Mamamamamamamaris

I can heartily recommend a holiday to Turkey. It is a country full of delights (pun intended).

Next time I visit I would like to go to Istanbul. The history and culture there, I've heard, is phenomenal.

I can only postulate about how lovely Istanbul is, but I can give you the lowdown on Marmaris and Icmeler.

Marmaris is a small city, seemingly populated with British tourists and slightly whiffs of Benidorm. This is a bit of a shame. If you, like me, like to go to foreign places to see foreign places, rather than have gammon and egg but in the sun. I don't even eat gammon and egg in London. The good thing about Marmaris being so orientated towards British tourists is obviously that most people speak English, and generally they speak good English.

Another odd thing that some British tourists might like is that many things - food, drinks, gifts, excursions - are priced in pounds.

If you'd like a midway point between the Butlins-in-the-sun feel of bits of Marmaris and a real taste of Turkey then the English-speaking-friendly resort of Icmeler will do it for you.

Quieter, calmer, smaller and slightly more authentic, Icmeler is the sister resort to Marmaris, 15 minutes by car away. It's a beautiful little town, with a nice beach with spectacular views across the bays.

Some tips: buy your gifts from the shops by the canal or the Wednesday market. Boat trips are great value - shop around for one you most like the look of. Ephesus is quite a drive away, I wish that in retrospect we had hired a car and driven ourselves, as we felt we didn't have as much time actually in Ephesus as we would've liked (and it only cost £4 to get in, and we paid £35 each for the whole trip). Also, I think we could've visited Pamukkale too if we'd hired our own car.