The villa is in a tranquil location, about 15 minutes walk to the centre, 5 minutes cycling. It is surrounded by fields and beautiful mountain views. Villa Vanilya is a brand new luxury accommodation with extra large pool surrounded by beautiful views.
Dalyan has been described as "One of the last corners of paradise", and being surrounded by pine-clad hills, cotton fields and bull-rushes; it really is a beautiful place.
Brief TV fame was brought to Dalyan in the late 1980s by loggerhead turtles, or, more accurately, by David Bellamy who led a worldwide campaign to halt a proposed development on Dalyan's pristine five mile Iztuzu beach.
The conservation battle was won and the whole Dalyan delta turned into a wildlife sanctuary in order to preserve its unique flora, fauna and way of life.
Dalyan has everything - an outstanding beach, fascinating wildlife, strong local traditions and the majestic remains of an ancient city.
Boat is the best way to reach the many attractions of Dalyan, including mud baths where you have the privilege - if that's the word - of being caked in sulphurous, but reputedly therapeutic, mud.
Drifting downstream you pass the haunting, 4th-century BC tombs, which loom, like miniature Greek temples hewn out of the cliffs, high above the river opposite the town. Marsh frogs croak in the rushes, stripe-necked terrapins and little freshwater turtles dart in and out of the water, and, if you are quick, you may catch the dazzling turquoise and gold arc of a kingfisher in flight.
Further down river towards the 'Dalyans' - the fish hatcheries - you can be dropped off at the dramatically situated ruins of ancient Caunos, which boast some of the most impressively fortified walls still standing in western Turkey, along with a well-preserved Greek-style theatre, Roman baths and a Byzantine basilica.
You can wander among the shattered columns and the huge chunks of masonry of ancient temples for hours, photographing, drawing, or just musing on the beauty of the scene and on glories past.
So much is to be discovered by boat; the variety of birds is bewildering, and the sight of small turtles basking at the water's edge with their bodies submerged and their heads on the surface, is unforgettable. If you are very lucky you may even find one of the rare loggerhead turtles, the 95-million-year-old species Carretta Carretta, swimming right under the boat in nesting season. If you head beyond the river mouth. You can also disembark here at the end of Dalyan's beautiful sandy beach, forty minutes by boat from the town quay. However, those few who know will head by regular Dolmus (a twenty minute journey) to the opposite end of the beach where the views are as spectacular as the peace.
From one tip to the other, the swimming from this vast and unblemished stretch of sand is excellent.
As well as the large fleet of boats, other provisions have been made for visitors to Dalyan, which has developed from a small village into a pleasant little town.
There is now a good choice of restaurants (with fresh river fish a specialty), carpet, jewellery, spice shops and small grocers.
Development is strictly controlled and despite the bustle, the atmosphere is friendly, relaxed and traditional. Local inhabitants still hang their corn and peppers up to dry on strings hung from cottage eaves in the back streets and every Saturday is market day. Devotees of the wonderful.
