Kaş

It remains small. Narrow streets descend towards the harbour, boats leave for the sea in the morning, tables appear wherever restaurants can find a few spare metres, and across the water sits the Greek island of Kastellorizo — Meis, as it is known in Türkiye.

Kalkan is not far away.

Which is why the two are constantly compared.

Yet their property markets feel remarkably different.

Kalkan is primarily about villas, hillsides, private pools, wide panoramic views and homes designed around the horizon.

Kaş is more intimate, compact and alive. There is less land, less property for sale, and genuinely good homes tend to appear on the market far less often.

Put simply, in Kalkan you may find yourself choosing between villas.

In Kaş, you may first celebrate the fact that the right one appeared at all.

There is, however, the peninsula.

Çukurbağ Peninsula stretches into the Mediterranean opposite the Greek island and remains one of the key addresses for villas and homes with panoramic sea views.

We can all relax.

Although here, the Mediterranean has an inconvenient habit of becoming part of the asking price.

Diving, boats, small bays and trips towards the islands make the sea less of a backdrop and more of an extension of the town.

And yet Kaş makes very little effort to behave like a luxury resort.

Its luxury comes from somewhere else.

A small scale. Limited development. A good restaurant you can walk to. A boat waiting in the harbour in the morning. A Greek island across the water. And the increasingly rare pleasure of living somewhere you can still cross on foot.

Property in Kaş therefore needs to be read differently.

The exact address, view, access to the sea, parking, terrain and rarity of the property all matter enormously. Sometimes the value is not simply in how many square metres you are buying.

It is in how many homes like this can still be bought at all.

Perhaps that is the real difference between Kaş and Kalkan.

Kalkan offers you a beautiful villa to choose.

Kaş occasionally asks whether you are prepared to wait until the right one chooses you