7 Days In Turkey – Top Things To Do!

Turkey will always be one of my favourites destinations as it was my first trip abroad. 7 days in turkey is a perfect amount of time as there are many activities to do and the beaches are beautiful. Turkey is a great holiday destination. The exchange rate is so high therefore we can do everything we want. Eat at nice Restaurants and even buy goodies to bring home all for a few hundred pounds. Whether you are into adventurous activities or just love sitting in the sun, Turkey has something for everyone.

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ITINERARY ROUND UP :

ARRIVING IN MARMARIS

We arrived in Marmaris which is an hours drive from the airport in Dalaman. We stayed at a beachfront hotel which had such beautiful views. With being on the beachfront we only had a short walk to restaurants, bars and even the shops. The first thing we did was book our excursions. Now we had something fun booked for every day as we love to get out and about. We managed to book 7 trips for our 7 days in turkey for under £100. The day trips even including meals. 

TURKEY TOP TIP:  A good thing to remember when booking your excursions is to have a clear idea of which order you want to do your trips. Some excursions can last 7 or 8 hours. Doing two days with this length trips right consecutively  can be very tiring so remember to break  them up with a fun short activity in-between.

TRIP 1: TURKISH BATH 

This is a brilliant way to Start your Turkish holiday! Turkish baths are not only super relaxing but good for your skin. We always aim to book our Turkish bath for the first night. This is so our skin is treated before we head out for a week of being in the sun. Turkish baths Relieve stress, cleanse the skin and eliminates toxins from the body. We started in the sauna before entering a room with a marble table. Then we had about a 45-minute treatment from head to toe. We were now feeling super refreshed and finished off with a cup of apple tea. ( something you have to try in Turkey as its super yummy )

Extra Treatments

We decided while we were in the spa we would treat ourselves to some other treatments. As a result of the Bath itself was so cheap. We booked a massage, Facial and even a foot detox. They took their time and didn’t rush any treatments. This was well worth the money. We spent a good few hours here. When we left our skin felt ready for the sun. All our aches and pains from sitting on the plane were a distant memory.

TURKEY TOP TIP: Book all of your excursions together to get a better price. You can get a Turkish bath from as little as around £7.

TRIP 2: JEEP SAFARI 

One of the more fun jam-packed trips of the holiday. This is probably my favourite thing to do. The Jeep safari Lasts around 7 hours. This takes you on a tour of different villages, waterfalls, beaches and beautiful landscapes. Lunch is included in this tour. We started with a WATER FIGHT! This was super fun as there are around 4-5 jeeps in convoy going through the beautiful open roads. Everyone on board is armed with a water pistol. This takes up the first part of your journey as you are heading away from the main part of the city. 

TURKEY TOP TIP:  Make sure you have packed lots of suncream. You will be exposed to the sun all day. Pack valuables are stored in something waterproof as you will get very wet!

We then headed through some cute little villages while we dried off in the sun as we made our way over to “Jesus beach”. Jesus Beach located at the Orhaniye Bay.

It is a beautiful beach and major tourist attraction in Marmaris. Once we arrived we grabbed a table under a parasol and enjoyed a slushy. We then headed outwards towards the water, seeing people having photos with parrots and camels. The beach gets its name as you can walk on water. There is a section around 3 meters wide where you can walk 600 meters out and be no more than knee-deep in the sea. It’s a Stunning beach with hills all around you as you. We collected some shells here before we headed back towards the jeep. 

Next Stop: Lunch

Lunch is included in this tour so you head over to a Local village where everything has been prepared for you. This is probably my least favourite part of the tour as there tend to be lots of flies and chickens around you when you are eating However its nice to sit have a drink and get some shade. You have a little bit of time here to have a rest, talk to some locals as well as enjoying lunch before the last part of the journey.

Last Stop Turgut Waterfalls

Once back on the jeep again you go cross country seeing all the pretty villages and countryside homes as you go up some crazy hills. Looking down we could see the harbours and boats out on the water. We then arrived at Turgut Waterfalls. This is such a stunning place.

Once you arrive you make your way up a little wooded trail. You reach a certain point where you start to see waterfalls. They are so beautiful and people are swimming everywhere you look. If you are brave you can jump the 4-meter waterfall! People will be cheering you on to jump and applaud you when you land. There are also springs around every corner which you can swim in if you don’t mind the cold! Definitely a Photo moment here! We had some free time to have a wander around a have a little swim before we made our way to the jeep ready to head back towards Marmaris.

TURKEY TOP TIP: Definitely grab some drinks from a supermarket to take before hand. A supermarket run is a must for your 7 days in Turkey. Its a very long day and a lot of time in the sun with little cover and there isn’t always somewhere to buy a drink if you need one!

TRIP 3: AQUA DREAM WATER PARK

I love Aqua dream as not only is it a super fun park but its always a great way to break the week up and take time to enjoy the sun. There are lots of different types of fun things to do here. There is a wave pool, normal pool which they run games like water polo in and of course lots of slides! My favourite slides are the ones with rubber rings! There is a big slide that you can see from the hill was very daunting at first as you can see the sheer drop off the side of the hill when you are stood at the top of the slide, however, this soon became my favourite slide in the park. It’s a great park because no matter what you enjoy there is something for you. 

It’s nice to be able to relax on the loungers in the sun before heading back to the slides. They also have a restaurant that has sea views and they sell the best waffles and ice cream! we always make sure we have this before we leave. 

The Best Ice Cream

They also run shows in the park, dancers and Music sets. When we were sitting eating our ice cream we watched as the people were dancing to the music on a floor that turned into a water fountain it was almost like an outside nightclub. As I was walking toward a slide, I turned round to look for the rubber rings and then a monkey started to climb on me, he was super cute. This was very unexpected, but the more excursions you do on your 7 days in Turkey, you tend to see people walking around with animals for photo opportunities.

TURKEY TOP TIP: Bring some extra Lira with you as there is normally photographers not only with the animals but will take photos of you with the beautiful views behind you. You can have your photos taken then decide before you leave if you want to buy them. With 7 days in Turkey you will definitely have a photo taken you want to buy somewhere!

TRIP 4: BOAT TRIP TO TURTLE BEACH AND THE MUD BATHS

We took a 5-minute shuttle bus ride down to the marina to get aboard our boat. Firstly we found a downstairs table next to the window. Once we ere settled we sat and had some breakfast as the boat departed. Later went up to the top deck to grab a sun lounger. We dangle our feet off the edge of the boat looking out to sea. The first part of the journey is about a 2-hour journey. We left Marmaris and head towards Dalyan. This is a great time to catch some sun and take in the beautiful views, if you are really lucky you can sometimes see dolphins too!

Once you then arrive in Dalyan you leave this boat and split into groups and head out in smaller boats. This can be a bumpy ride! The boats head towards the Ycian Rock Tombs when you will be taught all about there history. You then head through some long grass as you pass by the small villages and hotels. They are so peaceful looking sitting right by the sea with nothing around but stunning landscape. If you are lucky you will see some sea turtles bobbing around next to the boats. 

TURKEY TOP TIP:  The boats always sell fresh pomegranate juice.. definitely buy some, its super tasty and refreshing.

Next Stop: Turtle Beach.

A highlight of our 7 days in Turkey. You arrive at a little island when you pull up next to all the small boats on the dock. You will have free time here to grab a drink and take a wander around the little island. The whole island is usually covered in Turtle eggs as this is where they come to breed. We tend to head straight to the bottom of the docks as this is where all the turtles tend to be as they know that there will be crab for them from the boats. We were lucky enough to have had a sea turtle sim around our feet last time we were here. 

Mud time! Once you have finished up at turtle beach you jump back into the boat and head towards the Mud bath thermal spas. This was a new experience the first time we did this and wasn’t sure what to make of it at first. 

Upon arrival, we were lead towards this Huge brick swimming pool full of mud. As we stepped into it squished in our feet and felt really gross. We were told to sit down and get completely covered from head to toe hair and all! The next step is to sit out in the sun and wait for the mud to dry out. This feels really strange as all of your skin starts to go tight. Once fully dried you head over to some FREEZING cold shower to wash it all away. This became more of a challenge than we first thought as trying to get it out of our hair and swimwear took a while.

The final Step was the sulphur bath…Now, this smelt like rotten eggs but was really hot so, despite the smell, it was nice after the cold shower. Once we had jumped out and dried off Our skin was so smooth and felt amazing! 

TURKEY TOP TIP:  Sometimes the mud can stain if you don’t manage to wash it all off at the showers so don’t wear your favourite bikini! Also remember to take all of your jewellery off when in the sulphur bath as it can damage it.

We got back onto the small boat and headed back towards the port where the Big boat we started on was. This was a bumpy ride! There were some big waves coming and boy could you feel them in this small boat… I was definitely glad to be back aboard the Big boat. We sat down and had some food ( which was included) and a drink. We then chilled out enjoying the views until we arrived back in the Marmaris marina.

TRIP 5: GO KARTS

This was something we did as an evening activity after having a chilled day by the pool. Our 7 days in Turkey wouldn’t be complete without a chilled day!

The karting track was a little drive away in a shuttle bus. Once we arrived we were basically in the middle of nowhere.. just a small building and a huge kart track. We had our safety briefing and off we went! There was lots of crashing and bumping into each other as we went around the track. At the end of the race, they announced the winner and they got a trophy. They also filmed the race so you were able to buy it if you wanted to! The whole experience lasted around an hour so is great to do if you have nothing booked in the evening.

TRIP 6: SCUBA DIVING

This is an experience that I have always wanted to do. We again headed to the harbour to get on to our boat. First, we headed out for about half an hour to the diving site to do our first dive. We had to learn all about the kit and how our regulators worked so we could breathe properly once we were under the water. I was very nervous at first as I didn’t know what to expect. Once we were ready to dive, We put on our wet suits and weight belt which I then could not stand up! The next thing was flippers, goggles and finally oxygen tanks. 

Once we were in the water and the instructor has taken us down to the bottom we held on to rocks to stop us from floating around. We could see all the fish swimming around past our googles. We were also given some bread to feed the fish and so that we could get a photo. Then it began! we went off on our first dive tour and did a small lap around the boat seeing fish and creatures in and about the rocks. Not so scary. We came back up and got onto the boat and had some lunch before our second dive.

Second Dive

On the second dive, we went a lot deeper and was out for about 20 minutes. We started out the same again and then began to swim around. We saw a shipwreck which was super cool, we could even see some of the items that had been left on the ship. This was a lot scarier as when you looked out in front of you, you could see nothing but black. We saw some more cool creatures, anemone and funky fish. This was definitely a cool experience and we got to see so many things on our dives. This is my ultimate recommendation that you have to do in your 7 days in Turkey!

We also had Lunch when we were back on the boat before we had some free time to snorkel around. It was nice to have this time as we could enjoy the sun and make the most of our time in this area. We dried off on the boat on the way back to the Marina while eating twister lolly before heading back to the hotel to shower away all of the saltwater. We went for ice-cream later on this day… I was worried if we ate any more ice cream we might just turn into it.

TRIP 7: QUAD BIKES AND BUGGIES

We took a bus to the Buggy Quad Experience site. First, we read through the safety measures. Now the fun part! I had the choice to go out on a Buggy or a quad. I chose the Buggy as I had ridden quads before. Once we had selected which we wanted to go out on, we collected a helmet and jumped into the buggy or onto the quad bike. We started off around a circuit which consisted of hills. There were muddy puddles and getting sprayed by firehoses! Well, I wasn’t expecting to get so soggy! Managing a few laps going in different directions going around new parts of the track before we were ready for the open road. 

Heading out onto the main road, and we were off! We drove for what seemed like forever going through the picturesque hills and tiny villages. We saw lots of farms with people out working and chickens roaming around. everyone seems to be happy to see us and waved as we drove by. Once we came to a point in the journey where we were about to stop once again the Guides soaked us with fire hoses! This was welcome as we were so dusty and muddy that it was nice to be clean again. 

Back We Go

After a quick break to stretch out legs and have a wander around and have a well-needed drink before we got back in and headed back towards the buggy centre. We headed back on a different route seeing unfinished homes that had started to be built in the countryside and then left. We headed over some rocky terrain before being able to put our foot down and fly down the main road back to the centre. This was a half-day experience so we had some chill time later on and went to Pukka (our favourite Restaurant) for a steak and pizza for me! Out of the whole 7 days in Turkey, This was my favourite meal.

BONUS TRIP: JET SKI AND INFLATABLE WATER SPORTS

On our last day, we packed up all of our things ready for the airport and headed out to the beachfront. As we had some Lira left we decided that we should do one last thing before we went home. There were lots of companies offering Jet ski rides and big inflatables so we decided why not. 

TURKEY TOP TIP: Jet ski and inflatable rides do cost a lot more than any other experience, its hard to find these cheap anywhere you go in Marmaris so remember to keep some money aside if this is something that you want to do.

We decided that we would do the jet ski first, So we walked down this long inflatable dock to where the jets were, Got the key and off we went! I sat on the back of the jet ski so that I could take in the views. We headed out as far as we could seeing big sailing boats coming from in between the hills. It was so pretty however the water suddenly got very black… I did not want to fall off! We had about 20/25 minutes on the jet ski. We rode right down to the marina and back before hitting some big waves and doing doughnuts on the jet ski before we headed back in.

The Big Mable

Now that our adrenaline was pumping we thought we would also do an inflatable ride. We picked one called ” THE BIG MABLE” it was an inflatable chair with little loopholes to hold onto pulled by a speedboat. 

As the boat pulled us out I thought it was okay as it was fairly slow.. Then all of a sudden they put their foot down and we were flying across the waves, leaving the water completely as we hit them so hard. I was holding on for dear life laughing and crying. This was super fun as we laughed the whole time we were on this. We did have to hold on super tight to not fall off which did become uncomfortable after a while but it was well worth it purely for the laughs we had. They sent a drone up to record our experience which was funny to watch back once we were back on dry land.

Our 7 days in Turkey were up. We got ready and waited for our shuttle to collect us ready for the airport. I was so sad to be leaving as we had such a jam-packed fun week!

 I can’t wait to see what excursions we book next time we go and I hope this has given you some insight into the fun things Marmaris has in store! If you have any different top things to do, Let us know in the comments below! I hope you enjoyed our 7 days in Turkey trip! don’t forget to check out my last post: Ultimate Road trip guide

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