Destinations and vacation recommendations in Alanya right now

Best Antalya destinations and vacation advices: These days, Side Kemer 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. See additional info at Side excursions.

Laodicea is located right across the ancient city of Hierapolis. It was once a trade city which was known with glossy black wool and eye salve trade. Mentioned in the Book of Revelation as the luke warm city. Recently Turkish archaeologists excavated a church dating to the time of Constantine. This is thought to be one of the earliest churches of the world. This site is recommended for biblical history lovers. Aphrodisias is 3 hours drive from Kusadasi town. Aphrodisias is derived from the goddess named as Aphrodite, the goddess of love. An artisan city known with sculpturors who made sculptures and sarcaphaguses with the local white marble. You can see the best examples of marble works in this city. The site has the most well preserved ancient stadium in the world which has a capacity of 30.000 people. The huge pool at the south agora is breathtaking.

You can plan a full day trip to see the ancient city of Side with the temples of Athena and Apollo, and the magnificent theater of Aspendos. The theater is one of the most distinguished representatives of Roman Age theaters today, with its well-preserved condition and architectural features. If you choose to make this trip with an organized tour, it will be either combined with the famous Manavgat bazaar where you can find many things such as souveneirs, clothes, spices, fresh fruits, and vegetables, or the marvelous Manavgat Waterfall. The itinerary depends on which excursion you book. Some have Side, Aspendos, and the waterfall, some have Side, Aspendos, and the bazaar. The weekly market days of the Manavgat Bazaar also make a difference.

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 bathhouse was built by Skolastika, a wealthy Roman woman living in Ephesus, and therefore the bath complex is mostly known as the Skolastika bath. Another name for this bath complex is Varius Bath. It consists of 4 main sections: Calderium (hot water room), Tepidarium (warm water room), frigidarium (cold water room) and apodyterium (dressing room), which we are used to seeing in all ancient baths.The bath is heated by a central heating system and the bath has a capacity of one thousand people. The use of the baths is free and consists of 3 floors. Baths in antiquity are also known as places where people can socialize and establish good friendships because they were used not only for cleaning but also for socializing and having fun. Among the surviving remains of the bath complex, only the ground floor is suitable for sightseeing.

The six-kilometer stretch of ancient walls of Alanya Castle trail along the high promontory that shadows the modern sprawl of Alanya below. Inside the walls is Alanya’s old town district, the most interesting area of the city to explore. Alanya Castle’s history dates back to the Classical era, when this craggy, cave-riddled peninsula was a favorite haunt for pirates. The Greek-built fortifications were extended under Roman rule but it was during the Byzantine era that Alanya’s role as a Mediterranean seaport began to take off. See additional details on https://www.tourmoni.com/.

Alanya’s emblem is a 13th-century Seljuk defensive tower, getting its name from the red brick that makes up the structure’s upper storey and parapet. The Red Tower has an octagonal footprint and climbs to 33 metres with marble blocks on its lower walls. This rare piece of Medieval defensive architecture was constructed to protect Alanya’s harbour and shipyard, and greeted people’s arrival to the city for many centuries. There’s a cistern inside, still able to collect rainwater, and you can make out the historic siege-repelling murder holes, through which boiling water and pitch would be dropped on helpless invaders. On the first floor is a small ethnographic museum with tools and handicrafts reflecting the Turkmen culture in the Taurus Mountains.

Cleopatra Beach very rightly gets all the glory, but if you want a change of beach scene, Alanya does have another strip of sand. Running southeast from Alanya harbor is the long shingle and sand shoreline of Portakal Beach, which trails along the city edge for around four kilometers, becoming known as Tosmur Beach at the very southeast end of Alanya, where the Dim River exits out into the sea. Portakal and Tosmur are backed by plenty of hotels and restaurants, and some beach clubs have also staked a patch along the beach length, offering sun loungers with shades, and waiter service for refreshments and food on the beach. Other facilities here include changing cabins and freshwater showers, and lifeguards patrol the sand during the summer season. Because of the beach’s length, even in the height of summer there’s always plenty of space for everyone, but if you’re seeking peace and quiet on this strip, head to the southeast end, which always has fewer beachgoers.

On your visit to the Dim River make time for the largest cave system in the Alanya area, carved out by water over millions of years but only discovered in 1999. The Dim Cave is 360 metres long, and worthwhile for its many concretions. Something to remember is that there are lots of steps and narrow walkways, so the Dim Cave isn’t accessible to all. As with the Damlataş Cave there’s high humidity at 75%, although the cave does offer respite from the summer heat, with a temperature never rising above 19°C. One of the things to love about this park is its location, right by the cable car station, tourist office, Damlataş Cave and archaeological museum, at the east end of Kleopatra Beach. Within a few steps north along Güzelyalı Cd. there are dozens of places to eat. As for the park, it’s somewhere to escape the heat for a few minutes, under a palm tree or one of the enormous ficuses. There’s a mini-golf course, a fishpond, flowerbeds and pieces of public art like a ceremonious statue of Cleopatra. This is also somewhere to witness Alanya’s affinity for its stray cats, which roam the lawns freely and have special wooden shelters and feeding stations.