Think of a Turkish holiday hotspot and you’d be forgiven for thinking of blazing sun, packed pool parties, glittering turquoise seas, booming beach bars, all-inclusive resorts buzzing from morning to night — and a parade of dazzlingly white ‘Turkey teeth’ flashing by the pool.
A sweeping generalisation maybe, but British fashion designer and stylist Nicole Heath knows another side to Turkey – one of cosy wood burners, long lunches with not another tourist in sight, welcoming locals and an altogether slower pace of life.
Nicole, from Stamford in Lincolnshire, is passionate about Turkey – its people, scenery, culture and cuisine.
Her first trip was over 20 years ago, after which she found herself visiting on business on a regular basis. A lot of her clothing designs were made in factories in Istanbul and all over Turkey – in places like Konya, Izmir, Denizli and Bursa – so she got to know the country well.
She recently visited Dalyan – somewhere she has been many times – but never during the winter. The Sun Lounger asked her if she would recommend an off-season break to what Wikipedia calls a “serene, scenic town” in Turkey’s Muğla Province, located on a river between Marmaris and Fethiye. This is what she said:
I always said I would never return to a country multiple times – certainly no more than twice – but I absolutely love everything about Turkey.
I used to go every six to eight weeks and it made sense to head to the coast after a work trip, to unwind. I was part of a group of girls who used to holiday there once or twice a year and I would fly down and join them after a work trip too.
I have been to Dalyan many times, in every season, apart from winter.
My friend Rosie – whose house we stayed in during our recent visit – discovered Dalyan and introduced me to it some years ago. She ended up buying a home out there which I sometimes stay at, or if there are a few of us, I will stay in a local hotel near to her place.
How to get to Dalyan in the winter
Getting there in the summer is quite easy as most airports have a direct flight, such as EasyJet, Tui, Jet 2, Pegasus, AJet and Sun Express. Alternatively, you can fly via Istanbul and do a stopover. My preferred airline is Turkish Airlines, who are very good.
This time we had to fly from Manchester as my friend lives in the north of England and, in the winter, there are only flights from Manchester or Gatwick with EasyJet, and only once a week.
The flights are quite cheap at this time of year and I paid less than £200 return. It’s about four hours flying time from the UK.
What’s Dalyan like to visit in the winter?
Rosie and I went for just a week. It was her idea as she hadn’t experienced the winter there before and thought it would be nice to try it out. Yes, it was very quiet. Obviously there are some ex-pats who live out there permanently, but no tourists at all.
Most places were shut but there are a few places that stay open and they advertise these on a Facebook platform called Dalyan in Winter, so you have a reasonable idea before you go what is available.
It’s a strange concept, walking down the main shopping street and everything is shut, unlike in the summer. However, the local shops/supermarkets are open and so are the local businesses, so you can get bedding (we had to buy duvets!) and household items, and they still have a weekly Saturday market, although at this time of year it sells mostly food and vegetables and not so much clothing.
What’s the weather like in Dalyan in the winter?
Winter in Dalyan is mild, cool and wet, with daytime temperatures averaging between 12°C and 16°C, dropping to around 6°C-9°C at night. While it is the rainiest season, there are still pleasant, sunny days and it’s a stark contrast to the hot, dry summers. It is a quiet, comfortable time to visit – perfect for exploring, without the heat.
We were very lucky with the weather. It was very cold, but sunny. We had one full day of rain at the end and two rainy evenings, but there were bad storms and torrential rain the week before and the week after we were there.
We managed to heat our accommodation on reverse air con and we bought duvets and hot water bottles – and I took furry slippers! You wear what you’d wear here – in the UK – in winter, but it did warm up around lunchtime, so you could sit outside at a bar or cafe, in shirt sleeves.
At night, the restaurants and bars had wood burners and fires going, so it was very cosy. The day it rained in Dalyan, we went to Fethiye and it was glorious weather there.
Would you recommend Turkey as somewhere to visit out of season?
Turkey is a great place to visit off season. Places like Istanbul and the larger cities and towns stay open all year but in smaller places like Dalyan it is quiet and more authentic. At that time of year, there are very few Brits and when you go out, there are more Turks in the restaurants and bars. That’s nice to experience as you don’t see it so much in the summer.
It’s a good sign if a Turk is dining somewhere because it means the food is going to be good! You can also do things that it is too hot to do in the summer, like visit ruins and walk.
What’s the food like in Dalyan?
Authentic Turkish food is great and we had some really good meals. The restaurant choice in winter is limited, but we ate in a different place every night bar one (a re-visit as it was so good).
Everything is fresh and local – so the flavours are wonderful – and there are a variety of traditional dishes available revolving around chicken, beef and lamb, and, of course, lots of fish and seafood.
There are more restaurants to choose from in the summer, but of the ones that were open, they were all very good – particularly the Caria and Duble. Obviously, the small local coffee shops and fast food places stay open for the locals in the old quarter.
Joy’s Café: new to me and only open in the daytime, this place is great for traditional Turkish breakfast, fresh juices and lunches (omelette etc). The Turkish breakfast is amazing, with homemade jams, bread, fresh orange juice and small plates – £10 for two people! There was a lovely wood burner going too.
Corner Bar: we discovered this last summer but it is now under new ownership and is a bar on the main street. It’s very cosy with wood burners and smaller wood pellet tubes. Usually, you have a cat on your table too. They do not do food but will order in anything you want from any restaurant that is open and deliver it to your table. We did this one night.
Caria Luxury Hotel: this was the old Tezcan on the riverside but it has been refurbished and it is very nice. I will probably stay there next time. The restaurant is more formal and well-appointed and the food is excellent. The stuffed calamari was to die for! Rooms £66 per night via Booking.com in February.
Cagri: a fish restaurant on the edge of the Turkish quarter and very good for anything fishy. I had the shrimp casserole and it was amazing. It’s very Turkish (we were the only Brits in there).
Duble: we went here twice – again in the old Turkish quarter. It’s great for lamb shish and one night I had a Turkish casserole.
River House: located on the banks of the Dalyan River, this was probably my personal least favourite, not because of the food, but because they only had a small fire going and it was a bit cold in there!
Ella’s Bar and Kitchen: a newish place just open until 5pm. They do breakfasts and lunches and the food is very simple but good.
I should also mention Tapa Bar. It’s right on the waterside and is a great vantage point for watching the river and the boats. They no longer do food, but they do have speciality nights at which you can have a BBQ or jacket potato, for example, once or twice a week. A great sun trap at lunch time and plenty of cats on your table too!
Does Dalyan offer good value for money?
Prices in Turkey have gone up like everywhere in the world and inflation is high (65%). That’s not good if you are Turkish, but the exchange rate is bonkers for visitors like us! It was 2.2 Lira to the British pound when I first visited Turkey and now it’s 59 Lira to the pound.
However, it is still very good value. You can still get a glass of good Turkish red or white wine for £3.00-£3.50 (it’s well over £10 here in Stamford) and a good meal for two (starter, main and a bottle of wine, with good quality meat or fish) for around £30-35 pounds.
You couldn’t do that here or in Europe! Only once did we pay around £40 for two in a newly opened hotel/restaurant, but it was exceptional.
Things to do in Dalyan in the winter:
Everyone asked if we would find enough to do but we didn’t have any problem with amusing ourselves.
Shopping
The local Sunday fair is somewhat of a new thing and was actually very good. Lots of authentic hot Turkish food sellers and local artisans selling beautiful handmade jewellery and embroidery and leather. It’s well worth a visit and very busy with Turkish families.
Iztuzu Beach
This is a protected turtle nesting site with access from the river at one end and the local dolmus (bus) at the other. Not many boats run at this time of year, but the little bus runs twice a day, there and back.
We were not sure if the cafe would be open, so we took some beers and a sandwich with us. There were a few sun loungers out but it was quite chilly in the wind. However, it was almost deserted and very peaceful and we managed 2.5 hours before we rang for a taxi to pick us up as it was a bit of a wait for the bus.
Kaunos Ruins
These are amazing and cover a huge site. It was once a very famous Greek city, complete with amphitheatre and lots of other interesting buildings that are in the process of being restored.
To get there, you take a small rowing boat across the river to ‘the other side’ and then walk along the narrow road past the cemetery, which was very interesting and where environmentalist Kaptan June Heimhoff is buried. This German lady fought off the authorities to make Iztuzu Beach a protected site and stop hotels being built there. She died four years ago, at the age of 99, and you can see her grave in the cemetery.
You walk past the rock tombs – beautiful mausoleums carved into the rocks – and then uphill to Kaunos. There is a small cafe there, but it only sells tea and coffee in the winter. The views of the beach are stunning and it is well worth a visit. It’s a bit too hot for me in the summer, but great at this time of year.
We walked downhill to the ferry, which takes three to four cars over. However, we just missed it by a whisker, but a very kind man gave us a free trip over on his boat.
A day trip to Fethiye
This is quite a large place on the coast and we decided to go and do some shopping there when it was forecast to rain in Dalyan. In the summer it is quite ‘British’ and I normally wouldn’t go there in season.
You can go to Ortaca on the dolmus and then change for another dolmus to Fethiye. It takes about 1.5 hours. It drops you at the shopping mall. where we had a mooch round.
Clothes in Turkey are very cheap – good quality, non- branded jeans, shirts and knitwear, especially. It’s all made over there and Turkey makes clothing for a lot of the ‘designer’ brands – like Hugo Boss jeans and top end men’s shirts.
We then took a taxi down to the water side and found a cafe where we had lunch in the sunshine. There isn’t much open on the front, restaurant-wise, but in the old quarter, about 50% of the shops were open.
Prices here are more expensive than you would pay in Dalyan but if you want a ‘designer’ handbag or ‘designer’ anything, then this is the place to be (for a lot less than the real thing).
We went to the bus station and back to Ortaca, but we’d had enough of the bus by then and called our local friendly driver, Muhammet, and he came and picked us up and delivered us home – good job as by this time the rain was biblical!
What to do on a rainy day in Dalyan
What else is there to do, but have a hammam?
I’ve been to this one many times – Tekin Dayan Hammam Kocabeyoglu – and it’s brilliant. There is a menu of choices but we had the classic hammam. We went into a marble, dome-ceilinged chamber with hot marble and steam for a lie down, then a full scrub and soap and massage.
They then take you out and put local mud all over your face and then take you to be massaged to within an inch of your life with some amazing oils.
All in all you are in there for about two hours and come out feeling both exhilarated and exhausted at the same time, but with wonderful glowing skin. I have to be careful with massages as I have post breast surgery lymphoedema – but they were very careful when I explained and I felt ‘protected’. Cost: approximately £45.
Shopping in Turkey
There is nowhere like Turkey for shopping, in my opinion. Unfortunately, wintertime is not the best time for all the lovely artisan shops, as they are taking a well-earned break. However, if you do go in season, then take a half empty case with you as you will fill it. You just have to watch the weight of your luggage.
The prices are very good as most things are made over there and are fully vertical in that the fabric, trim and labour all come from Turkey, so prices can be kept low. You will always get some vendors who try and ‘diddle’ you – so shop around and try and build up relationships with certain sellers. Then they will look after you and give the best prices.
You can get some amazing homeware bargains – beautiful cushions and fabulous handmade rugs, as well as silk scarves from Bursa – for a quarter of the price, compared to over here – and they will ship them for you too.
Would you do it again? In a heartbeat.
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