We had several destinations in mind when planning our one-week long vacation for October 2019. We finally went with Southern Turkey, Antalya for its large choice of all-inclusive hotels, relatively short flight time and the best odds for having nice weather in October. It was not our first time in Turkey, we had spent four days in Istanbul in February 2015 and loved it.
There were no direct flights available from Nice to Antalya and the best option seemed Lufthansa - the flight was via Zurich and back via Munich. A strange fact is, that although we bought the tickets from Lufthansa homepage, none of our flights was operated by Lufthansa and all the flights were with different companies - SwissAir, Edelweiss Air, SUNExpress and Air Dolomiti. Edelweiss Air was a nice experience with new airplanes and excellent service.
The Flight from Nice to Zurich was quick, about an hour, and from Zurich to Antalya it took a bit over three hours. We had decided to rent a car from the airport and went for a local company called Erboy Car. We could not recommend them enough - the service was friendly, the car (Fiat Tipo) clean and new and the price was a reasonable 120 euros for seven days with full insurance. Although we knew that the exchange rate at the airport was not excellent, we also got some Turkish liras (1 EUR = approx. 10 TRY).
We were holidaying with my sister's family again, who had already arrived at the hotel. We all wanted to relax and take it easy and for the kids to have fun, so we chose to stay in an all-inclusive hotel like we had done in Crete a year before. We were very lucky with the weather, having warm summery temperatures every day. The hotel we stayed at was called IC Hotels Green Palace and it was situated in Lara, about half an hour from Antalya center. Lara is a touristic area with lots of big all-inclusive hotels and Green Palace was no different. We had reserved the family room, that had one queen-sized double bed and two single beds. On our arrival there was a nice fruit platter with a bottle of wine in our room.
The hotel grounds were huge and immaculately kept. The days that we did not leave the hotel, I still managed to walk more then 10 000 steps just at the hotel grounds. They had several swimming pools, some connected by bridges and one of the pools being for adults only. The hotel beach was lovely, it had a jetty and it was a nice stroll from the hotel to the beach. The hotel also had a small vegetable/herbs pit and we saw chefs picking herbs and chillies from there during the day.
View from our hotel room
Hotel beach
There was a large splash area for smaller kids and an amazing water park/slides area for adults and older kids. Our kids (and also adults) loved the slides and spent lots of time every day in the water park.
Water park
Splash area
We generally had breakfast
and dinner in the main buffet restaurant and lunch in one of the snack
bars of the hotel. The main restaurant was huge and the buffet was divided around the
restaurant, a part of it being outside (barbecue). Breakfast was great every morning - freshly made
pancakes, omelettes, lots of hot and cold choices. The coffee was very good and I
especially appreciated that the soy milk option was available for
cappuccino. The theme of the dinner changed every night, Friday night
being the Turkish feast, as Friday is the most important day of the week in the Muslim culture.
Our lunch was usually in the snack bar. The bigger snack bar served burgers, pizzas, kebabs, salads etc. There was also a smaller snack bar near the beach that had jacket potatoes and very nice gözleme (typical Turkish street food). There were also several bars around the hotel and a lovely cafeteria with all kinds of coffees and cakes.
Pre dinner drinks at the pool bar
At the lobby bar
If we had left it for the kids to decide, they would have probably spent the whole time in the hotel. Us, the adults, had a different idea - visiting the UNESCO heritage site Pamukkale and Hierapolis, a bit over three hour's drive from Antalya. Pamukkale, literally meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a town in western Turkey known for the mineral-rich thermal waters flowing down white travertine terraces on a nearby hillside. It neighbors Hierapolis, an ancient Roman spa city founded around 190 B.C. Although the drive there was long, specially for my sister's little ones, it was so worth it.
The drive from Antalya to Pamukkale was easy, the road was good (mostly dual carriageway), traffic was light and we saw some beautiful hilly landscapes. The only heavier trafficked and busier areas were around Antalya and around Denizli.
Pamukkale
We also went for a walk and souvenir shopping in Antalya harbour and old town. Antalya, the eighth largest city in Turkey, is a capital of the "Turkish Riviera". It has a lively old town with several car free streets and a nice harbour. We bought some pashminas from a little shop on one of the side streets and the kids could pick out their souvenirs to take home.
Batteries again recharged, this holiday was exactly what we needed to get out of the everyday routine. Sometimes the all-inclusive hotels really are the best choice for a brief break. Turkey is a beautiful country with friendly people, great food and lots to discover. We hope we will be back again one day.
Anche questo è molto bello
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