The budget-friendly holiday hotspot UK families are flocking to
A basket of 10 common tourist items in Marmaris costs £128.99, which is nearly half the price of the most expensive destination surveyed, Ibiza.
The low prices are primarily due to a significant fall in the value of the Turkish lira against the pound.
Despite local price increases in Turkey, the favourable exchange rate means British visitors will only pay approximately 10 per cent more than a year ago.
Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, and Portugal 's Algarve were ranked as the second and third most affordable destinations for UK holidaymakers.
The cheapest short-haul holiday destination for UK families has been revealed – and its not in Spain
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Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Telegraph
Turkey's Islamist-leaning government risks putting off Western tourists
A recent crackdown on booze-fuelled nightlife in the popular Turkish resort of Marmaris, and sensationalist reports that it has subsequently turned into a 'ghost town', have led to speculation that the country's conservative, Islamist-leaning government is reducing Turkey's appeal to Western tourists. This is a worry not only for the tourists concerned, many of whom return to this beautiful country time and again (not least Britons, 4.43 million of whom came in 2024), but for everyone in Turkey employed by tourism. Any significant drop in visitor numbers would be a major headache for the government too, with the industry accounting for 12 per cent of the country's GDP. But before looking at the likelihood of Turkey turning into another Dubai, where drinking is strictly regulated for visitors and forbidden for Muslims, it's worth looking at what happened in Marmaris at the beginning of the summer. Far from a curfew or slew of new, stricter rules on the closing times of bars and clubs, the local authorities simply started enforcing regulations which had been in existence over a decade. This means most bars must close at midnight, with a half-hour grace period. And the many premises on one 'zoned' street, Barlar Sokak (Street of the Bars), are permitted to stay open until 4am. A primary motivation for the local municipality, led by mayor Acar Unlü, to clamp down on bars in the town is that many were flouting existing regulations. At least 28 establishments were temporarily closed for breaking the rules, though one premise that persisted in staying open beyond the statuary time has been permanently shut. To find a raft of bars closed, and an increased police presence, when you're looking for a late-night beer in Marmaris, must have been annoying. But it's hardly evidence of a government plot to introduce ever-stricter rules around alcohol. Especially when you consider that both the municipality and the province of which it is a part are both strongholds of the staunchly secularist opposition CHP (Republican People's Party). Another much-touted reason for the clampdown is public ire about the number of bars where shirtless male waiters danced on the tables. Turkey may be a polarised country, with a sometimes-unbridgeable chasm between the ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party) and the CHP, but Turks of nearly every stripe are united in their relative conservatism. Fire-safety concerns also played their part in the 'crackdown', as part of the tabletop revelry often included sparklers and other fireworks as part of the impromptu 'show'. Both activities are now banned. I talked to long-term residents involved in the tourism trade in the pretty resort of Kaş, Turkey's outdoor adventure capital, and the resort city of Antalya, both in Antalya province. They told me that, as in Marmaris, bars in Kaş close at midnight, clubs at 1am. In Antalya, many bars remain open until 2am, though live music is required to cease at 1am. There have been no recent clampdowns or curfews in either of these major tourist centres. So what happened in Marmaris appears to have been an isolated event caused by specific circumstances. But there is little doubt that the current government, in power since 2002, have made Turkey harder for drinkers. Laws introduced in 2013 forbade alcohol to be sold within 100 metres of a mosque or school, and off licences and markets could only sell alcohol between 6am and 10pm. Alcohol advertising on TV became unlawful in the same year, with authorities even enforcing the blurring of alcoholic beverages on TV and cinema screens. Massive increases in the price of alcoholic beverages have crept in during the current government's reign too – up to 70 per cent of the retail price of many alcoholic drinks is now tax. Once considerably cheaper than the UK, a pint of beer in a cheap bar in Marmaris, Kaş or Antalya will now cost you around £4, but it's way more in more upmarket establishments. Hotel prices can be extremely high: £10 for a 33cl beer and £12 for a glass of wine are now common. The number of Turkish tourists holidaying in long-time rival Greece rather than their own country made the news in 2024. This trend shows no sign of abating – Aegean Airlines opened a new, twice-weekly route between Istanbul and Santorini at the end of May. One motivating factor for this exodus to Turkey's Aegean neighbour is that Greece is cheaper than Turkey for many things – including alcoholic drinks. A glass of wine in a modest Greek taverna is around £2.60; it's hard to find one for less than £5.50 in Turkey. But despite government-led moves to restrict opening hours, 'zone' drinking establishments and increase the price of alcoholic drinks well beyond the rate of inflation, Turkey is highly unlikely to become another Dubai. Although the number of Turks who admit to drinking is only 17 per cent, the true figures are probably much higher, and the government cannot afford to completely alienate too many of its own citizens. And tourism is far too valuable to the economy to risk putting off foreign visitors by introducing Dubai-style rules. Yet it remains impossible to gauge how much tourism in Turkey will be affected long-term by the spiralling costs of alcoholic drinks, or concerns that Turkey is becoming a less liberal destination. A friend who runs a travel agency in Antalya told me that, after a decent spring, numbers had dropped in June, and that Antalya's walled old quarter of Kaleiçi was quiet. She attributed the fall to the unrest in the wider Middle East, however. Official figures also show signs of falling demand – in late June, Hürriyet Daily News published figures from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism showing a 1.8 per cent year-on-year drop in foreign visitors for May 2025 over the preceding year, and a more modest 1 per cent overall drop in the first five months of 2025. Yet in the same five-month period, the number of Britons coming to Turkey actually rose by 1.3 per cent. In recent decades, Turkey has weathered coups and wars, terrorist atrocities, hyper-inflation and many other setbacks. Yet tourism has grown exponentially. In 2003, 16.5 million tourists came to Turkey, by 2011 that had risen to 30 million, and 57 million tourists visited in 2024, making Turkey the fourth most visited country globally. The Turks are far too resilient and resourceful to let slip the appeal of the country of which they are so proud to foreign visitors, especially when it is so vital to the economy.
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
Win a luxury Mediterranean cruise worth over £5,000 with Blue Bay Travel
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The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
How to avoid travel disruption across air, rail, road and ferries this weekend
At the end of the week in which many schools in England and Wales break up, more UK holidaymakers will be travelling than ever before. Friday will be the busiest day of the year so far for flights from UK airports: 3,255 departures are scheduled, carrying 556,000 passengers. Rail travellers face a range of disruptions, from crowded trains to engineering works. On the roads, the RAC warns: 'The 'end of summer term' getaway weekend will be classically busy.' Motorists heading for France via LeShuttle through the Channel Tunnel to Calais will face the biggest crowds on Friday, while the CEO of the Port of Dover has asked motorists not to arrive more than two hours ahead at the UK's busiest ferry port. The Independent has conducted in-depth research to identify the key pressure points for travellers. Air Most airports are reporting record figures. Friday 25 July is expected to be busiest day of the year at Birmingham; at Luton, it will be Sunday 27 July. Fridays in late July and August see the biggest crowds at five top airports. At London Gatwick, landings and take-offs will be just 65 seconds apart on key dates. A four-day strike by ground handlers at Portuguese airports – including Faro, Madeira, Lisbon and Porto – could cause problems for some holidaymakers between Friday and Monday, with further strikes threatened during weekends in August. But easyJet, Ryanair and Tui say their flights will be unaffected. The Independent has asked British Airways and TAP Portugal if their passengers could be hit by the strike. Air-traffic control (ATC) delays are impacting thousands of flights across Europe each day – to the extent that Ryanair, Europe 's biggest budget airline, has taken to sending emails to affected passengers headlined 'ATC delayed your holiday'. Eurocontrol, the pan-European coordination body, said that over the past week, 'network hotspots saw 31 per cent of network delays generated by France [due to] capacity and staffing issues compounded by adverse weather". Operations over Germany and Spain were also affected by 'weather and some capacity issues'. Airspace is constrained across Europe by the closure of Ukrainian skies to all passenger aircraft and Russian skies being off limits to most airlines. In addition, President Trump's visit to Scotland from 25 to 29 July is likely to cause airspace restrictions at Prestwick and Aberdeen. Rail After a week that has seen some extreme delays and cancellations, including at London Waterloo, train operators are hoping that Network Rail infrastructure will cope with the pressure over one of the busiest weekends of the year. Rail passengers face a combination of crowds, especially to the seaside, and engineering work that will close links including Crewe to Shrewsbury, Nuneaton to Leicester and halt all trains through Huddersfield. Eurostar is advising all but 'Premier' passengers to arrive at London St Pancras International for trains to France, Belgium and the Netherlands 75 minutes ahead of departure. The cross-Channel train operator says: 'To ensure you have enough time for all pre-departure steps, please come to the station at the recommended time and not just before the gates close.' Eurostar Premier passengers can allow just 45 minutes. Roads The RAC is warning motorists that 'Frantic Friday' on 25 July will see extremely busy motorways until around 7pm, as holidaymakers jostle with regular commuter and commercial traffic. The motoring organisation says that the worst affected roads on Friday will be the M5 between Bristol and Devon and the M25 around London – particularly the southeast quadrant approaching Dartford Crossing. The best time to travel will be after 7pm. The highest number of holiday journeys over the weekend are predicted to be on Saturday, with three million motorists on the move. Congestion is expected to be worst between 10am and 5pm. The M6 northbound through the West Midlands, from the M42 junction near Coventry to the M54 turn-off past Wolverhampton, is expected to be particularly busy, as is the A82 from Glasgow to Loch Lomond. An additional 2.7 million trips are expected on Sunday 27 July, The optimum time to reach a UK destination is before 11 am. From then onwards many motorways and trunk roads will be busy all day to 7pm, with the worst congestion predicted southbound from Wigan (junction 27) to the Stafford turn-off at junction 13. Ferry/Eurotunnel At the Port of Dover, drivers are being urged not to arrive too early for the key getaway ferries to France between 5am and 1pm. Doug Bannister, chief executive of the UK's busiest ferry port, told The Independent 's daily travel podcast: 'Certainly it's going to be very busy on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and into Sunday. Those are our peak travel days of the year.' More than 10,000 cars are expected to pass through the port on both Friday and Saturday. Dover's CEO said: 'Please don't turn up earlier than two hours before you're sailing. 'We know the sailings and we know the bookings on the sailings and if they all come through in an even rate then we can get on top of it.' LeShuttle, carrying cars through the Channel Tunnel, will see its busiest day on Friday 25 July. A spokesperson for Getlink, which owns the tunnel and runs LeShuttle, said: 'We wish to reassure our customers that we've closely analysed travel patterns, identified high-demand days, and taken a comprehensive approach to capacity management to help everyone travel with confidence this summer. 'We advise checking in at least one hour before departure, and no more than two hours before, to allow time for border checks and boarding.'
