Having traveled to many areas along the Turkish coast, Kalkan is still one of my favorites and gets my vote for one of the most picturesque. Hills surrounding a pretty bay and islands in the distance mean that almost any spot in Kalkan has a beautiful view and makes for amazing pictures. There isn’t a ton to do in the town of Kalkan itself but it has a beautiful setting and is a great place to base yourself to explore the entire Western Mediterranean region. Kalkan is about 2.5 hours from Antalya, 1 hour from Fethiye and 1.5 hours to the Dalaman airport.
Logistics
Getting there
Unless you are driving in from elsewhere, you will likely fly into the Dalaman airport to reach Kalkan. Personally, I think it would be hard to stay in Kalkan without renting your own car, but it is possible to hire taxis to take you to some of the sites in the area. (The taxi stand in the center of town lists set fares to popular sites).
Hotels
You won’t find mega-resorts in Kalkan. Instead you will find small boutique hotels and many apartments and villas for rent. The last ten years has seen a real surge of Brits buying holiday homes in the Kalkan area which means there are many private villas and apartments available for rent on sites like Homeaway and Airbnb. Private homes usually have stunning views and access to a private pool. Try to get a sense of the exact location of the apartment before you rent, however. Homes are increasingly being built high up on the hill, making walking to and from town challenging.
Exploring Kalkan town
- The town of Kalkan is small, but cute. The main pedestrian district and old part of town is chock full of restaurants and little shops. Buildings in the old town descend down a hill to the marina via several streets. Warning: the walk back up the hill can be steep! For most of the day cars are not allowed in this section of town.
- The town is a good place to spend a morning or afternoon shopping. You’ll find some standard Turkish tourist shops, shops with typical beach stuff, and more unique / interesting places. One shop has hand-painted pottery with different types of cute animals; another has unique glass pieces (Akin Gallery). Another popular shop is Just Silver – a silver jewelry store that has a tray in the front you can sit around and just dig through for fun silver pieces.
- One of the coolest things about wandering through the town are the pretty old houses. The traditional homes are white, have a wooden balcony on the second story, and are often covered in bougainvillea.
- At the bottom of the hill you will find the marina and the public beach. I’ve never actually used the beach in Kalkan but it is pretty and looks clean. It is a pebble beach and is free to enter but you will have to pay for chairs / umbrellas.
- The small marina is filled with private yachts and boats that head out for day trips from Kalkan’s marina. Doing a day-long boat trip can be fun – you leave in the morning and explore the bays around Kalkan. The boat stops in several spots where you are able to get off the boat and swim. You have lunch on board and come back into the Kalkan marina around 5pm. The boat doesn’t venture too far from Kalkan but it’s a relaxing way to swim in different parts of the bay.
- The only annoying thing about Kalkan is that it is FULL of restaurants and you will find touts trying to convince you to come eat at their restaurant at all times of day. I’m sure some of the restaurants are very good, and I know many have roof terraces with stunning views, but the touts are annoying.
Kalkan Restaurants
Just outside the city of Kalkan sits one of my favorite restaurants in Turkey: Guru’nin Yeri (Guru’s Place). This adorable, family-owned and operated establishment serves authentic, home-cooked food. Their yoğurtlu köfte (pictured here) is one of my favorite meals of all time. The restaurant has a lovely outdoor terrace that gets great sunsets. It’s about a 5 minute drive from the center of town and they will arrange free pick-ups if you don’t have your own wheels. The family also offers Turkish cooking courses – given the quality of their restaurant I imagine that the cooking courses are outstanding
My favorite lunch place in Kalkan is an unpretentious pideci (Turkish pizza place) in the heart of town: Öz Adana. The pides themselves are fresh and tasty and they come along with free mezes that are just brought out to your table. Prices were also very reasonable (30 lira for 3 people and a lot of food).