Visited southwestern Turkey in August 2015

From Saturday 15 August to Saturday 29 August we visited southwestern Turkey. We took a flight to İzmir and hired a car there to travel along the coast in the direction of Antalya, were we took our return flight.

Just like for Sicily I made a very ambitious planning, so we could see almost everything on the coastal route from İzmir to Antalya. We did reserve enough time for enjoying beaches, but again we felt the schedule should be more relaxed. On average we spent probably two hours in our car every day. In most hotels we spent only one night, two in some.

If you studied history or you are interested in archeology like me, you will love Turkey. This country probably has to most archeological sites per square kilometer in the world. So much that the Turkish government apparently doesn’t have the budget to design preservation plans for them all, especially the very remote, smaller ruins. I was deeply impressed by some of the highlights such as the Harbor Theater in Miletus and the Temple of Apollo in Didyma. Also be sure to visit the Archeological Museums of Selçuk and Antalya. With the exception of Ephesus, all of the archeological sites I saw are relatively quiet, even in the busy month of August.

Theater of Miletus

Temple of Apollo at Didyma

The beaches in this region of Turkey are nice. Some memorable beaches which come to mind are Ölüdeniz (Fethiye), Patara, Kaputaş (east of Kalkan) and Konyaaltı (western Antalya). However, there wasn’t any beach were the water was sufficiently clear to dive and see what was going on at the seabed. In that regard I like some Italian and Greek beaches more. Also, all beaches were filled with tourists. Probably inevitable in August, but even in the summer there are plenty of Italian, Greek and even Dutch beaches which are more quiet.

Patara Beach, seen from the sea

Kaputaş Plajı (with D5100)

Konyaaltı Beach in Antalya

The food was okay, but not memorable. I get the impression that Turkish cuisine isn’t as creative with vegan dishes as some other Mediterranean cuisines. Of course, my impression might be skewed because southwestern Turkey is so extremely touristic. The rule of thumb is that more tourists means more bad restaurants. We fell victim to this on a few days, but if you search well you can find good places to eat. Maybe I would learn to appreciate Turkish cuisine more if I visited Istanbul or the less touristic regions in Turkey’s hinterland.

In Tekirova we went tandem paragliding from Tahtalı Dağı, a mountain which is 2,366 meters high, landing at the beach of Tekirova. We did so with the company Escape2Olympos.  The first time I went paragliding, in Pokhara in Nepal, I used my camera to take shots while paragliding. This was not allowed here due to safety reasons (on their website they explain that many people apparently dropped their cameras and endangered those on the ground), which I was okay with initially. Not using a camera allows me to concentrate on the flight, which is a good.

During the flight it turned out they had those GoPro cameras on a stick. Secured so it couldn’t fall, but I wasn’t told about it in advance. I told the pilot I wasn’t interested, but I did agree to hold the camera when the pilot needed to perform maneuvers or to get a better view for the camera. The pilot told me it was compulsory for him to use the camera. The near constant use of the camera distracted from the experience. The fact that they charged half the flight’s fee for the video annoyed me further. The flight itself was amazing, especially due to the huge difference in altitude and the view from above. I would recommend them only if you negotiate with them that the camera isn’t going to be used at all. You want to focus on the flight.

My greatest problem with southwestern Turkey is that the tourism industry is so overdeveloped here. This made the region lose its authenticity. This was perhaps best illustrated by a photo I saw in the castle of Bodrum. It showed an aerial photograph of Bodrum in the 1960s, when it was still a quaint small fishing village. Now it’s overflowing with hotels. I prefer regions which still possess that authenticity, such as Southern Italy.

Despite some of these reservations, we enjoyed this holiday. I would strongly recommend others to visit just outside the holiday season (in April, May, September or October) to avoid the large crowds of tourists and hot temperatures. Walking around archeological sites in temperatures above 30 °C can be taxing. We were limited to August because of Stephanie’s inflexible roster due to her work in the hospital.

Below is our schedule:

  • Sat 15th: Amsterdam → İzmir, hotel at airport
  • Sun 16th: Selçuk (Ephesus, Ephesus Archaeological Museum, Basilica of St. John, Ayasuluk Fortress)
  • Mon 17th: Priene, Miletus, Didim
  • Tue 18th: Didim (Temple of Apollo at Didyma), Iasos, Bodrum (Bodrum Castle, Mausoleum)
  • Wed 19th: Dalyan (Kaunos, İztuzu Beach), Fethiye
  • Thu 20th: Fethiye (Ölüdeniz, Kabak)
  • Fri 21st: Tlos, Pinara, Sidyma, Patara.
  • Sat 22nd: Letoon, Xanthos, Delikkemer, Kaputaş Beach, Kaş
  • Sun 23rd: Apollonia (near Sahilkılınçlı), Simena (near Kaleüçağız), Kyaneai, Sura (36.244938, 29.944004), Demre (St. Nicholas Church)
  • Mon 24th: Demre (Andriake, Myra), Arykanda, Limyra, Fineke
  • Tue 25th: Çıralı (Olympos, Olympos Beach, Chimaeara), Tekirova
  • Wed 26th: Çamyuva (paragliding from Tahtalı Dağı, Phaselis, Phaselis Beach)
  • Thu 27th: Termessos, Antalya
  • Fri 28th: Antalya (Antalya Archeological Museum, Antalya Aquarium)
  • Sat 29th: Aspendos, Perge, Antalya → Amsterdam

Heracles Sarcophagus in Antalya Museum

Nazars for sale in Kaş

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top