High quality Side Alanya attractions and holiday tips and tricks
Travel tours and vacation guides in Side Alanya from sideexcursion.com: While you’re in the Köprülü Canyon National Park area, don’t miss the ruins of Selge, which sit high up in the Taurus Mountains, 74 kilometers northwest from Side, scattered amid the village of Altinkaya Köyü. It’s said that the town was founded by the blind prophet Kalchas of the Trojan War with the rest of his army from Troy. Until the Roman period, the settlement’s remote location protected the town from foreign rule, yet trade flourished thanks to good relations with the towns of coastal Pamphylia. The extensive ruins contain many interesting remains, and history buffs could easily spend all day poking about here. For those with a little less time, the principal attraction not to miss is the Roman theater, with its 10,000 seats, and the adjacent stadium. Some distance to the southwest are the remnants of the Temple of Zeus and Temple of Artemis while scattered farther east are the ruins of the agora.
Experience the ancient, traditional Turkish baths done for 1,000 years in the Anatolian region with the Side Turkish Bath program. The Turkish bath is an excellent experience to relax after a long journey. The Side Turkish bath program is one of the best ways to relax. It has been popular among Turks for centuries. We will pick you up with our free shuttle from your hotel found in the Side region and bring you to the Turkish bath. The Side Turkish bath program will last approximately 2 hours. The sauna, Jacuzzi, bath glove, foam and aroma therapy massages are included in the standard program. At the end of the program, you will have a face mask.
Lonely Travel is a professional licensed travel agency in Alanya & Side. We organize travel tours services since 1997. We let our customers to save their time and money also providing them a high quality service. In our Travel Agency employees highly trained specialists that are licensed by the Ministry of Tourism of Turkey. We work 7 days a week to provide the best service to our guests. We organize more than 50 tours around Alanya and Side, each and every single excursion of ours is fully insured and maintained by our professional tour guides. Find even more info at Side 2 in 1 Buggy & Rafting.
Alanya Castle was built in 1221 by the Seljuk Sultan, Alaaddin Keykubat, who captured the city and had it rebuilt. You can take the cable car to go up to the castle. The cable car station is near Atatürk Park. You will need to walk uphill another 1 km to reach the entrance of the castle after exiting the cable car. İçkale (Inner castle) is the top sight up there. It’s an open air museum at the summit of the peninsula. Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman artifacts can be found in the inner castle. When you go to Alanya Castle by cable car, you will come across the Süleymaniye Mosque, a Seljuk work renovated during the Ottoman period. There is also a covered bazaar (bedesten) behind the mosque.
To those in the know, the best panorama in Alanya can be had from this belvedere in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains. By car or cab you can get up to the Seyir Terasi in under 15 minutes, and once you’re there you may not want to leave. From this leafy vantage point you’ve got the best view of the castle’s peninsula, the tessellated white blocks of modern Alanya, as well as the harbour and the aqua-blue expanse of the Mediterranean. There’s a telescope on the terrace and a cafe-restaurant above, and in the evening families will come to the park to light barbecues. Of the many views to cherish in Alanya, some of the very best are from the water. On a cruise departing the old harbour, you’ll see the castle, shipyard, Kızılkule and the Taurus Mountains through the eyes of a Medieval sailor. The coastline in the Antalya Province is also fabulous, and there are three sets of caves within a short sail Alanya. Occasionally on this six-hour voyage the boat will drop anchor and you can lie back on deck or plunge into the cool turquoise sea. Cold drinks are provided and there’s also a barbecued lunch on board.
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.
For the travelers who overnight and have time to explore other sites around Ephesus, we recommend to visit the following sites. They are all nearby Ephesus. Some can be added to private Ephesus tour, some can be visited in a day trip from Kusadasi, Selcuk, Sirince or Izmir. All the below sites, are recommended for travelers who have been to Ephesus already. Ephesus is the main highlight of the area. Some of the sites can be combined with Private Ephesus Tours. For tour enquiries and/or questions please do not hesitate to contact us. For the travelers who will be staying in Kusadasi, Sirince or Selcuk, we offer 3 days tour of western Turkey tours.
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.
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. See additional information on https://www.sideexcursion.com/.
When the Seljuk’s took control of this region in the 13th century, they built on the foundations of previous rulers. Much of the remaining building works still standing today in the castle area date from this period, when Alanya became a commercial hub. The lower castle area, nearest to the entrance gate, is known as the Ehmedek neighborhood. Wander the alleyways of red-roofed Ottoman-era houses and historical buildings here, then follow the winding lanes up to the Iç Kale (the castle’s inner fortress) for older Seljuk and Byzantine ruins plus views that soar across the sea, the coastal plateau, and the peaks of the Taurus Mountains beyond.
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.
