Turkey with a 3 month old baby and a 2 year old toddler. Crazy? Maybe! But we
found a country so welcoming of children and our family it increased our resolve to keep travelling.
Here are some of the highlights:
1. Where to Stay
We spent a week in a villa in Bitez, just outside Bodrum with http://www.jamesvillas.co.uk who we have booked with before and love their properties.
The villa was perfect, really large with 3 bedrooms, our own swimming pool and really close to the beach. It was super-hot in early June when we visited and we were very grateful for the air conditioning.
2. Things to do
We took a trip out to the beautiful seaside town of Gumusluk (Gümüşlük), perfect for a wander along the sandy beach and a stop off at one of the fish restaurants plying for trade along the waterfront.
We also visited trendy Turkbuku (Türkbükü) where a lovely lady selling lucky cats stopped us to give our 2 year old one!
The food here was incredible and it was such a gorgeous setting.
We also went to the huge market in Turgetrries which was brilliant for picking up some beautiful bowls to bring home, strings of cinnamon and the quirky evil eyes which now decorate our house (and maybe ward off those pesky evil spirits!!)
This was a highlight of our trip as Turkish families stopped to admire our baby and even though we couldn’t speak the language, we felt so welcome.
3. What to eat.
If you like fish it will definitely help as this is a part of Turkey dominated by the sea and there is amazingly fresh seafood to be enjoyed. Bodrum itself is a fairly touristy area however and we ate out with pizza and even Mexican one evening. There’s pretty much something for everyone and as a vegetarian I ate very well.
4. What to buy
There are beautiful Turkish plates and bowls if you’re willing to struggle home with them in your hand baggage. This is something we always do, regret it completely at the airport when we can barely cope with children AND bags, and then feel so pleased we did when we look at all the beautiful items surrounding us when we are back at home!!
Evil eyes…our home is now full of them and they are everywhere in Turkey, on table cloths, hangings and jewellery and pins you can wear.
6. Top tips with children
We love the heat but it really was very hot and with a fairly small baby (3 months old) we often retreated indoors to the air conditioning or into the pool for a big chunk of the middle of the day. We found it was easy enough to head out early to markets or a wander by the sea, back to the villa for lunch and then out again in the early evening for a nice meal.
Turkey is VERY family friendly – the Turkish people adore children and we felt really welcome everywhere we went.
7. Ready to book?
We stayed with www.jamesvillas.co.uk and loved the space a villa allowed us.
Globalmouse travels 
Chasing the Donkey
July 25, 2013
Yes, you are crazy! But also inspirational. Honestly, I’d be too scared. Good work Mama.
globalmouse
July 28, 2013
ha ha!! Thank you 🙂