Turkey has a
national obsession with festivals. Over 100 of them take place every year,
and practically every city in the country holds its own local event, whilst
international culture and art festivals bring a riot of colour and
razzmatazz to major centres such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.
As you might
expect of a country with such a wealth of glorious coastline, water sports
is another great passion. Sailing is widely enjoyed, with gullets
(traditional motor yachts) offering cruises all year round. Scuba diving is
another popular pastime, with the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts offering
some of the finest diving in the world. And windsurfing has also become a
real hit, especially around Bodrum and Antalya where the wind conditions are
near-perfect.
But its
not only water sports that cause a splash in Turkey. The Toros regions along
the Mediterranean coast, Northwest Anatolia and Thrace are a cavers
paradise. Indeed, cavers can look forward to exploring some 40,000 caves and
caverns throughout the country, from the 16km-long Pinarozu Cavern to the
1880m-deep Kurpinar Sinkhole. Thats caving on an epic scale.
Over recent
years, Turkey has embraced the game of golf with gusto, and
international-standard courses have sprung up in Belek to offer the golfing
fraternity an exciting and exclusive new sporting destination. A new 18 hole
course is now under construction near Gulluk.
Add skiing,
mountaineering, Trekking and horse riding, and its easy to see why Turkey
has a world of leisure opportunities to suit all tastes.
