A luxurious journey to Antalya with Corendon

“The inhabitants of Antalya was 600,000 9 or ten years in the past. At present it’s 3 million,” our licensed tour information Ihsan instructed us on a latest journey to southern Turkey. I blinked – not as a result of I used to be being blinded by the solar, however due to the sheer scale of that development. A five-fold enhance in only a decade.

On our return house, I did what all good journey journalists do and Googled it – and that’s after I additionally found Antalya at the moment ranks sixth place globally for the very best variety of worldwide arrivals, forward of cities akin to Dubai and Paris.

I suppose it ought to come as no shock. Antalya’s obtained the ocean, the solar, the spellbinding mixture of outdated and new — and, as we discovered, a tempo of life that fits each wanderers and the wildly energetic.

Antalya’s Previous City

Our Antalya expertise had begun with a journey again in time. Ihsan was introducing us to the town’s Previous City — Kaleiçi — which interprets actually to imply ‘contained in the citadel’. It’s the center and soul of outdated Antalya, the place cobbled lanes meander previous Ottoman homes and Bougainvillaea spills over rooftops, all throughout the historic metropolis’s defensive partitions.

We began with the Monument to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the daddy of recent Turkey, standing towards a skyline of minarets and crimson roofs earlier than taking in a sweeping view over the traditional metropolis and its marina. Down beneath, fishing boats bobbed gently as they’ve for hundreds of years, and the ocean shimmered within the type of blue that painters dream of however hardly ever match.

From there, we took within the Yivliminare Mosque which has an attention-grabbing historical past. Thought to have been transformed from a pre-existing Byzantine church however destroyed within the fourteenth century, the prayer corridor was reconstructed in 1373 and is notable for its six domes, making it one of many oldest surviving examples of a multi-domed mosque in Anatolia.

Our tour additionally took us to the Antalya Ethnographic Museum, housed in two restored Ottoman-era mansions. It showcases every day life and gives insights into Antalya’s conventional tradition, notably throughout the Ottoman interval.

Maybe most hanging architecturally was the Shehzade Korkut Mosque somewhat additional on; it originated as a Roman temple and was later transformed right into a Byzantine church earlier than turning into a mosque. Traits from every period can nonetheless be seen – reminders that earlier cultures haven’t been erased, however simply re-written.

And let’s not neglect Hadrian’s Gate, constructed to honour the Roman Emperor’s historic Antalya in 130 AD. Constructed largely of white marble, it stands as a strong reminder of Antalya’s wealthy Roman previous, although it commemorates solely a fleeting go to.

This triumphal triple-arched gate, as soon as a part of the town partitions, now shows the worn stone beneath – testomony to the passage of numerous historic carts.

Past the Clock Tower, we stopped on the statue of King Attalus II, who based Antalya as Attaleia within the 2nd century BC. Right here, we had free time to wander the markets and cafés, and luxuriate in perusing the wares of spice sellers, a sensory closing notice earlier than re-emerging into fashionable Antalya.

Corendon Playa Kemer Lodge

We stayed at Corendon Playa Kemer Lodge, an all-inclusive five-star resort about 40 minutes’ drive south alongside the coast from Antalya.

Our Customary Sea View Room was fashionable, ethereal and spacious, with a small balcony overlooking the resort pool and seashore, and the Gulf of Antalya past.

There’s a mini-bar, replenished every day, that you may assist your self to and, to greet our arrival, there was a small bottle of wine, some snacks and recent fruit.

For meals on the resort, you’re spoiled. There’s the principle eating space – Zephyrantes – serving a buffet at breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus a meals court docket open outdoors common hours — preferrred for late arrivals like ours, the place the workers are typically aided by a robotic waiter. The range at Zephyrantes was so intensive, it might please everybody — from adventurous foodies to the pickiest of eaters.

There’s additionally a separate à la carte restaurant – Bona Fides – past the meals court docket, for a extra intimate eating expertise.

We dined right here twice, and the second go to was particularly memorable — a pleasant, fish-themed night that includes meze — a cherished staple of Turkish delicacies and social eating, preferrred for households trying to take pleasure in high quality time collectively.

Along with the intensive meals providing, services embody numerous bars, indoor and out of doors swimming pools, a spa (see our Turkish tub expertise beneath), a health club, and watersports services throughout the principle season.

We even had use of our personal cabanas overlooking the seashore, full with butler service and a well-stocked fridge, plus there’s even a small amphitheatre tucked away at one finish of the advanced that hosts a assorted occasions programme.

Though the resort has its personal leisure, there are a selection of music and cultural occasions that may also be loved in Antalya too. Subsequent month alone, for instance, the town will host the Antalya Music Pageant, Antalya Akra Jazz Pageant and Antalya Trend Week, while later within the 12 months the Kaleiçi Previous City Pageant goals to protect and develop the town’s cultural and historic heritage.

Runtalya

The timing of our journey coincided with Runtalya — the town’s flagship operating occasion. Now in its twentieth 12 months, it has developed fairly a following, each in Turkey and internationally.

The occasion sometimes hosts round 10,000 runners yearly, from greater than 50 international locations all over the world. A wall of names near the beginning line confirmed this 12 months’s members collaborating in all occasions from the 5K enjoyable run via to the total marathon.

Our youngest son Tom and I took on the half marathon while my spouse Becky and our older son James – and our real hope of a podium place – had registered for the 10K. Sadly, James needed to withdraw on account of an ongoing harm, however his youthful brother knocked over 10 minutes off his half marathon PB, to complete in 1h28m, and land fiftieth place out of greater than 900 runners. I trailed fortunately behind, ending in just below two hours (sixteenth out of 57 finishers in my age class), while Becky accomplished her 10K in below the hour mark.

It was a well-choreographed occasion, with loads of support stations alongside the route, to not point out loads of help, a communal ambiance, with leisure alongside the way in which to distract from the aches and pains we had been feeling en route.

If, like me, you take pleasure in combining sporting occasions together with your travels, chances are you’ll have an interest to be taught that the X-WATERS Antalya Open Water Swimming Race and Corendon Tahtalı Run to Sky each happen within the area subsequent month.

Corendon Tennis Membership Kemer

The morning after Runtalaya, we headed to Corendon Tennis Membership Kemer, just some minutes drive from the Corendon Playa Kemer Lodge. None of us are what you’d name tennis gamers, however we didn’t let that – or our achy legs – cease us.

Catering for all talents, the membership is house to 14 clay courts, surrounded by hills and inexperienced forests of the Taurus Mountains.

Right here we had been warmly welcomed with rackets, balls and the affected person optimism of two pleasant coaches. We began with coordination drills, realized to strike the ball with out sending it wildly out of the court docket, and completed with a enjoyable sport that noticed Crew Corendon tackle Crew Asics.

They may have fared higher than us at the day gone by’s operating occasion – one among them earned a really spectacular second place within the males’s half marathon – however I’m happy to report that we beat them at tennis!

The membership additionally gives spacious and comfy spectator seating, state-of-the-art floodlights for night tennis, an irrigation system to maintain the clay moist, and the on-site Corendon Membership Café for meals and refreshments.

Turkish tub expertise

Again on the spa at Corendon Playa Kemer Lodge, we ended our journey with an area ritual: a Turkish tub – the right antidote to our latest bodily exertions.

First got here a delicate poaching within the sauna, earlier than we had been known as to the hammam. With us mendacity on the heated stone slabs, our therapists labored up clouds of bubbles that had been seemingly the scale of small sheep. We had been lathered from head to toe in delicate foam earlier than being taken to a remedy room for the principle therapeutic massage.

From there, we headed for the comfort lounge, the place a cooling face masks was delicately utilized, and the expertise culminated with us sipping on a glass of Turkish tea.

The remedy felt each indulgent and cleaning. It was additionally nice for loosening off my legs after the half marathon – I’m usually feeling fairly stiff after longer runs these days however unusually I wasn’t so dangerous this time round, and I’m positive that’s thanks – no less than, partially – to our Turkish tub expertise.

Corendon Airways

We flew Premium with Corendon Airways, a Turkish-registered operation which may not spark immediate recognition for UK or US travellers — but. However, like Runtalya, Corendon is celebrating its twentieth anniversary and is shortly gaining altitude.

We flew from Manchester to Antalya aboard a Boeing 737-800, with front-row seats affording us somewhat extra leg room than the already affordable 30-32 inch pitch provided by most seats on the airplane, making the four-hour hop that little bit extra snug.

Boarding was clean and I even managed to piggy-back on a teen’s request to see the cockpit previous to take-off, to take a fast shot of my very own.

Though we travelled gentle — hand baggage solely (one 8kg cabin bag and one 3kg underseat bag every) — our Premium ticket entitled us to 2 extra 20kg maintain luggage per particular person. So, while we might have introduced the kitchen sink, we settled for the necessities – and our operating gear, after all – to facilitate faster passage via the airports.

Corendon transports roughly 6 million passengers yearly with a fleet that’s largely comprised of Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737-800 Max mannequin plane, offering direct flights to an intensive community of 165 airports throughout 65 international locations. Within the UK, flights to Antalya can be found from London Gatwick, Stansted, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Glasgow. UK travellers can fly on to Crete in addition to Antalya, and by way of connecting flights to different Turkish locations akin to Istanbul, Dalaman and Izmir.

Disclosure: Our journey was sponsored by Corendon Airways.

Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxurious Journey Weblog and has labored within the journey trade for greater than 30 years. He’s Winner of the Improvements in Journey ‘Greatest Journey Influencer’ Award from WIRED journal. Along with different awards, the weblog has additionally been voted “one of many world’s finest journey blogs” and “finest for luxurious” by The Telegraph.