All- inclusive holidays in Turkey. My trip to Alanya.

All – inclusive holidays in Turkey is a very popular trend and today I’m going to share with you my experience making a trip to Alanya, Turkey.

The popularity of all – inclusive trips is obvious – you don’t have to care about buying a flight tickets, booking your hotel and looking for places to eat. You just need to do one thing – go to a travel agency and book your all – inclusive tour.

So did I one year ago and today I would like to tell you about my journey. I booked my tour one month prior and the actual tour was in the beginning of May. 10 days in Alanya in a 5 star Hotel all-inclusive costed me about $800 including the flight as well.

I think the cost of this tour was pretty cheap, considering the 5 star Hotel and flight. I stayed in the Vikingen Infinity Resort&Spa; Hotel in Avsallar, which is the suburb of Alanya and about 15 minutes drive, and 2 hours from the International Airport in Antalya.

Everything was organized perfectly! After my arrival I met a travel guide at the airport, and the bus was already waiting. I was lucky because I arrived early in the morning and had the entire day ahead. The only disappointing was the long road from the Airport in Antalya to my hotel – it took about 2 hours.

The Vikingen Infinity Hotel is amazing, especially its location on the first line to the sea. It has the own beach with a water park and snack – bars. There are also 4 restaurants with the variety of cuisines.

Sauna and Spa

The Vikingen Infinity Hotel has a nice spa center, which includes steam room, sauna, a Turkish bath, hammam and a variety of massages, for instance Thai or Bali massages. It has a gym with aerobic classes as well. The spa center is not included in the price.

I recommend taking at least a hammam, which was very nice. They will offer to take a few massages, but they are pretty expensive. If you decided to take a massage, don’t agree with the price right away, instead try to bargain on the price. As a result they will make a price lower or at least will offer you a discount, if you take a few procedures.

Shopping

What could you buy in Turkey? There are plenty of ideas starting with small souvenirs like Nargile Pipes, Turkish Delight, Tea or Coffee to Carpets, Gold and Leather. Normally the prices are higher in the touristic areas, especially near the luxury hotels, so it is better to go shopping in the areas, where locals live.

The best places for shopping of course, Istanbul or Antalya, but it could be a problem to travel where and dedicate to it one extra day of your vacation. Vendors from a jewelry or leather shops at the hotels offer some organized tours to workshops where you can buy cheaper, but they get of course, commissions for that.

Turkey is known for its leather products because of the excellent quality and half the price, so it could be worth to consider it. Just always remember to bargain on the price.

Excursions

Every hotel in Turkey will offer you a variety of excursions – from taking a boat trip in the Mediterranean, tours to Cappadocia and Pamukkale to one – day tour to Israel or Stambul. They all say that it is better and safer to buy excursions by an official representative of the tour company at the Hotel to avoid scammers.

Instead of taking a local excursion I decided to leave them for the next time a booked one – day trip to Israel. The excursion was expensive – 400$ but included flight from Antalya to Tel-Aviv. We flew very early in the morning and returned late at night. This was exhausting but worth it.

The excursion to Israel included trips to Bethlehem, Jerusalem, all the important churches and Holy places and at the end we went to the Dead sea and swam there. I will dedicate my entire next post to my trip to Israel, just follow my news!

When I will go to Turkey next time, hopefully I will visit some local sight as well. But I asked at my Hotel about most popular excursions and if you are the first time in Turkey, you can book these:

• 2 or 3 days trip to Cappadocia. The tour manager said this one is one of the most interesting and the prices surprisingly not expensive – for all transfers, hotel and food it starts from 65$ per person. You will see the wonderful landscapes and mountains, ancient cities and churches and monasteries in caves.
• Excursions to Pamukkale. This trip starts at 50$. Pamukkale is a town in western Turkey meaning “cotton castle” in Turkish and famous for the mineral – rich thermal waters flowing down white terraces on a nearby hillside. This excursion includes also the visit of neighboring Hierapolis – an ancient Roman spa city founded 2000 years ago.
• Alanya sightseeing tour. You will see all the main attractions of the city – the Red Tower, Cleopatra beach, Alanya castle and Damlatash cave. It includes also a visit to the picturesque surroundings of the city.
  

Final thoughts

Turkey is an amazing country with a rich historical and cultural heritage, developed service for tourists and the mild climate. It means you can go to Turkey every time of year. I went there at the beginning of May and it was already about +40 C. I can imagine how hot is over there in the mid of summer.

I think the best time to make a trip to Turkey is April, May or September and October. In this time you can swim in the sea, especially in the Autumn the water is still very warm. And the prices are much lower than in the summer.

Another thing you should be careful with is scammers. In countries like Turkey or Egypt many people want to cheat you and get extra many, for example I heard stories from some friends when they arrived to a hotel, people by reception asked for extra 10-15 $ for a room with a better view, even though it was already payed by booking a tour.

I didn’t happen to me at the Vikingen Infinity Hotel, but you should keep it in mind and be prepared. Everything else went very well and the staff at my hotel was friendly and nice.

Written by Alex.