Having just arrived back from a fabulous week away at Mark Warner Sea Garden resort Bodrum in Turkey I wanted to give you some of my top tips for a thoroughly enjoyable holiday.
1) The exchange rate in Turkey is amazing so don’t exchange your money before you go. We got less than 3 lira to a pound in the UK and over 3.4 lira to a pound in Turkey.
2) Go Shopping in Bodrum!!! Now it is not often I recommend going shopping yet the quality of the items we bought and the fantastic low prices means I actually recommend leaving room in your suitcase on the way out.
3) Pack a lot of high factor sun cream. I got burnt on the first few days even after using factor 50 sun cream so dont go for low factor creams, the UV rays are strong. If you are taking kids make sure you buy them UV suits, or UV tops at the very least. They have to wear tshirts when swimming with the various kids clubs so one of these would be perfect.
4) Pack your pool inflatables with you. The cost of these on resort along with the sun cream can be very high so taking them with you can save you some pennies.
5) If you love swimming pack a snorkel. There are so many fish in the beautiful clear sea that you will be amazed when you put the goggles on and look under the water. Also pack some water shoes as the beach has lots of pebbles and rocks.
6) Try something new. I had so much fun learning to sail and even if the bruises are still looking quite sore the memories are amazing. I also tried Sea Kayaking for the first time ever and loved it so much I did it over and over during the week.
7) The nondescript white liquid with no label near the pancakes tastes like liquid peanut butter! mmmmmm amazing
8) Have a late lunch to beat the rush and enjoy some freshly cooked local snacks like the lovely Gozleme that was like a large stuffed pancake that you could have different fillings in.
9) Use the shuttle service from the Sunset bar to the hotel reception when going for dinner. It is a long walk up some steep hills and steps!
10) Enjoy the cocktails! I have no idea what any of them were but I had a variety of cocktails both alcoholic and non alcoholic and they were all amazing.
11) Book into the restaurants at the beginning of the week. Unfortunately we missed the opportunity to use our second vouchers as the restaurants were fully booked.
12) Make sure you catch some of the evening entertainment up in Mini Bodrum. The quality of the entertainment was fabulous and the Chinese flying dragon show had the kids mesmerised with the acrobatics on display.
I hope this helps you have a fabulous holiday in Turkey and I will be sharing more about our holiday over the coming days.