A luxurious journey to Antalya with Corendon

“The population of Antalya was 600,000 nine or ten years ago. Today it’s 3 million,” our licensed tour information Ihsan instructed us on a current 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 progress. A five-fold enhance in only a decade.

On our return dwelling, I did what all good journey journalists do and Googled it – and that’s once I additionally found Antalya presently ranks sixth place globally for the best variety of worldwide arrivals, forward of cities comparable to Dubai and Paris.

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

Antalya’s Outdated City

Our Antalya expertise had begun with a journey again in time. Ihsan was introducing us to the town’s Outdated City — Kaleiçi — which interprets actually to imply ‘inside the castle’. It’s the center and soul of previous 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 contemporary Turkey, standing in opposition to a skyline of minarets and pink 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 form of blue that painters dream of however not often 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 provides insights into Antalya’s conventional tradition, significantly through the Ottoman interval.

Maybe most placing architecturally was the Shehzade Korkut Mosque a bit of additional on; it originated as a Roman temple and was later transformed right into a Byzantine church earlier than changing 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 robust 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 last observe earlier than re-emerging into trendy Antalya.

Corendon Playa Kemer Resort

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

Our Customary Sea View Room was trendy, 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, which you can 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 courtroom open exterior common hours — superb for late arrivals like ours, the place the employees are typically aided by a robotic waiter. The range at Zephyrantes was so intensive, it may please everybody — from adventurous foodies to the pickiest of eaters.

There’s additionally a separate à la carte restaurant – Bona Fides – past the meals courtroom, 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, superb for households trying to get pleasure from high quality time collectively.

Along with the intensive meals providing, services embrace varied bars, indoor and outside 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 complicated 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 Competition, Antalya Akra Jazz Competition and Antalya Trend Week, while later within the 12 months the Kaleiçi Outdated City Competition 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 nations around the globe. A wall of names near the beginning line confirmed this 12 months’s contributors participating in all occasions from the 5K enjoyable run by way of 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 slightly below two hours (sixteenth out of 57 finishers in my age class), while Becky accomplished her 10K in beneath the hour mark.

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

If, like me, you get pleasure from combining sporting occasions together with your travels, chances are you’ll have an interest to study 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, only a few minutes drive from the Corendon Playa Kemer Resort. 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 skills, the membership is dwelling 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, discovered to strike the ball with out sending it wildly out of the courtroom, and completed with a enjoyable recreation that noticed Staff Corendon tackle Staff Asics.

They may have fared higher than us at yesterday’s operating occasion – one in every of 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 provides 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 Resort, we ended our journey with a neighborhood ritual: a Turkish tub – the proper antidote to our current bodily exertions.

First got here a delicate poaching within the sauna, earlier than we had been referred to 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 smooth foam earlier than being taken to a therapy 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 therapy 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 surprisingly I wasn’t so dangerous this time round, and I’m certain that’s thanks – not less than, partially – to our Turkish tub expertise.

Corendon Airways

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

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

Boarding was easy and I even managed to piggy-back on a teenager’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 further 20kg maintain baggage per individual. So, while we may have introduced the kitchen sink, we settled for the necessities – and our operating gear, in fact – to facilitate faster passage by way of 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 nations. Within the UK, flights to Antalya can be found from London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. UK travellers may also fly on to different Turkish locations, together with Dalaman, Izmir and Istanbul.

Disclosure: Our journey was sponsored by Corendon Airways.