DESTINATIONS — TURKEY
Turgut on the Carian Trail
TRIED & TESTED: Selimiye properties
Badem Tatil Ev
This is the hotel to sell to guests who want a taste of Turkish life without sacrificing home comforts. The 12- room boutique is a converted manor house in the hills overlooking Selimiye’s horseshoe-shaped bay, owned by a Turkish couple and serving up local, seasonal fare in its outdoor terrace restaurant. Yet that homely feel is belied by its L’Occitane products, glamorous infinity pool and open-air massage hut, easy access to the hotel beach club and readily available Wi-Fi throughout – all lifting what would otherwise be a perfectly nice hideaway in the hills to an elegant property worthy of any luxury-loving traveller. It’s a 10-minute walk to the village and has fairly steep steps, so it’s not one for mobility-challenged guests, but its friendly staff and easygoing atmosphere should make it a winner with everyone else.
Massi House
Kuzbuk Waterfront, Selimiye This is the
marked-out Carian Trail certainly will be. The trail is made up of goat tracks, ancient caravan routes and Roman roads knitted together into a 500-mile route passing through the Bozburun peninsula. Unlike the short scrub and touristy villages found along the better-known Lycian Way, the Carian Trail is lined with tall pine trees, their needles crunching underfoot, and passes through villages where visitors rarely venture.
This will be the first full year of hiking along the route, which was only marked out recently by two Turks and Englishman Dean Livesley, who now leads a week- long trek for Exclusive Escapes. The group tour departs April 25 and October 10 to enjoy prime
walking weather (go in spring for more flowers, autumn for warmer waters), with at least six hours’ hiking per day,
staying at Badem Tatil Ev (see Tried &
Tested), from £1,750 including flights, transfers and
day cruise. Our hike offered just a taste,
but it was enough to appreciate the crisp air as we climbed higher through the pine trees; to feel the cool spray from the waterfall at Turgut; and to hear the low-level buzz from the beehives lining the paths, tended to by nomadic beekeepers and producing almost a third of the world’s pine honey. There’s no doubt Turkey boasts
its fair share of mega-resorts attracting flocks of sun-seekers, but Selimiye isn’t one of them. And in my book, it’s all the better for it. TW
supermodel of the villa world – it can’t fail to look good, no matter which angle it is viewed from. Its grey stone exterior gives way to a gorgeously modern interior, all blond wood floors, freestanding bathtubs and three tastefully decorated bedrooms on its upper floor, plus high ceilings, cool marble and a beautiful stone fireplace at the heart of the open-plan living area downstairs. That marble carries on to a beautiful terrace with views that will literally take your breath away, so stunning are its vistas over Selimiye. There are two outdoor dining tables so guests can catch the sun at breakfast and dinner, a private pool and hardly any neighbours, so seclusion is guaranteed, but do warn clients with children of its steep driveway.
Book it: Exclusive Escapes offers seven nights’ bed and breakfast at Badem Tatil Ev from £800, including flights to Dalaman from the private terminal at Stansted, or with British Airways from Heathrow or Manchester, plus transfers and a day’s gulet cruise. A week’s self-catering at Massi House starts at £875 based on four sharing, with the same flight options, transfers, seven days’ car hire, a meal at Sardunya, private fishing boat cruise, a welcome hamper with mezze on arrival and maid service.
exclusiveescapes.co.uk 020 8605 3500
29 January 2015 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 81
TOP TIP
Exclusive Escapes is offering new three-
bedroom seafront villa Kuzbuk Waterfront,
accessible only by boat, at half price for its first season
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112