Icmeler Online Holiday Forum & Reviews - Turkey

Hi could some one from Icmeler please tell me if the ramadam feast which of which i believe is on August 30th affects the opening of restaurants & shops in the resort, as my nice is on holiday on this date & her tour operator sent a letter stating that some shops & restaurants could be closed due to this event.Thank you for any info i receive.

No, it doesnt affect any of the bars or restaurants at all, I have been many times during Ramadam and there is absolutely no difference, just a national holiday and celebration at the end of it but still everywhere is open. Its a bit annoying when people who SHOULD know give the wrong information- ie; Tour operators etc. When you think that it is basically a summer resort and the majority of restaurants are shut for 6 months of the year it wouldn't do for them to be closed for business for the month of Ramadam.

Ramadan is a religious period (a month) during which followers of Islam do no eat or drink between daybreak and sunset. There may be a few of the more traditional resturants not open at lunch time but they will all be open in the evening.
In tourist areas they all seem to stay open so I doubt if you will notice any difference.

David

Ramadan starts on 1st August this year.

I have not seen one restaurant closed at all during the day during Ramadam. In fact I have also seen the waiters drink in daylight hours but when you think about it if they were to work the long days they do in the heat with not one drop of liquid until dark they would be dropping like flies. I dont think they have any choice but to work.

The only time of the day when we've noticed Ramadan affecting things [mildly] is early evening when staff sit down to eat a meal to break their fast
They all sit down together and we felt it would be rude to interrupt them - not that it bothered them at all though, they were inviting us to join them

some places serve food but not alcohol hope this helps

ooops, i should have said that because of the sunset, they tend to break their fast in between that gap where people are heading back to their accom and getting ready for the evening - it doesn't interfere at all with anything we holidaymakers are doing ..............

You won't really notice any difference during Ramadan, quite a few people do fast (though how they manage it during such hot weather is beyond me), some will just say they would but just couldn't fast and work in the heat - understandable.

The end of Ramadan, which I think this year is August 30, is celebrated with a 3 day holiday (seker bayrami - Sugar Feast) and everywhere you go you'll be offered sweets/turkish delight... it's lovely to be a part of that.

Mazz

We were there last year when it was seker bayrami ( the end of Ramadan) and it was great , We saw Turkish families out together celebrating by having a multi course meal, we were offered sweets and it was lovely a bit like christmas here. Sadly we miss it this year as we only fly out on Sept 2nd.