Turkey’s southern coastal towns are not just for summer holidays but in winter, include a growing number of expats choosing to live there from all over Europe and the UK. A real mix of retirees, professional people and families as well.
Right across the southern coastline you will fine expats living all year around, escaping high uk bills and of course the cold cold weather.
Although lifestyle is very different from that in the hot, busy summer months, what are the pluses and minuses?
Minuses
Construction is a winter thing in turkey, with strict bans operating in the summer months to aid tourism, so this is something that has to be lived with, so towns can be filled with construction traffic, daily noise, and new buildings popping up around, so it is something to bear in mind.
Some smaller resorts, do scale down in the winter months so there may not be the same selection of places to eat and drink as you would have in the summer months, mostly November to March, then its back into the swing of the season, years ago this was a longer stretch, but life changes and the season now lasts longer, Bodrum and Antalya tend to function pretty much at 90% all year around.
If you do live far out you can feel a little cut off, and with less people around transportation can also be reduced and there will be times when rain and storms preval for a few days.
The housing market is evolving in Turkey with new short term rental rules being applied, so you will need to take on a longer rental most likely, so this may now be a little more difficult to find a winter bothole, and many owners ask for the full money up front. If you are central in a town, then transportation, medical services, and amenities will all be on your doorstep and easily accessible.
These are the drawbacks, but take a look at the pluses…….
Pluses
Crowds/Weather
Unlike the summer months there are far fewer tourists around, which makes life more laid back and quiet, driving is easier, restaurants easier to just turn up without any fuss or too much waiting.
Expats can enjoy the beaches before the cold months set in, temperatures are changing slightly due to the inevitable climate changes, but it is mild, many days are still mainly double digit and can be as high as mid 20’s but of course the sky is blue and the sun is out on many of these days. Long walks, and an active lifestyle are easy to maintain all year around.
Winter brings out a much more community feel for not just expats but the locals too, there are always things to do and get involved in, socialising and charity working, book clubs,darts night and quiz nights, life adjust for the winter.
History on the doorstep no matter where you are living, it’s an opportunity to visit whilst the large crowds are gone, long weekends away and usually at great knock down prices, and there are many out of season festivals, camel wrestling, harvest festivals and lots more.
Of course cost of living in Turkey, is still extremely cheap compared to Europe and the UK, add to this the great weather, and healthier lifestyle, surely the pluses outweigh the minuses.
Source: Daily Sabah
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