Kalkan, a harbour town nesting in a hill on the Lycian coast is for us the best coastal resort in Turkey. Its plethora of fantastic cafes, bars and restaurants (more than 150) offer everything from relaxed lunchtime Meze platers to the finest in sea food dining. The staff are fantsatic and very welcoming but preofessional and skilled.
The location itself offers easy access to fantastic histroic and natural sights such as the ruins of the extensive Patarra City, Myra Tombs in Demre (the birthpalce of the real santa claus), The waters and walking of the Saklikent Gorge or the sunken city at Kekova!
Spend days swimming and jetski-ing off the boat as it tours the area before having a beautiful meal in one of the many roof terrace retaurants and finish with drinks at the harbour front pensions.
Kalkan is lsightly more expensive that other esorts such as Olu Deniz but offers a more discerning traveller a resort which caters perfectly for couples of all ages who want to get away from it all and enjoy the finer things in life.
On a practical note, the location means most hotels are "compact" but very comfortable and the streets tend to be hilly which while fine for most would not possibly suit those of limited mobility.

Kalkan.
October 2009.
We chose the resort of Kalkan because we thought the longer transfer from Dalaman airport and the pretty harbour town images may bring us some authentic Turkish Delight,sadly for us, not so.The British had already come and stayed.As one "local" British resident said, she would be glad when all the tourists had gone home, we as tourists say, its a shame Kalkan has been spoilt by the Full English Breakfast.

Kalkan itself is centred around the Marina and the restaurants which are in tiers over looking the marina. It is in such a beautiful setting.
The marina is so relaxing to sit and people watch.
Lots of places to enjoy coffee and watch the world go by.
It has a pebble beach so no sand getting everywhere, there are lots of boats to hire out, or take trips on which really is a must.
The shops are in little streets up the slopes.
Not very many locals, they do say its 80% british that live here. The staff from the hotels etc come in from different areas for the season. They are so friendly.
It is really a couples location, not much for families/children other than the sea or swimming pools.
We liked it very much and will be returning.

I came across Kalkan by accident while looking on a travel website. The description caught my eye immediately so I started to look into it. I fell in love with the place so decided to book a trip.

We stayed in a private villa - Villa Catrina - for a week mid September. It was a great time to visit as it was still hot but not unbearable.

The town was fairly small and quaint, not at all like the big resorts you envisage Turkey being full of. Of course it centers around tourists but not the mass market. The town is still full of charm. You do not see 'english pubs' and fast food chains like many resorts.

The people were wonderfully kind and helpful. My partner and I took our 1 year old daughter and she's was welcomed and fussed over everywhere we went, but not in an overbearing way like others places we've been in Turkey.

The town has many wonderful restaurants and we didn't have one bad meal. We also bought fresh seafood from the local market and cooked it at the villa. It was delicious. We had huge prawns and also Lamb (not sure if this is how you spell it) fish.

The only downside for us was pushing the buggy up the steep hills, but the place wouldn't be as beautiful if it wasn't set on the steep hillside so I can't really complain about that.