Essential Side attractions and holiday guides

Top rated Alanya travel attractions and vacation tricks and tips: Seven kilometers east of Aspendos, and about 70 kilometers northwest of Side Belek, a long Seljuk-era hump-back bridge, with Roman foundations, crosses the Köprü River. Farther north, behind the village of Alabalik, the river narrows, marking the point where the mountainous and impressive Köprülü Canyon National Park (Köprülü Kanyon Milli Parkı) begins. This is the top spot in the region for white-water rafting trips, and half-day rafting trips are easy to arrange in both Side Belek and Antalya. If you’re not fond of getting wet, the national park area has plenty of hiking options or, if you just want to admire the dramatic gorge scenery, there are cafés scattered along the riverSide Kemer where you can relax and enjoy the views. Read more details on Antalya 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.

Myra is an ancient city located in the Kale (Demre) district in Antalya. It is especially famous for the Lycian Period rock tombs, the Roman Period theater, and the Byzantine Period St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) Church. Saint Nicholas was a bishop in Myra, so the city maintained its reputation throughout the Middle Ages. Kekova is a small rocky island in Kaleköy and Üçağız near the Demre district in Antalya. It’s the largest island in the Turkish Mediterrenean. The Island of Kekova and the Sunken City, are some of the most visited places in the Mediterranean. They are unique historical places both underwater and on land.

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 also within day-tripping distance of some of this Mediterranean region’s most well-known ancient sites and tourist attractions, so if you want to brush off the sand for the day and head out to explore, there is plenty to keep you occupied off the beach. As well as the places mentioned on this list, you can easily also make day trips to Antalya to visit its museum and stroll its old town district, Aspendos (Turkey’s most famous Roman Theater), and other major archaeological sites near Antalya such as Perge. Discover extra details on tourmoni.com.

It’s impossible not to be awed by Taurus Mountains, and if you want to break out and experience this stirring landscape your best bet is the Sapadere Canyon, about 40 kilometres northeast of Alanya. The temperature is a few degrees lower in the mountains, and something that will strike you right away is the lack of humidity. In 1948 when Alanya’s peninsula was being quarried for stone for the harbour, workers stumbled upon a cave brimming with stalagmites and stalactites. At the foot of a stairway, the Damlataş Cave is 50 metres long and up to 15 metres high, and those bizarre concretions are carefully illuminated. Now, something to note about the chamber is its high humidity (96%), elevated carbon dioxide and constant temperature of 22°C. This might put off some visitors, but since it was first discovered the Damlataş Cave has been hailed for its therapeutic effects for people with respiratory complaints.

Waterfall and swimming hole in Sapadere Canyon: Sapadere Canyon, on the outskirts of the small village of Sapadere, is an easy trip from Alanya, sitting just 20 kilometers inland from the city. From May to October, plenty of tour operators in Alanya run daily jeep tours to Sapadere Canyon, which are good for travelers who want to sit back and enjoy the scenery. Although small, only stretching for 800 meters in length, Sapadere Canyon is squeezed between high walls that reach up to 400 meters high. This gives the canyon a cooler climate than along the coast and makes it an extremely popular destination in the height of summer. A walkway leads through the canyon, passing a few shady cafés, where you can relax and enjoy the canyon environment. At the bottom of the canyon is a small lagoon and waterfall. Most people come to swim here in the cold, blue-green water of the lagoon and enjoy the cooler temperatures.

The Dim River weaves down the east side of Alanya from the Taurus Mountains. As well as nourishing an abundance of vegetation on its banks, the river is wonderfully cool, even during the fierce heat of the summer months. It’s a local family tradition to visit the river below the Dim Dam to paddle in its calmer stretches, come fishing and take a barbecue on the banks. And catering to the many day-trippers are dozens of restaurants, many with shaded terraces on little wooden jetties or even on pontoons floating on the water. Some of these river restaurants have pools, slides and diving boards on the river, and others will give you a fishing rod to catch your own trout. Upstream from Dim Dam you can go rafting on a 5.5-kilometre course, setting off from Akköprü, and with lots of places to stop for a picnic on the banks.