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turkey trip

in 2005 we had a fantastic trip to turkey covering 800 miles in four days! we managed to see all of our wedding venues, read on to find out about your wedding venue below!!

as we climbed the winding road into the pine-clad mountains, the beauty of turkey unfolded. our first destination was to be fethiye, a costal town nestling between the mountains and the sea and about 45 minutes from dalaman airport.

Fethiye

ece'saray (the ‘c' is pronounced as a ‘j') is a grand hotel situated on the marina in fethiye with beautiful views over the bay towards the snow capped mountains on the horizon. It was an ideal place to start our tour of turkey, looking at those special wedding, reception and honeymoon sites that we will be able to personally recommend to you.

as a special treat, our wedding planner had organised a meal at a traditional turkish restaurant called the yacht. this was our first introduction to turkish cuisine. the first course was a choice of over 15 different mezes including vegetable, meat and fish dishes. as a vegetarian, I was delighted as it meant I wouldn't be eating pizza for 7 days (unlike some places I've visited!). It's almost impossible to describe how tasty the various dishes were and the local beer wasn't bad either! all this accompanied by relaxed and efficient service. as soon as our glasses were empty, they suddenly were full again!

the following day, we drove around the town of fethiye, and also visited some of the popular holiday resorts like calis and oludeniz. the most charming thing about fethiye is that even though it is a popular tourist resort, and has been for many years, it still feels like a very small, local, unspoilt, quaint, rambling sort of town. the narrow maze of streets is packed with local retailers selling local spices and herbs.

one of the local specialities is tea, served without milk, it has to be tasted to be truly appreciated. although you can get western food, it's well worth trying the real turkish cuisine.

the resort of calis is popular with the brits and you can see the british influence here. In comparison, gocek, a resort favoured by yacht owners, is a resort enjoyed more by turkish holiday makers, so was a lot more traditional in style and feel.

the ghost town

our wedding planner particularly wanted to show us the ghost town as she had arranged a very special sunset wedding there before. I didn't know what to expect (i was thinking of an old country and western ghost town with the tumble weed etc).

situated in the midst of rolling green hills, your first thoughts were that you were in austria . as its name suggests, the ghost town is no longer lived in. It's where the greeks used to live before they were ordered back to greece and, out of respect for their ex-neighbours, the turks have never touched the town. It remains as it was the day they left (just minus a few walls) and walking around, you can see the greek influences in the architecture.

this makes a truly memorable wedding location. weddings can take place in the grounds of the old church which offers fantastic views and at sunset would be even more beautiful. this venue isn't for large parties or for anyone who isn't able bodied, but for those looking for a very unique and historic venue away from the hustle and bustle of the resorts which is both intimate and very special, this place would be a dream come true.

driving back from the ghost town we passed through two more british-favoured resorts - hisaronu and ovacik - both very pretty, with plenty of bars and action to keep everyone entertained.

oludeniz

our last stop of the day (and this was just our first full day there!) was another 7km up the coast to the man-made resort of oludeniz, built around the blue lagoon. for anyone visiting turkey for the first time, oludeniz, with its mix of local restaurants, snack bars and a few pizza places thrown, is a good introduction. part of the blue lagoon is a protected national park, and can never be developed on.

that evening (and it was the favourite part of the whole trip for me) we went to the white dolphin restaurant. normally, the restaurant doesn't open until 1st june, but the owners opened it especially for us! we sat on the terrace (which is also where the weddings take place) and shared a bottle of the local red wine watching the sunset. this is a really special location, for anyone looking for that great, scenic but intimate wedding venue. the restaurant is situated on the hillside on five different levels, each one offering its own special view of the blue lagoon below (and in the evening the sunset). this is the perfect venue for a proposal. the type of place where you wish the evening to never end, and the sunset to never quite finish.

we started our second day with breakfast at the ece' saray – a delicious buffet comprising both western and turkish dishes. the weather looked promising, with that crispness in the air that you get with a spring day in the uk

marmaris

mamaris is a 2½ hours drive from fethiye, with many parts over twisting mountainous roads through amazing scenery. I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting to find in turkey, but I couldn't get over the green landscapes. one second, I thought I was looking at a scene from the lord of the rings and then, in another, I thought I was back in england among the green hills of home!

we stayed at the laguna hotel in icmeler, just outside marmaris. we were offered a room on the top floor and, as the hotel is in magnificent location at the head of the bay, we had stunning views out over the whole of icemeler.

as well as the green hills reminding us of home, the weather did its bit as well! we wrapped up warm and ventured out into the wind and rain, to discover what marmaris had to offer. this is another resort where there is a strong british influence, with two burger kings and two mcdonald's within a stone's throw the kids definitely won't go hungry here.

the resort is situated around a lovely sandy beach lined with all different types of restaurants, which have views out to sea and over the marina full of private boats and boats you can hire for the day. we walked around the bars, set in the narrow streets with shops offering anything from local delights to leather and fake handbags - a shopper's paradise. be ready to barter here; it is expected and the initial offer prices take account of it. this resort offers some of the liveliest nightlife in turkey, so I wouldn't go here if you are looking for a relaxing break! however, it's excellent for children and teenagers

bodrum area

after marmaris, we had another 2 hour mountainous drive to bodrum - one of our planner's favourite destinations, arriving mid-afternoon. the sun had returned for this trip and another lasting memory was enjoying the magnificence of this coastline, driving with the green-clad mountains on one side and really blue water on the other.

current laws in turkey dictate that building work has to stop when the tourist season starts, so there was a frenzied rush to get everything completed before the start of may. a lot of roads where closed and what really made it fun was that there were no diversion signs. luckily, our expert wedding planner knew her way around and we successfully made our way to l'ambience, our residence for the next few days.

we had lots of places to see and little time to do it, so we dropped our bags off and headed to the marina for lunch. this was the cheapest meal yet, an average of £1.50 per head for pizza and a beer!

we visited bodrum castle and walked along the marina. this location can only be described as ‘magical'. anyone with an interest in boats and marinas will love it here.

after, we headed to gumbet another resort with a strong british influence. the resort spreads around yet another lovely bay, with more excellent views over the sea. again, there is a wide choice of eateries and bars.

we carried on along the coastline, visiting more small bays along the way. the area around bodrum is quite a diverse location, with something on offer for everyone, from local turkish restaurants to british style cafes and bars. one of my favourite bays was turkbuku a holiday resort much visited by celebrities. this resort is also favoured by the turkish people which we always found to be a good sign – especially for the more adventurous since you won't find english restaurants, or even english menus, only excellent local turkish cuisine and non-english speaking (but charming) waiters. the main meal of the day is usually the best ‘catch' since the turks are proud of their food and only sell fresh fish!

this resort is surrounded by private villas and small boutique style hotels, there are some excellent restaurants where you can sit and star spot to your hearts delight. this is the perfect place for the romantic couples wanting to get away from everything and everyone.

during our stay in bodrum, we had a unique opportunity to learn how to belly dance from a real turkish belly dancer. it was good fun for us; but i'm not sure if she was impressed by our attempt at this traditional age old dance!

finally, after five full days, we headed back to fethiye where we said goodbye to our wedding planner, who had weddings to organise. our last day was spent relaxing by the pool and trying to absorb everything we had seen over the last few days and 800 miles

I can't wait to visit turkey again and thoroughly understand why it's one of our most popular wedding destinations. we look forward to helping many more happy couples share some of these experiences, as we help plan their dream wedding in turkey