Voyeur Turkey

BELEK

Introduction

Although it stands almost on the doorstep of ancient Perge and Aspendos, Belek is actually a pristine purpose-built resort, founded in the 1980s specifically to feed the golf and luxury market. There are some cheaper apartments and smaller hotels inland and in the nearby village of Kadriye, but the bulk of the resort is made up of a string of extremely classy four- and five-star de luxe hotels, many of which are all-inclusive and leave no room for the development of any local infrastructure. People come here to chill and play in luxury; experiencing the local culture is low down the list of priorities.

Who goes there?

Belek tends to attract a rather strangely mixed and very moneyed crowd - golf fanatics, wealthy families, footballers and their hangers-on, birders and botanists...

Where in the world?

Belek is 35km (22 miles) east of Antalya, on the south coast of Turkey. The resort stretches along a flat coastal plain, with the backdrop of the Taurus Mountains a few kilometres inland.

Beach

Belek has one of the finest beaches on the Turkish coast, 16kms (10 miles) of pristine, fine white sand fringed by shady pines and gently sloping down to limpid turquoise waters. A perfect playground for children, it is also a popular nesting place for loggerhead and green turtles, so the area is carefully policed to ensure that the nesting sites are not damaged. The beach is public but is treated as private by the resorts that line up behind the dunes. Most of them offer a range of watersports from pedalos to dinghy sailing and parasailing for their guests.

Beyond the beach

Belek was built on golf. So far it has 10 championship level golf courses with another 10 due for construction in the next few years. This brings in golf fanatics from across the world. The resort also has world-class football facilities that attract A-list European teams for training camps and a fine tennis school. Somewhat bizarrely, all this greenery has also made it a fabulous birding and wild flower centre. Most of the resorts offer a wide range of sports and spa facilities. There is virtually nothing on offer outside the hotels.

Family fun

The sandy beach is ideal for children and there are gentle watersports on offer along with land-based activities such as riding, cycling and tennis. Most of the larger resorts offer excellent family facilities and kids' clubs. The Troy Aquapark & Dolphinarium provides the usual range of rides and slides and offers the opportunity to swim with its resident dolphins.

Retail therapy

Shopping in Belek is expensive and high end. There are some shops and malls in the town, and most of the large hotels have their own shopping arcades. There are bazaars in the twin village of Kadriye. Nearby, at Perge and Aspendos, are rows of huge jewellery and carpet warehouses waiting to catch the coach parties. For proper shopping, however, head into Kaleici, the old town of Antalya.

A night on the town

Most of the hotels lay out some form of entertainment for their guests from lounge pianists to nightclubs, cabarets and discos. Relatively few people leave the confines of their hotel and there is very little on offer elsewhere.

Eating out

The choice of restaurants outside the hotels is extremely poor as all the hotels are so well-stocked. Most of them have at least four different restaurants and cafés to choose from and many are all-inclusive. There are some cheaper bars and cafés in Kadriye but few people eat out.

Getting around

Most upmarket resorts here will run shuttles to the beach, golf courses, the airport and into Antalya. Otherwise, there are plenty of dolmus (shared taxis) and taxis and you can hire bicycles for getting around Belek.

Exploring further afield

Spend a day in Antalya exploring the beautiful old city, with its designer shops and mouthwatering restaurants, but be sure to include a visit to the world-class Antalya Museum where you will find many of the more precious relics from the magnificent Greco-Roman city of Perge and Aspendos, with its fabulously well-preserved Roman theatre, both of which are very close to Belek. Heading east along the coast, Side is a magical place with the modern resort curling itself through the ancient ruins and the temple of Apollo perfectly framing the sunset over a golden beach. Further along still is Alanya with its vast Ottoman castle and the damply health-giving Damlatas Caves. Inland, Koprulu Canyon National Park is an area of wild natural beauty where it is possible to go white-water rafting and you can hike along sections of the 500km (310 mile) route, from Perge, near Antalya, up to Yalvac on the Anatolian plateau, which partly follows the footsteps of St Paul's first missionary journey in Asia Minor.

Splashing out

In a resort that boasts over 30 four- and five-star hotels and prides itself on being a luxury destination, splashing out simply becomes a matter of moving across to the neighbouring resort for the evening. Many of them have a range of restaurants offering world-class cuisine. But perhaps top of the tree is the sleekly designed new Adam & Eve Hotel (on the seafront, 1km/0.6 miles east of the centre) (website: http://www.adamevehotels.com/), which bills itself as the world's sexiest hotel (mirrors everywhere) and also has a state of the art thalassotherapy spa.

Flying in

Antalya Airport (AYT)

Etiketler: Antayla, Belek, Turkey

Engin KAYAN tarafından gönderildi @ 04:56