Reply To: Family holiday to Istanbul / Turkey

[Aston100]

I swear this thread disappeared overnight.

Anyway, the main reason I suggested Antalya despite your initial reluctance to fly is that there aren’t any proper beaches within a decent driving distance of Istanbul. Given the frequency of cheap flights (do not avoid LCCs such as Pegasus) out of both IST (and especially) SAW (which might be a bit of a mission to get to but flights seem to be a bit cheaper from there) it shouldn’t be too onerous. Besides, BA fly to AYT so that really helps IMO.

In the Antalya region, you have a number of ‘resort’ areas such as Lara Beach, Belek, (and further afield you have Side and going the other way you have Kemer). Mostly made up of 5* all-inclusive properties . These don’t sound like your cup of tea but thought I’d mention as that is where most tourists end up (and Lara beach and Belek are very convenient to the airport).
I can’t help you much with self-catering in the Antalya region, but there should be plenty of holiday lets available – especially in the Konyaalti area (an area attractive to locals and has a mostly pebbly beach and which lacks the AI properties found elsewhere). These are likely to be apartments in low rise blocks (usually with a shared pool) across the road from the beach, or on a road or two behind.