkan, e.g. for a normal dinner or a meze? Could anyone recommend some nice restaurants, with English menu's?

As an area, how big is Kalkan? Could we possibly explore the whole place in a day? What are the transport links like to local towns and villages, and what time do the buses run until? (oh and how much!)

And finally, is it generally a fairly safe place? Have been reading forum and have noticed posts about stray dogs and recent robberies!

I'm sure I'll have more questions, so thank you in advance for your help!

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=9608.0

[amber]

How lucky are you,its always so exciting exploring a new place and you wont be disappointed with Kalkan.
Lots and lots of wonderful restaurants to suit all tastes and pockets.The menus are all written in English and offer british and european foods as well as turkish.There are loads of threads on here about peoples favourite places and costs.
You could easily explore Kalkan in a day and its easily accessible to other towns such as Kas (5tl) and Fethiye (11tl) by bus.Buses run frequently but its best to check the times of the last ones as it can be quite early,even during the season.The last bus is at 8,from Fethiye to Kalkan (it was last week anyway).There are also tourist buses from the town that run to Patara.Theres beach clubs and the town beach too.Great tours available also.
There are plenty of shops in Kalkan-handbags,shoes,clothes,jewellery,carpets,all good quality
As for safety -There are street dogs here as there are in any town in Turkey but the dog that bit a child was removed straight away.As for robberies,these occur from time to time, but you just need to take care as you would anywhere with your pocessions.
Everyone that comes to Kalkan falls in love with the place and returns year after year! People says its the only place they keep coming back to!! It might be small but the people are welcoming,you can do as little or as much as you like,the scenery is breathtaking and the weather is fab!
Happy holiday!!!!

[The Treets]

Well said Amber you have summed it up in a nut shell.

M

[James83]

Amber, thank you very much for your detailed reply - very helpful! We are arriving fairly late in Kalkan - almost midnight. Are there any restaurants/supermarkets in town that will still be open so late?

Really looking forward to it now, lots of positive reports on the forum! Looking at the weather, it looks like 35 degrees + everyday next week  Is it quite dry out there, or more humid?

Thanks again.

[Mayday1]

Hi James 83,

We are going on the 25th.Cant wait.Most supermarkets are open.We use Yali supermarket mainly because we think they are generally very competitive.We usually arrive at this sort of time.We always use a taxi transfer from Dalaman and cheekily always ask the taxi driver to pop us to yali to get some supplies and they always are quite happy to.We  have a self catering apartment so this is why.Obviously if you are staying ina hotel,supplies are not as important.

Good luck.

[kalkan4eva]

Yali closes around midnight so you'll need to be quick. The airport transfer always offer a stop on the way - these are usually at a service station with a small supermarket attached - we've often picked up supplies there. You will be able to get something to eat in the Soup Kitchen after midnight - Ali Baba's (the one nearest the taxi rank as there are two).

[James83]

Time flies by so quickly! Back in rainy England now. Thank you everyone who posted above, your advice was much appreciated. Some quick highlights:

Food: We didn't eat out much as we BBQ'ed a fair few times by our pool, but in general, Olive Garden and Kosk were excellent. Mango was a disappointment, and the owner kept apologising for the small portions ("we're low on meat") and the general blandness of the food ("next time, I will make sure the chef makes it better"). We also ordered from Passport Pizza, and it was surreal taking a dip in the pool whilst waiting for our food!

Atmosphere: Great walking around town in the evenings, locals were great - "One for the road!" was something we heard many times from the chap outside Moonlight (I think that’s what it was called). More then one was had lol. The locals were great and were very friendly.

We also had a great Turkish bath at Atlantis Spa, behind Yali supermarket. We got a great deal though, and they were happy to lower the price. For the Turkish bath + full body massage + face mask, they did it for £20 as opposed to the advertised price of £35. The Turkish bath they reduced from £15 to £10. Some of you may not be comfortable with haggling, but we had some trained hagglers in the group, who were very helpful throughout the trip!  Great place and bath (although we had nothing to compare it to). We certainly had a good time.

We also went to Patara Beach (beautiful) - we booked a coach with a tour company for 11tl each including entrance. The restaurant there was a bit of a rip off though, but I guess as it was the only place there, we didn't expect too much. Waves were brilliant.
 
Kapitaz beach was also excellent - again, magnificent waves right by the shore, so no need to wade out 200m to dive around like a maniac.

Fethiye market was a disappointment, just a larger version of the markets back home. Nice to walk around though. Oludeniz beach was lovely however. We managed to negotiate the cost to 35Tl each for the return trip to both places. Long, long journey!!!

One of our drivers was great and took us a long detour around the back roads, and up hills - through tiny little villages really off the beaten track. He stopped off at random farm houses and seemed to know everyone - introducing us to people and telling us the history of the place. Really quite a privilege, especially as we were not expecting it.

Our villa was 15mins walk to the main town – this was fine, but the way back was a killer, and were drenched in sweat by the time we got back!

The town seemed very safe and we certainly had no issues. There were a few dogs, who followed us (or walked amongst us) but they were fine. One dog wouldn’t let us cross the road and kept cutting us up, but none ever barked at us or showed any sign of aggression. I think they just wanted company!

In conclusion, great holiday and great place. It took ages to queue into Dalaman airport though – first airport I’ve been to which screens all passengers before they step into the terminal building!

Thanks for reading, and hope to be back soon!

[Skunk]

Sounds like you had a great time and all that haggling paid off - never thought to do it for services etc!! It is a great place isn't it? Skunk 

[HolmfirthNicky]

Good report James! We also loved Kosk. Dalaman airport can be organised chaos when coming home, we had a 3 hr delay a couple of weeks back when we flew home and it's also not the comfiest of airports is it but for us when we land at Dalaman it's like coming home!! Guess you will be going back to Kalkan then?!!

[Kalkan Magic]

Thanks for taking the time to post James, it's always good to hear your first impressions. We have actually always found the restaurant at Patara very good value and decent food especially as you say it is the only one there. I think it is part funded by Patara belediye or is subsidised in some way.
Glad you had a good hol overall

[Lizilu20]

Hi James
Glad you enjoyed Kalkan. Like Skunk, I've never even thought of haggling re services either, maybe I should give it a try and say "Ow Muuuch" like the thursday market traders do (and some of the customers at my OH's body shop  ). Don't think I dare though!! Lovely to hear that you will be returning to Kalkan in the future, welcome to the "Kalkan bug bitten club"   

[Bob & Jayne]

Hi James, which Tour Company did you use for your trip to Patara Beach, we are interested in doing the same

 

Jayne

[James83]

Yes I think we will be making a return at some point - possibly next Spring?

Re haggling, literally the only place we didn't haggle was the supermarket! We found that everyone was willing to lower prices or entice us with special offers. Perhaps when its busier, they are less willing? Even at the higher end restaurants were willing to negotiate - Kosk for example, gave us 10% off our bill and a complimentry meze. All we asked the waiter was, "Any special deals tonight?" All you have to do is ask, you never know what they may come up with

@kalkan magic, the food at Patara wasn't bad - just the portions were a bit stingy, price was a little high - and it took ages to come 

@bob and jayne - I'm sorry, but I honestly can't remember the name of the tour operator. It wasn't in the main part of town, it was a little further out - I think not far from Megros supermarket, its like a little coach station - 5 mins walk from. Certainly haggle away here - on our trip to Fetiye/Oludeniz trip, we paid 35tl each - there were 2 others on the coach, who said they paid 50tl for Fetiye only!

[James83]

Oh and how could I forget - we also visited Saklikent Gorge. Can't remember the price we paid for the journey, but probably not more then 15tl each. Really lovely place - didn't know what to expect, and thought it would be really touristy - especially as when we arrived, someone offered us rafting immediately and a little girl was trying to get us to rent shoes for 2tl (WELL worth it as it turned out!)

Really beautiful, and something I've never experienced anyone in the world.

[tillymint143]

Oh and how could I forget - we also visited Saklikent Gorge. Can't remember the price we paid for the journey, but probably not more then 15tl each. Really lovely place - didn't know what to expect, and thought it would be really touristy - especially as when we arrived, someone offered us rafting immediately and a little girl was trying to get us to rent shoes for 2tl (WELL worth it as it turned out!)

Really beautiful, and something I've never experienced anyone in the world.

Was that on a bus from the bus station, James83?

[James83]

Hi tillymint, it was the same private hire company we went to for all our trips - the one opposite(ish) Megros Supermarket. They have mini coaches that sit 8-12 people I think.

[Enişte]

Trying to think which company you mean James, as opposite Migros is almost certainly in the cemetery!  Termessos may be the one, just down the hill from Migros, near Ziraat Bank and opposite the market road, or you could try Volume Travel in the old town, opposite Kalamaki restaurant.