Golf Travel’s Hidden Gem—For A Great Golf Trip Consider Turkey

24.02.2024 - 16:33 / forbes.com / Airlines

Last year a record number of Americans visited Turkey (or Türkiye, the new official national name). This was no coincidence.

At a time when travel to many popular destinations in Europe has become much more expensive, in some cases prohibitively so, Türkiye remains a fantastic value proposition. While prices are very affordable, the country is rich in culture, history and touristic sites, with delicious Mediterranean cuisine, and even great wines.

Türkiye is also much easier to get to than many people realize, and now even easier, with more non-stop flights from more U.S. cities than ever before. On top of that, last month (January 2024) they dropped the E-Visa requirement for North Americans, saving a step and another fifty bucks.

In a recent travel section feature titled, “Why this is the year to holiday in Turkey,” London’s Telegraph wrote, “With the country set to become Europe’s second most-popular destination this year, there’s never been a better time to visit.” They predicted 2024 will see Türkiye surpass France, behind only Spain in tourist volume. But that’s for an entire country. The Washington Post just reported that Istanbul was the world’s most visited city last year with 20 million international tourists (though the math seems fuzzy given that Las Vegas drew over 40 million, including domestic travelers). Why? The Telegraph said, “It’s easy to see why Turkey’s popularity is soaring. Not only does it have more than 4,000 miles of sun blessed Aegean and Mediterranean coastline—ideal for everything from fun-filled family beach holidays to relaxing gulet cruises—but it’s also home to a substantial number of stunning UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as Troy, Ephesus and Gobekli Tepe, as well as countless other dramatically set ancient sites. Turkey’s allure becomes even more apparent when you throw into the mix one of the world’s truly great cities, the continent-bestriding mega-city of Istanbul.”

It's also a very easy place to plan a golf vacation. While most countries have multiple golf destinations or regions, Turkey’s scene is remarkably condensed and almost entirely contained around Belek, in the Antalya region, the so called “Turkish Riviera,” an area rich in Mediterranean coastline, beach resorts and luxury hotels, dozens of them, many all-inclusive. It gets hot in July and August, but most people come then for the beach leaving the course empty, and you can play here all year-round. There are 14 golf courses, many by top European architects such as Colin Montgomerie and Nick Faldo.

After multiple enjoyable visits to Turkey over the years, I recently visited this region for a week of golf, and was quite impressed with the quality of the courses, food, lodging—and value. The Telegraph,