Hi guys.. I know this post is difficult to write considering the beautiness of both towns but I will do my best to express my views on the subject.
Kas and Kalkan are beautiful towns of Antalya in th southern part of Turkey along the Mediterrenean cost. Climitewise and from natural perspective, they show more charasteristics of Aegean towns rather than Mediterrenean ones. It is easier to reach both towns from Dalaman Airport (DLM) than Antalya Airport (AYT) if you can choose between.
From Dalaman Airport Kalkan is 123km and Kas is 148 km whereas from Antalya airport Kalkan is 257km and Kas is 203 km. As you can guess, the distance between two towns are about 25 km. Travelling time to airport is approximately 2 hours to Dalaman and 3 hours 20 minutes to Antalya.
Before starting as villa rental operator, I have stayed in both towns as a tenant and rented villas. On overall balance after 10 years of experince as a tourst I have preferred Kas over Kalkan. Lets look at specifics and general infrmation about both towns. There is detailed information about Kas on this site here.
Lets look at specifics of each town.
Kalkan
Kalkan is a harbor town, nestling into the foot of the Taurus mountains. It used to be one of the best naturally kept places in the Mediterranean. However, there has been many publicity in the UK press in recent years and made the town popular destination for British people. Th result? the town is full of villas from bottom to top. There are also many constructions going on minimizing space between villas, homes, and apartments. When you look at from bottom to top, there seems to be a view of villas like mushrooms all over the place. However, top to bottom view looks great because of the slope of natural surroundings and differences in height of the placement zones.
Kalkan is definitely preferred by English folks and there are many English villa owners in the town. Nightlife and restaurants are organized to meet the demand of basically English tourists. There are more restaurants in Kalkan per thousand square meter than any other coastal town nearby. So if you like pubs, bars and vivid restaurants all over the own Kalkan is your place to stay in.
As far as beaches are concerned, there are a few variety of beaches which do not allow food and drinks to their establishments. The main option is wonderful Kaputas beach which is closer to Kalkan than Kas.
Kas
We have a separate section on the website about Kas. Therefore, we will not go into detail explaining the town. In our opinion, Kas looks more naturally attractive and native than Kalkan. As opposed to common English touristsin Kalkan area, the clientele in Kas is from European countries as far as origin of foreign tourists are concerned. Well people are people and does not make a difference from where they are.
One thing is obvious that there are more beaches in Kas than Kalkan and number of them is countless as there is a large peninsula (Cukurbag) including many of them. Besides Cukurbag Peninsula, Kas has its own beaches starting right from the town’s marina. Please check out Beaches section of this website. Purity and turquoise color of Kas sea is world famous and unmatched by any means around whole Mediterranean area. Kas is in fact a world class diving destination and attracts many tourists local and international for this hobby.
Nightlife and restaurants try to match different tastes local or international but they are not as plenty as in Kalkan. Price tags seem to be a bit lower in Kas than Kalkan compared with smilar grade establishments. Beaches usually do not care if you bring your own drink and fruits but they expect you to spend around TL 150 per person if you use their umbrella and sunbeds. Some places take this money in advance and let you spend it with drinks and food, which we think is fair.
In summary, if you like more nature, laid back and relaxed holiday with variety of food, you should definitely choose Kas over Kalkan. That being said, if you like active holiday check out Activities section of this website. Sure, there is something you can do and enjoy with your family. If you like crowded places and active street life and a lot of restaurants to eat, you may choose Kalkan.
We welcome your thoughts on this post.
Best,
Mehmet