We were trying to figure out where to go when our Schengen visa time was up in Europe. We heard about other travelers loving this small town of Fethiye on the Mediterranean Coast. Most stayed in Calis Beach which turned out to be a big British tourist area and has a great, long promenade lined with restaurants and shops.
Getting there consisted of a short (but choppy and stomach churning) ferry ride from Rhodes, Greece to Marmaris then a couple of hour drive to Fethiye. We arrived on the day before Easter and the Easter Bunny did in fact come to our rental apartment on Easter morning! We immediately set out to find a rental house for the next month. It took us till the 2nd day to get our rental which was a townhouse at the far end of Calis Beach. We signed a lease for a month and moved in.
Our back porch and shared yard
Grazing behind our house
View from our front walkout
Since we didn’t have a car, we had to take a dolmuş (think big minivan) to/from the grocery store. This meant it was a pain to cook so we usually ate at home for breakfast but went out for lunch or dinner every day. Luckily the promenade was a short 5 minute walk away, so we’d head there and pick up some food. We loved going to the promenade to eat/shop/stroll.
One of the kids favorite activities was jumping off the rock wall onto the beach.
Of course Chuck and I enjoyed the sunsets as we ate dinner outside.
One of our favorite places to eat wasn’t on the promenade but was a 3 minute walk from our place. We went there so many times to eat Gözleme which is a bread stuffed with filling. Beckett loved the cheese while Chuck and I usually got 1 stuffed with minced beef and another stuffed with potatoes and cheese. We’d always get tea too!
One of my favorite things to order was the testi kebab cooked in a clay pot. When it’s time to serve, they’d come out and use a machete to break off the top of the clay pot and pour the food onto your plate. It was delicious! Well the first 2 times it was – the last place I got it I swear I had clay pieces in my food and it wasn’t very good. The guy had even said if his food wasn’t the best he’d jump into the ocean. The food wasn’t that good but we didn’t have the heart to make him jump in the ocean.
Hi-yah!
Since I’m speaking of food, one of the highlights for the kids was the ice cream shows. When you order ice cream in Turkey, the vendor puts on a show which is hysterical. The kids got a kick out of it every time.
That’s a big ice cream cone!
We had a great time while in Fethiye. Some times we’d head down to the main town of Fethiye, a couple of times we headed to Ölüdeniz to paraglide, or some days we’d visit the local market. One day we did a day trip to Pamukkale to see the white travertine pools.
Fethiye
One of the times we went into Fethiye, we found a kid trampoline area for the kids to play in. They had mini ATVs the kids could drive, plus the kids loved playing on the trampolines.
We also just had fun hanging out at home or just doing random things.
Picking lemons off the lemon tree out back
We found Hotel Mara downtown. Love the guy in the doorway!
All in all, we had a good time in Calis Beach. Chuck and I loved walking to the beach in the morning, we loved strolling and eating along the Med, we had some great time playing in the pool, and we had fun doing some big ticket activities too. Definitely a great month!