With its picturesque cobblestoned streets and its breath-taking coast with waters a shade of blue you would never spot in the UK, the beautiful resort town of Marmaris grips you within a heartbeat.
As one local put it, it is surrounded by ‘beaches like Miami, waters like the Maldives and mountains like Canada’.
But it is something else entirely that draws in the British en masse… the streets of Armutalan.
A strip known for little to do with landscapes and more to do with neon lights, extravagant dance shows, topless barmen and sparklers.
According to the ‘fun pubs’ up and down the main street, more than 90 per cent of their customers are British. One pub owner even went as far as suggesting, ’99 per cent British!’
Over the years the area became popular for British families and young couples wanting to go out, dance, and let loose on holiday while still being able to have a seated table and look after their children – with many even having dedicated kids play areas.
But it also controversially became known for young barmen taking their tops off and dancing on table tops for the ‘entertainment’ of older women on the hunt for foreign ‘boytoys’.
To find out exactly what the strip is like once the sun sets, especially as a solo female traveller, I visited the renowned Armutalan at 10pm.
A bar on the vibrant Armutalan Street just minutes before midnight, with flying confetti and customers dancing on chairs
A new curfew of stopping all music and turning off lights at midnight has seen Marmaris’ tourism take a massive blow
Pictured: what bars in Marmaris look like just minutes after midnight
Police begin to patrol the area in the lead up to the curfew and check whether venues are following the rules
Having been to strips across the likes of Ibiza and Malaga, I braced myself for the worst.
I arrived there expecting to see drunken Brits breaking out into fist fights, creepy barmen harassing you to come in for ‘free drinks’ and yobs looking for the perfect opportunity to rob your phone in the busy crowds.
But I was taken aback when all I witnessed was a warm welcome at ‘fun pubs’ where music was booming, families were dancing to British classics, and no-one was coercing you into stepping in.
In a refreshing change, I did not find myself constantly looking over my shoulder to check if my drink had been spiked or if I was in any danger.
What I did witness, however, was a dying street that was until recently mobbed with people.
Venues that would by now in the holiday season be rammed with dancing Brits stood close to empty, with most barmen ‘too scared’ to dance or encourage customers to get up out their seats for a boogie.
Pictured: Brits Lee Potter, 33, Harriet Walker 29, Janine Potter 29, Thomas, 10, Tallulah, 8. The family say they come to Marmaris every year and have seen a big change
Lauren Bennington, 31, Lea Binns, 24 and Keeley Whitehurst, 20, say the bars were a family friendly place to go and have been going since a young age. The trio met on the same beach after a night out a few years ago
The main street in Armutalan. It would usually be mobbed with crowds but was seen lying empty during what would usually be peak season
The drastic change in atmosphere came after 14 pubs were closed down a few weeks ago over floating restrictions which include a new curfew on music and lights being turned off at the stroke of midnight and bars entirely closed by 12.30am.
It adds to bans which came into place following Covid on bar staff dancing topless with customers on tabletops and the use of sparklers, even on birthday cakes.
The ‘boring’ measures came after some locals felt the ‘dirty dancing’ and ‘loud music’ was inappropriate, arguing that it made the resort town look ‘sleazy’ and ‘cheap’.
But Brits – who flocked to see the dance shows – say the 12am curfew may see them ‘never return’ to the beloved resort, as pub owners say it is ‘killing’ the tourism industry.
A Brit I met at the street’s Parkhead pub, said she had visited just five weeks ago and it had been busy ‘as normal’, but in the space of a few weeks had ‘completely died out’.
The street itself was empty of sound and soul, bar the neon lights and music reflecting from inside the pubs.
Turkish authorities say the curfew was brought into effect to avoid causing trouble for nearby locals having to listen to booming music into the early hours of the night.
There have also, for a few years now, been restrictions on music only being played until 1am for pubs and bars situated along the popular beachfront on Marmaris’ Long Beach. But police are cracking down.
Claire Quinn, 43, Fiona Muir, 41 and Shannon Luff, 25, have been visiting for years but may not come back if the curfew stays in place
Adar, from Mad Boys, says even extending the curfew to 1am could really help business
Parkhead bar during a night in what would have been peak season in June. It lays largely empty
Owner of Chuckle Brothers Bedirhan Saritac said he is losing £2k a day to the new curfew
Venues found to be breaking rules risk being shut for periods of three to ten days, or even permanently as in the case of two venues very recently.
As the clocks hit 12.30am, you could see hyped young people flood onto the beach after the music blasting in the beachfront bars was brought to an abrupt end.
Critics say the changes are ‘fair’ as those wanting to party later into the night can still go to Bar Street, the resort’s nightclub strip.
But the appeal is not there. Those flocking to Armutalan Street are on the lookout for a family-friendly night out that isn’t overrun by hormone-filled teens on their first party holiday.
And the infamous Bar Street is not known to be the safest of places.
Every pub owner along Armutalan Street and the Long Beach beachfront warned against venturing there alone.
And Brits who have visited the resort for 20+ years and call Marmaris their second-home told me to steer well clear, telling me that spiking and harassment is all too common there.
Just days before I arrived, one person was shot dead in an ‘armed conflict’ which broke out between two groups on the Bar Street strip.
Mahoney, the owner of Parkhead bar, Mahoney said to me: ‘They tell you if you want to go out, go to Bar Street, but the English people’s culture is pubs.
‘They don’t want clubs, only the young people want to go to clubs. Most people that come to this street doesn’t want to go to Bar Street. They are older people with families.
Pictured: Parkhead bar lying empty. The owner has tried to replace the dancing with other entertainment such as karaoke but it has not attracted the same crowds
The owner of Parkhead says most of his customers are British and have already begun telling him they may ditch the holiday resort for other European destinations
A sign outside one of the 17 bars that have been temporarily closed
‘Bar Street is quiet now, people don’t go there. It’s expensive and it’s too much trouble.
‘Three or four days ago, someone was shot and killed there. It’s so much more dangerous.
‘And if I sell a drink here for 150 lira (£2.74), on Bar Street it is three times more expensive.
‘But 90 per cent of the people here are British. In this area, on this street, it’s mostly British.
‘We were the first many years ago to start having kids play area.
‘In Marmaris you can ask any tourists about the pubs and the restaurants, everyone loves us. Most our customers they come here over 10 years, 15 years. We are like family with them.
‘But now after 12am they close the lights and tell customers “go home”. Which is really bad.
‘If we ignore it the police come and give big fines, last year I had two fines which cost 400,000 lira (£7,300) each.
‘Some of the dance maybe it was too much, dirty things, but the things we done was because they like it, it was not sexual, it was just for a laugh.
‘We did it because that’s what they like. But okay, we said “okay no dance, no fireworks, no hassle”. We accepted it. But why a curfew?
‘Now our regular customers say if it is like this we won’t come back.’
And the threat of losing decades-long loyal customers is very real.
In fact, it is clear it has already started to happen from the emptiness on the main street.
And bar owners say they have had ‘too many’ regular British visitors message them to say they will be holidaying elsewhere this year due to the curfew.
Speaking to me in the noisy Chuckle Brothers bar Bedirhan Saritac told me: ‘It’s not fair. Let’s be honest, it’s not fair.
‘By midnight people are just starting to get drunk, start enjoying it, and bang it’s all closed.
‘What are they supposed to do? Go and buy a bottle and go to their room? That’s not what they came here for.
‘It’s only British people that come here, this street our customers are all from the UK. 90 per cent.
‘The Brits are mad about it. Most our customers are like our friends now because they come every year, some come four or five times a year. So we are like family with them now.
A worker at Mad Boys told of how staff are not even allowed to take part in ‘normal’ dances like the ‘cha cha’ that tourists enjoy
A picture of staff members leading a dance at Chuckle Brothers, with exciting Brits following
‘It’s already stopping people from coming.
‘People have already texted us saying they cancelled their flights.
‘We’re losing customers. They say they are going to Greece now.
‘They’re killing Marmaris.’
Admitting the topless dancing may have been ‘over the top’, he said: ‘Look, yes we have some fault. On some things we’re wrong too as bars, we accept that.
‘Some people may not like the taking tops off. We done it but that worked, but we see the point and we’re not doing that no more.
‘But the thing is this was one of the busiest bars in Marmaris, busy every night, if I was doing something wrong why would I be busy all the time?
‘People come because they like that. I’m not doing it for myself, people like it.
‘But some people don’t, so we see the point, we don’t allow it anymore.
‘We say “we’re sorry, we won’t do it again”. I don’t know what the problem is with sparklers, but they say “don’t do it” and we say “fine”.
‘But why are you closing the bar at 12, why are you turning the music off at 12, it’s not fair. We weren’t taking our tops off after 12, it was happening before.’
Bedirhan Saritac continued to tell me how the effects have already been seen in the few weeks since the clampdown.
He reckons he loses £2,000 a day (110,000 lira) during peak season due to the new measures.
At the next pub down, staff member Adar from Mad Boys repeats the same as Mr Saritac: ‘Our tourism season only six months, that has to last us the year.
‘After seeing some boys’ dances at some bars, like some dirty dances, the government say Turkish people are not this and want to stop it.
Diane and George Harvey, both 57. Diane has been visiting for over 20 years and has ‘never seen it like this’
Throughout the night, police on motorbikes could be seen patrolling the Armutalan and Long Beach areas
‘We were very angry but then we saw some of the videos of kids dancing on the tables and it’s not good at all.
‘But it’s not all, just a few doing that.
‘Now they don’t allow even normal dance, normal cha cha dance, the customers want to dance but they don’t allow it.
‘We are really hoping it gets better and they change it to at least 1am.
‘All customers are saying “if we have to go to the hotel at 12am why we are on holiday? We might as well stay at home.”
‘All our customers, 99 per cent are British. We don’t have any others tourist, just British in this area.’
As it hit 11pm, I had expected the strip may become busier.
But still it was a stretch to say it was even ‘dotted’ with people.
Some bars were busier than others, but none of them looked how they should coming to the end of June.
Speaking to one Scottish family at Chuckle Brothers through the loud music, Claire Quinn, 43, Fiona Muir, 41 and Shannon Luff, 25 said: ‘The energy is down, it’s a lot quieter than normal. It’s terrible to see.
‘When you come on holiday you don’t want to go home at 12am.
James Roberts, 28, and Jade Bingham, 27, Jamie Bone, 20, and Dylan Cox, 21, said while they understood the rules it was ‘a let down’
‘That’s not what I came here for to be told to go home.
‘In other destinations you have to go to clubs. The difference is when you come to Turkey and you can sit out here and it still take in the entertainment.
‘The tourism has heavily gone down.
‘When you’ve little kids or even teens, when you’ve got sparklers it keeps them entertained because they can’t go out.
‘It couldn’t have been more family orientated.
‘It’s put a big damper on it.
This is the quieter than I’ve seen it.’
Ms Muir added: ‘I’ve been coming here for 27, 28 years.
My kids have been coming since really small. We’ve all been really shocked.
It’s a real shame.’
Meanwhile, Ms Quinn said this may be her last visit. She said: ‘I will not be back. If it stays this way. We come here for the atmosphere and the family entertainment and it’s gone.
‘I’ve been coming here twice a year for five years, but this will be my last time here unless it changes.
‘You used to get the men dancing on the tables with sparklers, all that entertainment, but you don’t get any of it anymore.
‘Just look around outside too, it’s completely empty.
‘It’s terrible, really terrible.’
Further down the strip Lee Potter, 33, was visiting the bars with his family, Harriet Walker 29, Janine Potter 29, and kids Thomas and Tallulah.
He said: ‘The first year we came here it was absolutely booming. It was mental.
‘We’ve been coming for four years.We went to Jacob’s they were dancing on the tables.
‘It was also so cheap. You could get a pint for 80p, now it’s about the same as London prices.’
On the dancing they said: ‘It is was a bit like entertainment, but it was a bit crude. It’s not for when your with family.
But before you couldn’t walk down this street. Now it’s dead.’
Diane Harvey was here just five weeks ago.
She told me: ‘Everything was normal. Now it’s dead.
‘I’ve been coming to Marmaris for 20 years, it was never any trouble, any problem.
Mother and daughter Emma Boriss, 46, and Emily Boden, 24, from Blackpool, come every year to Marmaris and say they would not want to go to the alternative Bar Street but come annually for the Long Beach beachfront bars
‘It was mobbed five weeks ago with tourists, families with babies.
‘The boys were all dancing, no trouble, no nothing.
‘I came back here on Saturday, and I’ll tell you it’s the worst I’ve seen it.
‘They can’t come up to dance with customers anymore. I would normally be up there dancing with all these boys.
‘I’m coming back here in October with friends and it’s not going to be the same.
They’ve ruined it, ruined Marmaris.
‘Next year I’m not coming here, I’ll be going to morocco.
‘On all the Marmaris groups on Facebook, they’re all boycotting it. They’re going to Spain, Portugal.
‘I don’t know if I’ll come here next year, I’m going to Morocco next June instead.
Further down by the beachfront, where music has to be turned off by 12.30am, Lauren Bennington, 31, Lea Binns, 24 and Keeley Whitehurst, 20, told me ‘it’s not the same’.
The trio, who had all met back here on the beach many years ago, said: ‘We would usually be here till like 5am but now it’s half 12 and everyone floods onto the beach.
‘We’ve been coming for eight years. It was packed even last year but now it’s so much quieter.
‘And the problem is you don’t want to go to Bar Street because it’s quite rowdy there.
‘They used to do the sparklers and the dance shows and the guys dancing, and they say it’s bad cos they’re doing it in a sexual way but they’re not.
‘They’re just entertaining. And the thing is the sparklers and stuff, the kids love it too it keeps them entertained
It’s definitely not the same.’
Nearby Emma Boriss, 46, and Emily Boden, 24, from Blackpool, warned me against going to Bar Street.
While restrictions on barmen dancing were brought in a few years ago, the police have recently clamped down, prompting many venues to be shut temporarily, and some permanently
They said: ‘This beachfront, it’s a home away from home.
‘But Bar Street, it’s dinghy, it’s like a back street.
‘Someone was shot there a few days ago.
‘We’ve been once with a chap from the Manchester bar before, but we wouldn’t ever go back. It’s dangerous.
‘It’s a shame that they’ve ruined these bits.
We’ll probably still come, but not if it weren’t for the people we know well now.
‘I could see how first time goers wouldn’t come. They’d go somewhere like Portugal instead.’
Almost everyone I encountered walking down the strips at Armutalan Street and the beachfront had been regular visitors who had made Marmaris their yearly trip over years.
And the new curfews risked changing this for them.
For James Roberts, 28, and Jade Bingham, 27, Jamie Bone, 20, and Dylan Cox, 21, it was their first time visiting.
They said: To be fair it’s out of respect for the hotels and locals isn’t it.
‘But we have to say it is a bit of a let down for tourists.’
