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In this blog I will tell you about a pretty seaside holiday destination in Aegean coast of Turkey – #Cesme (which is the big town) and #Alacati (a smaller town which is actually a part of Cesme). 😊
Çeşme (pronounced as: CHESH-meh, and meaning “fountain” or “spring,”) is a Turkish resort town west of Izmir, on the Aegean Sea. Only 8km from the Greek island of Chios (Sakız), the town has a long seafront, a magnificent castle built in 1508 by Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II and a bustling merkez commercial centre with plenty of shops and restaurants. In addition to local and foreign tourists, It is a popular weekend holiday destination also for locals living in the nearest city Izmir (which is only 1 hour away by car) and an excellent base to explore the region, local culture and food.
Alaçatı is a village 72 km (45 miles) west of İzmir near the tip of the Çeşme peninsula. With it’s charming old stone houses on narrow streets lined with sidewalk cafes, nice restaurants andboutiques, it is one of the prettiest holiday destinations of Turkey. Windsurfers have also become a fixture here due to the strong, year-round winds of the nearby bay, making Alaçatı the self-proclaimed windsurfing capital of Turkey.
How to go to Cesme and Alacati?
Cesme and it’s near town Alacati is very easy to reach by air or road transport. There are direct flights to Izmir from many destinations in the world, especially in summer period. You can also make a transit flight by first flying to Istanbul and then to Izmir. You can use airport shuttle service (called as “Havas” bus services) from Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport (which stops at both at Alacati and Cesme) or you can rent a car from the airport, you can also use a private shuttle service (most probably your hotel could arrange this for you but it would be much more costly compared to Havas airport shuttle). Within the town you can both use taxis (there are many taxi depots around) or you can use local small blue buses (which are called as “dolmuş”). You would need to have some cash (in Turkish Liras – you can use cash ATMs in the airport for this) with you to pay for local transportation like taxis and small buses going around in the town. In all other places, including restaurants you can make your payments by card.
Where to swim and sunbath?
There are many options to swim and sunbath in Cesme and you will see that some of the shores are very windy, some of them are less windy and some of them have no wind and wave at all. I will briefly tell you about 3 shores I have recently been to during my last holiday: Aya Yorgi Bay, Ilıca beach and Pasalimani Bay.
You can go to private beaches in #AyaYorgi area which are quite nice. Sea in Aya Yorgi Bay is very calm, and it’s not wavy as you can see in the photos. Beaches may be a bit costly and you may need to make reservation in advance if it’s busy period, but I would definately recommend going to one of the nice beaches in Aya Yorgi Bay at least once.
Another option for swimming could be Ilıca beach, which is a public beach with a very large sandy shore. You can bring your own sun umbrealla or chairs for the beach with you or you can also rent an umbrealla from one of the small cafes at the back side of the beach for a very reasonable price. You will also be able to find facilities such as showers etc. in the beach. As you can see in the photos #Ilicabeach is usually quite windy and wavy. It is quite fun to play with the waves though as the water is very shallow in this beach. 😊
Another option to go for swimming would be Pasalimanı Bay. Sea is quite calm in this area and you can see the bottom of the sea like an aquarium although it’s not as calm as Aya Yorgi Bay. There are some beaches in the area which are quite nice and calm, would be a good option if you are looking for more quiet and calm area to swim.
What to eat?
Lastly, I want to recommend you some local food to eat. You will find very nice restaurants in Cesme, especially in Alacati. I would recommend eating some seafood (my choice was Cupra and Levrek as fish, octopus salad and local herb mixture with yougurt sauce). There are very nice seadfood restaurants in Alacati, serving different types of fish, seafood and mezes. You can also have Iskender kebap and Manisa kofte in a local kebap restaurant (you can find good ones near Ilıca beach). Musakka and other local food such as Mucver and kalamari would be other nice local options for you to try.
Turkish breakfast is a must to try in Turkey. It is always huge with a lot of variety. Turkish tea is a must on the table and I would also recommend you having Turkish coffee after breakfast, which will wake you up and make ready for the day.
I would also suggest you eating “Kumru” which is a sandwich fileld with cheese and beef salami. There are vegetarian options only with cheese as well. Kumru is the “fastfood” of city of Izmir and it’s surrounding region, it is quite delicious and has a very reasonable price.
Hope you will enjoy your visit to Cesme and Alacati! 😊 If you have any questions about my post or if you just would like to have advice from a local please feel free to contact me by e-mail or by filling out the contact form in the website.
Lots of love from Turkey.
Dilek
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