Family activity holidays in Turkey

Our Turkey family activity holidays run the gamut from sea kayaking to canyoning and mountain biking, interspersed with pleasantly relaxed experiences like river tubing through the vast Saklikent Gorge, or picnicking in a mountain meadow. Kingfishers and terrapins watch on as you canoe along rivers, villagers offer you a cool drink mid-hike, and gulet boat cruises are the perfect opportunity for an impromptu leap into the sea. . These are holidays that make a big splash.

You’ll stay in the seaside town of Kas, in south-west Turkey. Kas is an ideal base for this kind of trip. Activities abound off the coast, and in the Taurus Mountains behind the town, yet despite this Kas remains refreshingly untarnished by mass tourism. Danny Bell is a product manager at our partner Exodus Adventure Travels. “I think there are two aspects that recommend Kas to families. Firstly, it’s not overdeveloped, it’s not too crowded. And secondly there are loads of things to do in the area that suit kids of all ages. So many places along the Turkish coast are just ‘fly and flop’ but that’s definitely not the case here.”

While you won’t be rushing around from place to place on a Turkey family activity holiday, you will definitely be kept blissfully, brilliantly, busy. Every day you’ll meet up with professional local guides, who will arrive bearing good quality equipment including helmets where necessary, then lead you off on grand adventures.

Setting off early in the morning to avoid the boat-trippers, you’ll kayak out to the island of Kekova, passing over the sunken ruins of a town called Dolichiste that slid into the sea following an earthquake in the second century. “The water is so clear and calm that you can clearly see the old ruins beneath your kayaks,” says Danny. You paddle out to Simena, a coastal village that can only be reached by water, its Byzantine-era castle gripping the hillside.

The following day might see you down paddles for a hike into the mountains. You can enjoy a picnic in a highland pasture, or on the patio of a house that an entrepreneurial local family has converted into a cafe. Walking back down through shady forest you can finish with a swim off a beach.

Other surefire highlights for all the family include an afternoon of walking and tubing through the Saklikent Gorge, the second-longest canyon in Europe. Tubing, if you’re unfamiliar with it, involves plonking yourself into a rubber ring and floating gently down the river. Prior to departure, ensure that every member of the family is aware of the severe consequences if parents are tipped out ‘for a laugh.’

“We used to offer a boat trip on a traditional gulet just as an optional excursion,” says Danny, “but it was so popular we added it into the main itinerary. It’s a day of exploring down the coast with a local crew, stopping off to swim and snorkel in coves, having a fresh Turkish lunch on board. A lot of fun.”

And this isn’t even the half of it. Depending on the trip you take, you might spend a morning exploring the UNESCO-protected Xanthos with its Persian and Roman ruins; canoe along the Xanthos River keeping an eye out for kingfishers, egrets, herons and terrapins on the reedy riverbanks; or visit the Church of St Nicholas at Demre, where the generosity of the 4^th-century bishop, Nicholas, is said to have inspired the legend of Father Christmas.

Boat trips take you out to the Greek island of Meis (Kastellorizo), its harbour-front lined with pastel-coloured houses, while whitewashed villages dot the hills. In the Kibris Canyon, a 90-minute drive from Kas, adventurous souls can enjoy canyoning – abseiling or leaping down waterfalls into the river. And you can spend a few hours just relaxing on the gorgeous golden beach at Patara, one of the longest in Turkey and a preferred nesting site for giant loggerhead turtles.

Kas itself has much to recommend it should you have a few hours free. The Friday market is ideal for souvenir shopping, with handmade trinkets, clothing, and locally produced ceramics and jewellery among the offerings. Freshly made gozleme (pancakes), filled with lamb or white cheese, are great for snacking on the move. Kas also has a number of archaeological sites to explore, including the ruins of a Hellenistic theatre, and some Lycian rock tombs cut into the hillside.

Our family activity holidays in Turkey are week-long, small group tours – group sizes vary but should be no more than 20, so assume four to five families in each. Solo parent families are of course very welcome, as are multi generational families. This is a fun way to spend a week, as groups bond together very quickly during activities. In the evenings, families break away to do their own thing for dinner.

The minimum age for these activity holidays is seven, but really they’re best-suited for kids aged around 10 and upwards, to ensure they can fully take part in all of the activities. Since much of the fun is water-based, all participants should be able to swim, and be comfortable in the water.

You’ll have the opportunity to swim most days. The water off Turkey’s Turquoise Coast is wonderfully clear, and you can do your bit to keep it healthy by opting for reef-friendly sunscreen that prioritises natural and organic ingredients.

Trips run from May to October. From June through to late August the resorts strung along Turkey’s Mediterranean coast get very busy. Kas doesn’t suffer as much, but we’d still recommend coming outside the height of summer if you can. You’ll find the temperature more pleasant too – it hovers around 30°C in August.

By keeping group sizes to just 16 or so, our partners are able to use small, locally owned hotels. Lunches are usually included for full-day activities and they can vary from a mountain picnic to fish barbecued on the deck of your gulet, or a meal in the home of a village family. In the evenings you can wander the abundant restaurants around Kas to sample traditional fare like pide (Turkish pizza), stuffed mussels, or freshly caught trout, followed by burnt milk ice cream. All of which means that the area benefits significantly from the tourism you bring, far more than it does from big, all-inclusive resorts.