SEASIDE SURPRISES
Travelling along the Aegean and Antalya coastline
provides many cultural treats, archaeological
wonders and stunning coastline views.
The majority of people who pack for
Turkey pack the swimsuit and the bucket
and spade, but with 8,000km of stunning
coastline and 352 blue flag beaches, a
Turkish holiday has much more to offer.
Turkey’s seaside treasures include the
world-famous resorts of Bodrum and the
Oludeniz lagoon, the tranquil harbour
towns of Kas and Kalkan, and many more.
Located on the bay of the same name,
Izmir is a modern city brimming with life
with a great selection of restaurants along
the corniche.
Worth a visit is the peninsula of Cesme,
with its beaches and thermal springs,
which lies to the west of Izmir.
On the Izmir-Antalya road, Aphrodisias
(Geyre) was an important cultural and art
centre, famous for its training in sculpture,
but the most famous stopping point
along here is the famous Pamukkale, its
calcium-rich thermal waters flowing out
of the mountain to form a layer cake of
white icing on the hillside. You may take
a bath here in the folkloric health-giving
Destination Golf Turkey | Page 12
waters. At sunset, the white turns to pink
and lights up the ruins of the ancient city
of Hierapolis behind the calcium-terraced
mountain. This part of Turkey is home
to some of the greatest treasures of the
Hellenic empire (more a cultural empire
than a martial one), or at least the south
west corner of the land. Thankfully it is
the corner to which tourists have the best
access.
Izmir, Dalaman, Bodrum and Antalya
airports all serve the region. It is on the
coastline between Izmir and Antalya that
the best known resorts are found: Bodrum
of the castle, Marmaris of the azure water,
Datca of the flowers, Köycegiz with its lake
and watery archipelago and Fethiye of the
ancient monuments.
Two of the world’s greatest beaches
are within a drive of each other: stony
Oludeniz near Fethiye and sandy Patara
near Köycegiz. Patara is one of the
longest stretches of sandy beach on the
Mediterranean at 14km. The beach is
the breeding ground of the endangered
Loggerhead turtle and so development
has been kept at bay. Instead, its backdrop
is something more ancient: Lycian and
Roman ruins and swooping dunes with
no buildings visible except of a small cafe.
It may not have the feel of Christmas,
but the nearby village of Patara was the
birthplace of St Nicholas, the 4th century
Byzantine bishop who later passed into
legend as Santa Claus.
As you continue west you reach the
mountain cities of Termessos and Arikand,
as well as coastal towns such as Olimpos,
Kale, Kekova and one of the most beautiful
of all, Kas. Bodrum was home to the
Mausoleum, one of the Seven Wonders
of the Ancient World. The wonder did
not survive, but nowadays Bodrum has
enough intriguing ruins, stunning beaches
and cliff-top resorts to attract people
from all over the world and make it one
of the signature attractions of this coast.
The highlight is the Castle of St. Peter,
also known as Bodrum Castle, built by the
Crusaders in the 15th century and claimed