Lee Osborne (Bookabed) and Onur Gul (Turkish Airlines) are hosting a fam trip to Antalya in Turkey with yours truly (ITTN’s Shane Cullen), Megan Burke (Cassidy Travel), Robyn Purser (Flyme/Marble City Travel), Nicola Doyle (Sunway Holidays), Norma Hoban (Limerick Travel), Clodagh Anne Nolan (O’Donohoe Travel), Lynne Casey (Fahy Travel), Chloe McMahon (O’Hanarahan Travel) and Michael Doorley (Shandon Travel) and my old colleague, the wonderful Jacinta McGlynn.
Flying Turkish Airlines, the baggage allowance is an impressive 23kg plus 8kg of hand luggage (no standing on the scales balancing precariously with a bag in hand to see if I’m a kilo over the limit). Equally, a set of golf clubs is free of charge to bring with you.
Turkish Airlines offer direct flights from Dublin to Antalya weekly (departs Dublin Airport at 15:55 and lands at 22:40 – flight time of 4 hours 45 minutes. Being Turkish Airlines, it is a full-service airline with food and beverages onboard.
With Onur Gul, you can expect exceptional hospitality and, of course, he treated us all to Fast Track through security and access to the lounge in Terminal 1 at Dublin Airport.
Antalya where sea, sun, natural beauty and centuries of history meet.
Antalya is a city where the sea, sun, centuries of history and spectacular nature co-exist in harmony. Those who love the sea, sand and sun and those who want to get lost in nature can find dozens of options in Antalya with the 640km of coastline stretching from west to east on the Mediterranean coast, the Toros Mountains surrounding the city parallel to the coast.
In the far west of the city, on the Teke Peninsula, there is an Ancient City called Patara one of the most important cities of the Ancient Lycian Civilization.
As you move east, you can find nature in the bays of Demre and the traces of ancient civilizations at every corner. Kaş is one of the few diving centres in the world. Kemer is home to many luxury resort hotels and the magnificent Tahtalı Mountain (Tahtalı Dağı).
Kaleiçi, which forms the centre of the city of Antalya, brings together the ancient city of Attaelia, one of the most important medieval ports in the Eastern Mediterranean, the traces of the Seljuks and the natural wonder cliffs.
The Ancient City called the Perge is one of the important stops of St. Paul and the important port city which belonged to the Pamphylian civilization.
Belek is a world-renowned golf centre with its specially designed courses. The Belek region is also prominent with amazing resort hotels, services, nature and facilities.
When you move a little north from here, you will reach one of the best-preserved ancient theatres in the world, the Aspendos Ancient Theater (Aspendos Antik Tiyatrosu). There is also the Manavgat Waterfall (Manavgat Şelalesi), which joins with the river with foams flowing meandering through the forests, the Temple of Apollo (Apollo Tapınağı) and the Ancient City of Side (Side Antik Kenti), right next to the sea, are home to a cultural asset that a day is not long enough to explore.
Fascinating with its pine forests and waterfalls, Alanya is in the far east of the city with its historical castle extending into the Mediterranean.
I, for one, can’t wait to visit this beautiful part of the world again.
