Activity holidays in Turkey
| country: | Turkey |
| location: | Turquoise Coast |
| departures: | This trip can be tailor made at a time to suit you between April & November |
| price: | From £350 - £380 (8 days) excluding flights, on a twin-share basis |
read 1 travellers review
the amazing things you'll be doing
An exciting and active one-week holiday including five full days of adventure in south-west Turkey, exploring the coast and mountains of the Dalyan region. Here is your chance to have lots of outdoor fun and to experience a Turkey that most visitors never get to see.
This area offers a huge variety of landscapes to explore: limestone mountains over 2000m high: clear blue wild-flowing rivers; deep rocky canyons; cool forests of pine and sycamore; peaceful lakes and streams; a spectacular coastline; and one of the best beaches of the Med, the famous ‘Turtle Beach’ at Iztuzu – 10 km of unspoilt sandy shore, the nesting ground of the endangered Caretta Caretta turtle. Our base is the small resort of Dalyan, just 20 minutes drive from Dalaman International Airport.
The region is full of history, in particular the ancient city and rock tombs of Caunos, at Dalyan. There are also lots of opportunities for wildlife spotting - storks, sea turtles, tortoises, crabs and kingfishers are just a few of the many species you may come across.
The standard itinerary includes seven nights bed and breakfast accommodation at the Yunus Hotel, located right on the riverbank about 10 minutes walk from the village centre. The hotel has a large pool perfect for fun and relaxation, a good sized garden, and all rooms have en suite facilities, AC and a balcony.
This programme is flexible and can be tailored to the requirements of private groups – for example we can include more or less of any activity, we can include one or more nights camping, or the activities can be spread over 10 days or 2 weeks to give you more rest days in between.
This area offers a huge variety of landscapes to explore: limestone mountains over 2000m high: clear blue wild-flowing rivers; deep rocky canyons; cool forests of pine and sycamore; peaceful lakes and streams; a spectacular coastline; and one of the best beaches of the Med, the famous ‘Turtle Beach’ at Iztuzu – 10 km of unspoilt sandy shore, the nesting ground of the endangered Caretta Caretta turtle. Our base is the small resort of Dalyan, just 20 minutes drive from Dalaman International Airport.
The region is full of history, in particular the ancient city and rock tombs of Caunos, at Dalyan. There are also lots of opportunities for wildlife spotting - storks, sea turtles, tortoises, crabs and kingfishers are just a few of the many species you may come across.
The standard itinerary includes seven nights bed and breakfast accommodation at the Yunus Hotel, located right on the riverbank about 10 minutes walk from the village centre. The hotel has a large pool perfect for fun and relaxation, a good sized garden, and all rooms have en suite facilities, AC and a balcony.
This programme is flexible and can be tailored to the requirements of private groups – for example we can include more or less of any activity, we can include one or more nights camping, or the activities can be spread over 10 days or 2 weeks to give you more rest days in between.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Dalyan Arrive at Dalaman International Airport. Transfer to hotel in Dalyan. Welcome meeting and briefing with guide. Free time. |
| Day 2: | Hiking from Dalyan to Ekincik Opportunity to visit the ruins of Caunos. Swimming break at uncrowded Ekincik beach then return to Dalyan by boat or vehicle. Approx. 4 hours through forests and villages. |
| Day 3: | Mountain-biking Through groves of ‘liquid amber’ trees (found nowhere else in the world) via back roads and small villages. We eat lunch at a trout restaurant next to a clear rushing stream. Appox 20 km. |
| Day 4: | Canyoning In Toparlar Canyon. A fun and challenging combination of hiking, rock-scrambling and swimming. Lots of cool rock pools for jumping. Approximately 4 hours of activity |
| Day 5: | White water rafting We shoot the class 3-4 rapids of the Dalaman River in 6-8 person boats with one professional guide in each raft. Spectacular and remote limestone scenery, and crystal-clear water. We round off the day with a tasty barbecue meal. |
| Day 6: | Köycegiz Lake Explore peaceful Köycegiz Lake by sea kayak, a relaxing and environmentally friendly way of enjoying the landscape and wildlife. We also have the opportunity to visit and bathe in some natural hot springs. Approx. 4 hours of activity |
| Day 7: | Free |
| Day 8: | Depart Transfer to Dalaman International airport for return |
travellers' tales
White water rafting, down a clear cold river was the most exciting part. The scenery was fantastic and the ride was very thrilling. Our guide was very competent and we felt very safe and well looked after. (more)
travelling with a local operator
This holiday is operated by a company based in the holiday destination and they will be able to provide expert local knowledge. They will be able to tailor make your holiday to suit your requirements not only concerning the dates of travel but also typically the standard of accommodation, and thus price. It is rare for local operators to be able to help with the booking of your flights.how this holiday makes a difference
|
We are a locally-based tour operator, fully committed to running our tours in a way that reduces the impact on our environment and contributes as much as possible to the local community. For this tour we use the Yunus Hotel in Dalyan, owned and run by a local family. All the services that we use, such as transport and restaurants, are locally owned and operated. Our staff is made up mainly of local Turkish people and we are committed to training local people as guides to a high standard.
This tour is arranged on a bed and breakfast basis, with lunch provided on activity days which means that in the evenings you have the opportunity to eat out in different restaurants and try various local dishes, enhancing your holiday experience and supporting the local economy. We accept a maximum number of 12 people on this trip, because we believe that small groups minimise the impact of tourism on the environment. In addition, a small group size enables local people and visitors to interact in a more meaningful way, benefiting both sides; and for the same reason we ensure that the group is accompanied by a guide who speaks both English and Turkish. One way that we minimise the impact on the environment is by using vehicles as little as possible and by using group transport. All the activities in this tour are environmentally friendly, using non-polluting muscle-power to explore the beautiful outdoors in this part of the world. In addition to minimising any negative impact, we aim to create a positive impact on the environment by introducing visitors to the great variety of flora and fauna found here, much of it rare and endangered. To this end we provide participants on this tour with illustrated notes about the natural heritage of the area, including information about Turkish environmental organisations. If you would like to offer your support to any of these organisations, we provide contact details. Our aim is to raise the consciousness of both visitors and local people about local conservation issues. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've lead the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |