Destinations and vacation tips and tricks in Belek today: Side Belek Museum may be small but it offers a well curated collection, and it is worth popping in simply to have a look at the building itself. The museum is based in the town’s 2nd-century Roman bathhouse building, which was heavily restored during the 5th century. It sits just across the road from the main entrance into Side Kemer’s Roman theater site. Come here to view the exhibits of finely detailed statuary, sculpture, sarcophagi, and engraved stele, all of which was found locally at excavation sites within and around Side Kemer. The museum makes for a good rest stop after scrambling through the agora ruins and puffing your way up to the top tier of seating at the theater next door. See even more information on Belek excursions.
Pamukkale is 3 hours drive from Kusadasi town. Right by the natural wonders the ancient city of Hierapoolis was founded. Today a unesco heritage site. Its natural beauty and historical background attracts many travellers. Pamukkale means cotton castle. There are two reasons why the area is name as cotton castle. One reason the white cliffs look like a castle made of white cotton, the other reason is that the area houses lots of cotton processing factories. Natural thermal springs which has high density of chalk inside formed glacier looking terraces on the areas where flowed for thousands of years. It is a unique site. Ancient Hierapolis was founded by Pergamum Kingdom. Due to the existence of thermal waters which healed people. Thousands of patients came to the area to get cured. The ones who were not able to be cured died and buried in the area. Today the site has the largest ancient necropolis. The number of thumbs like sarcaphaguses excavated is over 1600. The total number is expected to be over 3000. St. Philip the apostle lived in the city and martyred during the persecution time to the christians. This is a must see site for travellers.
Jeep-Safaris are among the most popular tours in Antalya. Alanya is the Jeep Safari city in Turkey. There are more than five different tours available: Oba Çay Jeep, Sapadere Jeep, Dimçay Jeep, Taurus Mountains Jeep, and Jeep with Rafting… In add addition to the adventurous and fun part of safari, you’ll get to know the marvelous nature in the region. Let’s take a break from the hot beach and go somewhere that looks like a beach, but is more refreshing. Here is a place that gives you the opportunity to chill while spending a nice time playing or just enjoying nature and artificial pools. How does that sound? Dim River is one of the most visited natural beauties in Alanya with its refreshing air and water in all seasons. It is located 15 kms from Alanya and accessible by different paths.
The Damlataş Cave is a 15,000 year old natural formation and is one of the mysterious beauties in Alanya located in the very center of the town just below the Alanya Castle. The cave is fascinatingly beautiful with its very impressive illuminated stalactites and stalagmites. It has a constant temperature around 22-23 degrees. The section, which has wide columns with stalactites and stalagmites, is 13/14 meters wide and 15 meters high. Both Damlataş and Cleopatra Beaches are blue flag beaches, located side by side on the west side of the historical peninsula. Damlataş Beach is on the shore in front of Damlataş Cave. As the name suggests, Cleopatra Beach is famous because of the legend that Egyptian Queen, Cleopatra and Roman Emperor, Antonius are said to have swam here.
See the Pollio Fountain: According to the Latin and Greek inscriptions, this building was built as a “Mausoleum” for C. Sextilius Pollio by his stepson, in the area allocated by the city administration. Thus, the person who built the Basilica and Marnas Aqueducts and dedicated them to the emperor and the city was honored on behalf of the city. There is also a small pool inside. The water of this pool comes from the wall of the Agora. On the bench in the pool was the Polyphemos sculpture group, which is exhibited today in the Ephesus Museum.
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. Find even more info on 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.
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.
