My Favourite Destination: Hannah from Suitcase and Sandals

Todays Guest post comes from the talented Hannah who blogs over at Suitcase and Sandals. If you have a spare few mins go check it out!

The lovely Gemma asked if there was anyone interested in doing a guest post whilst she is on Holiday this year about their favourite place to visit. I immediately contacted her, as I love sharing my favourite places with other lovely bloggers, and she kindly allowed me to write this post. Thank you Gemma! I hope you are having a special time away.

 I have visited the beautiful Davutlar in Turkey in 2011, 2013 and I’m heading there again for two weeks at the end of this summer. I love the relaxed atmosphere of the place as it is not overly touristy, unlike Kusadasi which is just a 30 minute drive away. I have stayed in a villa there both times and I’m staying on the same site again in the summer which is only a 10 minute walk from the most gorgeous beaches! I’m not really sure how I’m going to fit all of the reasons why I love this place so much but I’m aiming to do my best…

 The site is called Rimakent Sitesi, and there are a lot of these different sites spread around. Most of the people that holiday in the Davutlar area are Turkish which I like because I feel as though I get more of an authentic experience when I holiday there. On the site I stay on, it is roughly half Turkish, half English and some of them even live there throughout the year. All I’m going to say is that my family pretty much have the pool to ourselves until the afternoon, which is amazing – I love just relaxing by the pool with a book. It is so peaceful and there are some mountains right behind the site which makes some lovely scenery!

 

 Usually we just laze around by the pool soaking up the sun which is so chilled. However, both years we have been we have gone on a boat trip which takes us for the day around the national park bays which is in the village on from Davutlar, called Guzel Camli. The views are incredible. The sea is honestly crystal clear and it is so peaceful. I usually take my book, my ipod and my camera and that is me sorted for the day (not forgetting suncream!!!!) but many other people will be jumping off the boat and playing in the water, which I have done once but the sea scares me. Maybe this year…

Last year we were taken to have breakfast in the mountains and I fell in love. Not only with the food, which was absolutely to die for and I still make some of the foods we had that day, but the views were amazing, we could see all the way to the sea! I cannot wait to go back there again this year and have some of the Turkish breakfast. This included my all time favourite dish which is called Menemen and is basically just tomato and egg, which sounds like a weird combo but trust me it is incredible! Here is a link to the BBC’s version of a menemen recipe if you fancy trying it for yourself! http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1263668/turkish-onepan-eggs-and-peppers-menemen

Speaking of food, I just have to mention that in general the food in Turkey is amazing. My favourite restaurant, the Agora in Guzel Camli serves the most amazing bread as a starter which comes with garlic butter and tomato dip. I could eat this 24/7. It is amazing, and I haven’t even started on how nice their mains are! Chicken Shish is what I tend to go for in most restaurants in Turkey because it is just so tasty! Another amazing thing about the majority of the restaurants in the local area is that they will pick you up and take you home FREE OF CHARGE. The Agora even has a jeep they bring sometimes which is so exciting because you are sitting on the back of a jeep heading down a dual carriageway with no seatbelt on. Not the safest, but exhilarating all the same. In Kusadasi there are even more restaurants, although I have only ever been to one. It was called the Saray and it was great fun! There was music, dancing, cocktails and great food. The only downside was that it was fairly expensive compared to all the other restaurants by the beach that we go to! One thing about Turkey is that you really do get things cheaply. I think we would get a Spag bol for £3/4 or something which is madness.

I just have to mention the markets I have been to as well. In Davutlar there is a market every Wednesday and Sunday, and I love going. I have brought so many beautiful clothes, shoes and scarves there which I have previously posted about on my blog. In Kusadasi there is also a market but we gave it a miss last year – it is quite overwhelming and we weren’t with my Dad so we decided not to go. I liked this market, but I prefer the smaller one if I’m being honest because the things being sold there were more authentic to Turkey. Davutlar is a locals market, whereas Kusadasi is touristier! They also have amazing pancake type things called Gozleme’s at Davutlar market which are super yummy!

This year I’m hoping to go back to all of the places I love in Turkey, and also head back into Kusadasi to go to the waterpark there as this is a place we have not yet been to but would really love to go to! Davutlar is the perfect place for a relaxing and chilled, yet cultural holiday which is why I love it so much. I could talk about Turkey all day, but I’m sure you are all very busy so I will leave it at that. I hope you have enjoyed hearing about my favourite place to visit ever!

Have you ever been to Turkey? Have you ever been to the Davutlar area? Let me know what you thought!