Dalaman sits on Turkey’s south-western coast, at the point where the Dalaman River meets the Mediterranean. The town itself is a quiet, working Turkish settlement rather than a resort — it exists primarily as a transfer point for the airport, which serves one of Turkey’s most scenically spectacular stretches of coastline. The real attractions of a Dalaman area holiday lie in the destinations that surround it.
To the west, Fethiye and Ölüdeniz are approximately 45–60 minutes by road — the Blue Lagoon, the Lycian rock tombs, the gulet marina and some of Turkey’s most beautiful mountain and coastal scenery. To the east, Marmaris is approximately 90 minutes — a long sandy beach, a lively town centre and one of Turkey’s finest natural harbours. Both are fully covered in the GotoBeach portfolio with their own dedicated hotel selections.
The Dalaman River valley itself is one of Turkey’s most fertile and beautiful landscapes — citrus orchards, pine forest and the Taurus Mountains on the horizon. The river is navigable in places and popular with white-water rafting operators in season. The nearby Sultaniye hot springs and mud baths, on the shores of Lake Köyceğiz, are one of the area’s more unusual and enjoyable excursions — a boat trip across the lake followed by a soak in natural thermal mud, rinsed off in the warm spring waters. It is the kind of experience guests tend to remember long after they have forgotten the hotel pool.
For guests staying in the Dalaman area specifically, the immediate surroundings offer good walking, cycling and river activities alongside the beach options of the nearby resorts. It is a quieter, more locally flavoured base than the main resort towns — suited to guests who want to explore the western Turkish coast at their own pace rather than spend the week in a single large resort.
For all inclusive holidays on the Dalaman coast, cheap Turkey holidays from Dalaman Airport or luxury hotels near Dalaman — book through GotoBeach with full ATOL protection under licence #11211, low deposits from £30 per person and the honest advice of a team that knows this part of Turkey properly.
