Holidays with children in Belek (Turkey)

Turkish Belek enjoys well-deserved popularity among beach lovers from Russia. There are clean beaches, incredibly beautiful landscapes, a warm sea, which after a vacation can only dream of until the next trip.

This resort is one of the youngest in Turkey, but has already won its admirers. It is very comfortable to relax here with children, especially if you want not jumping from a cliff or extreme scuba diving and without it, but the sun, gentle sea and fresh breeze. What to consider when going on vacation with children in Belek, we will tell in this article.

Pros and cons

Belek is considered an elite Turkish resort. People come here for a quiet and fashionable rest. There are few noisy youth companies, but there are plenty of golf courses and professional football.

Rest in Belek cannot be called budget. Everything here is somewhat more expensive than in the neighboring resorts of the country, but the quality of services and services is much higher.

The swimming season here opens in May and closes at the end of October. It is at this time that the prices for vacations reach their maximum. The undoubted plus of Belek is that 99% of the hotels are located on the first line, and most of them have five stars in their names and operate on an "all inclusive" system.

If you are going on vacation with a small child, then you cannot imagine a better resort - quiet, measured, very clean, expensive and good. If the child is already at that age when the usual idleness on the beach quickly bothers him, it is better to choose another place.

The advantages of Belek can be listed for quite a long time - these are pine and eucalyptus groves, walks in which are very useful for children, and delicious food in local restaurants, and the proximity of the international airport, from which the resort is only 20 minutes away, and the absence of a visa. There are few downsides, one of them is prices, the second is a relatively small amount of entertainment for older children.

The best sandy beaches

Almost all the beaches of this resort are sandy. Therefore, there is not much to choose from, because one vacation spot is better than another. The proof is the Blue Flag award, which almost every beach in Belek has. Swimming at night will not work here, the beaches are closed, because in the soft and clean sand sea turtles love to lay their eggs, and they do it at night. But in the daytime you can see adults and funny little turtles along with your children on any of the beaches right on the coast.

It should be noted that all the beaches are divided between hotels. On the "five-star", in addition to sun loungers, changing rooms, showers, you will find small houses where you can relax from the sun, comfortably sitting on pillows.

The best beaches, according to tourists, are located near the hotels Royal Adam & Eve, Rixos Premium, Cornelia De Luxe.

All beaches in Belek are wide, well-groomed and, which is important for families with children, relatively uncrowded. Descent into the water is smooth, gradual; an adult will have to walk for a long time to the depth.

Hotels with kids clubs

There are enough family hotels in the resort. All of them have extra beds in their rooms, all hotels from 4 stars and above offer comfortable swimming pools, including children's sections, with water slides. Here are just a few, appreciated by Russian tourists with children (they have children's clubs where the child will not be bored, all of them are located on the first coastline):

Maxx Royal Belek Golf Resort 5 *
Regnum Carya Golf & Spa 5 *
Limak Arcadia Golf & Sport Resort 5 *
Jacaranda Club & Resort 5 *
Limak Atlantis DeLuxe Hotel & Resort 5 *
Adora Golf Resort Hotel 5 *
SENTIDO Letoonia Golf Resort 5 *
Papillon Belvil Hotels Resort & Spa 5 *
Belek Beach Resort 5 *
Gloria Verde Resort 5 *
Cornelia DeLuxe Resort 5 *
Crystal Waterworld Resort & Spa 5 *

Tips for choosing a hotel

Going to the sea with a child, it is important not to be distracted from communication, rest for cooking or looking for a suitable restaurant. All-inclusive hotels are best suited for families. Choose a hotel that provides an interesting and daily play program with children, a mini-disco, because adults also need 2-3 hours to go about their business or just have a little rest.

You can estimate the cost of the tour in special services such as OnlineTours: you can see in one place the offers of the largest tours. operators.

Be sure to ask when booking if there are Russian-speaking animators in the hotel so that your child does not experience all the difficulties of the language barrier.

In Belek, as well as in other resorts in Turkey, there is an excellent rule: "early booking = substantial discount." Thus, if you find a hotel and book a room for July in January, the discount can be up to 15-20%. This is also convenient because plane tickets in advance can also be taken at a discounted rate.

It is best in Belek with children to go to five-star or four-star hotels, because hotels with 3 stars in Belek do not have their own beaches, you will have to go far to the sea, which is not very convenient with a small child.

Entertainment

Belek until the 1980s was an ordinary village, and therefore there are no attractions in the resort. However, the people who decided to make a resort out of the village calculated everything correctly - those who really want to go on excursions can easily get from Belek to any point in Turkey, because there are no problems with transport in any direction.

Belek's main wealth is his nature. The large national park "Kanyun-Keprulu" is located here, and therefore walks through it will bring great pleasure to both children and adults.

Many vacationers do not leave local hotels for the entire vacation, since a whole tourist "country" with entertainment, animation, clubs, dancing and water attractions is usually created on their territory.

But if you really want to visit somewhere else, be sure to visit Belek with your children:

Troy Water Park. This place can be considered a landmark in itself, since the water park was created in the form of an ancient city. In the center of it is a real giant Trojan horse, which, according to the Turks, was made specifically for the filming of the movie "Troy". The local water slides are the highest in Turkey in terms of length. There are 25 in total: 15 for adults and 10 for children. There are many cafes on the territory of the water park, which you will have to use, because it is not possible to inspect the entire park in a few hours, plan a full day, or preferably two.
Dolphinarium. Performances with the participation of the favorites of all children - smart and kind dolphins - are held every day in the same Troy Park. To get to them, you can buy a separate ticket, or you can take a paired one, and visit first the water park, and then - at a breathtaking performance with marine life in the lead roles (except for dolphins, a walrus and a white whale perform).
Bellis Deluxe Zoo. The zoo is located on the territory of the hotel of the same name. The collection contains many birds, including swans, flamingos, peacocks and pheasants. They all roam freely around the territory, which delights children indescribable. Ostriches, monkeys, kangaroos and other representatives of the fauna live in the enclosures.
You can go rafting with teenage children... Rafting on the mountain river is carried out directly on the territory of the national park-reserve. You can also take part in horseback riding there.

Important nuances

Most Belek hotels offer children a separate menu in all-inclusive restaurants, so there is no need to worry about food for a child who already eats everything. Each day he will have a choice of several children's meals, including cereals, omelets, dairy products, puddings, fruits, vegetables, meat and fish, and sometimes even ice cream.

The younger the child, the stronger his acclimatization can proceed, especially if he comes from Yakutia, Siberia or the Far East. The greater the difference in climate, the more pronounced the symptoms will be. To reduce the risks, it is recommended to travel to Belek with infants and toddlers under 3 years old at the very beginning of the season - in May, and then - at the very end - in the second half of September and even at the beginning of October.

Special vaccinations for a trip to Belek are not required; those that are already available in the vaccination certificate of adults and children are enough. If a child is often sick, has weak immunity, he has a reason to get vaccinated against rotavirus on a paid basis a month before departure, since during the tourist season it is the rotavirus infection transmitted with water that poses the greatest danger.

In 2017, hundreds of cases of the Coxsackie virus were registered in Belek, but vaccinations against it do not yet exist.

Reviews

Reviews of tourists about family vacations in Belek are mostly positive. Russians especially highly appreciate the level of service in local hotels.

The resort provides excellent shopping opportunities. However, experienced travelers advise against buying clothes and jewelry, as well as souvenirs, in shops that are located near hotels. They are created specifically for tourists, and therefore the prices there are 5-6 times higher than in the city. For shopping, it is better to choose shops as far from the resort areas as possible. Everything is there, but you can save a lot.

If excursion trips are planned, "experienced" tourists are not advised to buy tours from intermediaries who go to hotels and offer their services. Belek's already rather high prices for entertainment will grow by 1.5-2 times through such “second hands”. It is better to use small tour agencies that are located right along the streets of the town, away from the resorts.

Almost all vacationers in Belek noted the high level of prices and numerous construction projects as a minus - the young resort is actively expanding.