High quality Side attractions and vacation recommendations: These days, Side Belek is more famous for its sun and sand than its ancient history. During the summer months of endless blue skies, European travelers flock to the town to flop out on the sand of the many beaches lining the surrounding coast. The closest, and most popular, strip of sand, though, is right in town. East Beach is a buzzing place packed with sun loungers, restaurants, and cafés, and offers everything you need for a full day of sunning, relaxing, and topping up the tan. If you’re looking for a little more action, you’ll also find water sports galore on offer here. For a picnic spot away from the beach, you can’t beat the Manavgat Waterfalls, about 13 kilometers northeast of Side Kemer. The waterfalls sit upon the Manavgat River, which rises in the Seytan Mountain Range of the Taurus Mountains. Set amid a landscaped garden, the area is hugely popular with both local families and tourists on sunny weekends. Try to pick a weekday for a visit if you’d prefer the site to be less crowded. You can walk right up to the falls using a network of gangways to get close-up views. The thunderous roar of the water is a dramatic soundtrack to a visit here. Combine a visit to the waterfalls with some history with the 5 in 1 Best of Antalya Region Tour, which packs in the major highlights of the area in a full-day tour. This tour from Antalya visits the waterfalls first before guided tours of both the Perge and Aspendos ruins. The tour then travels on to Side Kemer for guided tours of the theater ruins area and the Temples of Apollo and Athena. Lunch, all entry fees, and transport are included. Find even more information on Alanya excursions.
Priene is 40 minutes drive to Kusadasi town. An ionic city which was designed with Hypodamic system. Hypodamic system is the early form of grid plan system that we see in New York and Paris today. The streets were intersecting each other with right angles. In 334 BC Alexander the Great stayed in the city and funded for the construction of Athena Temple. A very steep city today. Travellers who would like to visit this site need to be in good physcial condition. Doganbey village takes approximately 1 hour drive from Kusadasi. Doganbey is a former Greek village located by the ancient Mykale Mountains across the Greek Island of Samos, the birth place of famous mathematician Phytogoras. In 1924 there was an exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey.
Alanya is a worldwide center of attention with a large number of beach resorts. The İncekum region is sought by those who do not like the crowd of Alanya city center and want to have a relaxing holiday. Here, facilities are lined up along the beach like a set. Avsallar has a unique 10 km long sandy beach where you can find various forms of accommodation, from all inclusive hotels to boutique hotels and homestays. Konaklı and Türkler (Fuğla) are some of the places close to entertainment and are the liveliest spots in Alanya.
Alanya is a very popular resort town on the Turkish Riviera. The town is 120 km from the center of Antalya and has its own airport. Well known for its beautiful beaches, resorts, nightlife, and nature, Alanya welcomes millions of visitors from all over the world every year. To help you get maximum enjoyment from the city, we have prepared this guide to the best things to do in Alanya. The iconic Red Tower, where you can see traces of Seljuk Architecture, has been the symbol of Alanya for centuries. It’s located in the historical city center, right near the Seljuk Shipyard (Tersane). The octagonal building was built in the 13th century by Seljuk Sultan, Alaeddin Keykubad. When you look around from the top floor of the tower, the view encompasses the walls, towers and the harbor that surround the peninsula.
The street that starts from the Grand Theater and extends to the harbor is 528 meters long and 11 meters wide. It is described as one of the most spacious roads in the ancient world. Columns adorned both sides of the street, and there were many galleries and shops on both sides. There was also a developed sewage system under this spacious road. Since the end of the street leads to the harbor, it was called “Harbor Street”. Kings, emperors, ambassadors, merchants who came to Ephesus by sea were welcomed on this street with an official ceremony. It is also known as “Arkadiane Street” since it was destroyed in the earthquake in the 4th century and repaired by Emperor Arkadius between 395-408. After the adoption of Christianity, the statue of the four apostles of Christ was placed on the street, and these sculptures, unfortunately, do not exist today.
Alanya is best known for its beaches. The sandy strips in town itself, and strung along the surrounding coast, are all about laid-back resort vacations and are usually packed out by a clientele of northern Europeans from June through August. There’s more to Alanya than its shore though. The high cliff of the peninsula is home to an ancient castle district, all surrounded by well-preserved, sturdy stone walls. Down at the harbor, more historical remnants survive, looming over a bay where yachts sit ready to whisk you out onto the sea. See more information at https://www.tourmoni.com/.
The city’s steep peninsula, protected on three sides by the Mediterranean, is topped by a 13th-century castle with 6.5 kilometres of fortified walls. This rocky mass is a natural defence, and today’s castle was built on earlier Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine enclosures. In all there are 83 towers and 140 towers in the walls, and many of the 1,200 original cisterns continue to fulfil their original role. Alanya Castle is one massive archaeological site that warrants hours of exploration. The starting point has to be the citadel or Kale on the southwest side, where you’ll come to the Byzantine Church of St George, later adapted as a mosque. The north side of the promontory is the scene of the Seljuk Ehmedek Fortress, built on Hellenistic vestiges and holding a military garrison, arsenal and Sultan’s treasury for hundreds of years. Here you’ll discover countless ruins, together with historic 19th-century houses that went up after the castle had lost its defensive purpose.
Teleferik heading to Cleopatra Beach: The most scenic way to reach the Alanya Castle area is by hopping on the cable car that connects Cleopatra Beach with the lower castle district of Ehmedek. The cable-car operates between 11am and 9pm daily, and the trip over the cliff is great for capturing sunset coastal views, as well as a means of transport. The 900-meter ride offers excellent views over the forested cliff face leading up to the castle, the yawning strip of Cleopatra Beach’s sand and Mediterranean Sea below, as well as the dusky mountains in the distance. The lower station is just behind the beachfront, while the upper station deposits you just outside Alanya Castle’s main gate from where you can wander farther up the slope to explore the historic buildings and ruins.
In 1228 the Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Kayqubad I ordered the construction of this remarkable shipyard, facing east across the bay, just south of Kızılkule. In Medieval times Alanya was the Seljuk Empire’s prime shipyard on the Mediterranean, and what remains is in great condition and open to the public for free along a wooden boardwalk. There’s a row of five pointed arches, more than 55 metres long in total, and these vaulted bays go back 44 metres inland. The shipyard was oriented east to get as much sunlight as possible, and is flanked by a mosque and guardroom. Slightly back and posted on the rocks on the south side is a defensive tower once armed with cannons.