I am back at work today after having a lovely week away to Marmaris in Turkey with 4 of my lovely friends. I was not sure what to expect from the Country as it was my first time visiting but I have to say I was not let down.
The weather was beautiful, if not a little bit too hot for me reaching 49degrees on the hottest day! By the sea there was a slight breeze though to take the heat off a little. I would say if you are not into very hot weather September/October would be an ideal time to Visit.
Along the sea front there were lots of gorgeous restaurants offering a fine mix of cuisine ranging from authentic Turkish to traditional English meals. The great thing about Turkey is they still have their own currency, the Turkish Lira - which with the exchange rate you get over double to the English £. On average a meal will range from about 10 lira to 20 so that’s just £5-10- great value for money!
My Friend Vicki and I enjoying some Authentic Turkish dishes! Delicious!
At the far end of Marmaris there is a lovely Marina where lots of day trip boats dock as well as yachts and cruise ships. I would highly recommend taking one of these day trips out as they take you to about 5 secluded bays where you can get off the boat and swim around in the crystal clear waters. This was great value at just 20 lira (about £8) for the day to include lunch of chicken pasta and salad. You also get to sunbath on the tip deck to soak up the rays in between swims.
I am there somewhere!
The pregnant Nuns house - the tale tells of a Nun from Rhodes who fell in love with a pirate, got pregnant and was banished to live on this island in solitary. They built just a house and a church, where you can just about see the remaining ruins.
In port I was lucky enough to see the Thomson Celebration docked over night. It certainly lived up to its name as they sounded like they were having a right old Celebration onboard as I could hear lots of music and laughter coming from the ship!
Me in front of the Thomson Celebration
An example of this cruise would be:-
6th September 2010 7nts
Marmaris, Bodrum, Izmir, Mykonos, Piraeus, Nauplion, Aghious Nikolaos, Marmaris
With prices from £679pp to include return LGW flights (other airports available) full board.
If you’re anything like me and you like your shopping you can Visit the Bazaar where you will find hundreds of shops from bags, sunglasses, perfumes, jewellery and much more! Just watch those luggage restrictions with your flights as it can be easy to get carried away!
Overall I would certainly recommend taking in this sort of itinerary on your cruise. Turkey has some very exciting and beautiful places to see and is steeped in Culture and History.
