About Alanya
 

Turkey > Antalya > Alanya

Alanya is located on the Turkish Mediterranean coast between the stunning Taurus Mountains and the blue crystal clear Mediterranean. With long sandy well kept beaches, amazing nightlife, a huge variety of restaurants, a fascinating historical and cultural heritage to be explored and its multicultural lifestyle, Alanya is now one of Turkey’s biggest and most popular holiday resorts with something to suit all ages!! alanyaalanya city

 As well as modern hotels, the huge selection of restaurants offer a wide range of cuisines from Turkish to International with the local speciality being fish, fresh from the sea. There are cafes and bars with the resorts lively nightlife being centered around the harbour area where many of the bars are open until 3 or 4 in the morning!

     Plenty of shops, supermarkets and a large weekly Friday market give you the chance to observe local life and haggle for bargains.

     Alanya is a town of 2 bays divided by a rocky promontory which is crowned by a mighty Ottoman castle, and just below lies the delightful harbour guarded by the 13th Century Red Tower. The town has grown rapidly over the last 15 years with development now stretching over 20km along the coast and has more than 90,000 residents including 9,000 foreign residents,who are attracted by the hot summers , mild winters and low cost of living. The resort is particularly popular with Scandinavian,Dutch , German and British tourists.

     Alanya enjoys a typical tropical Mediteranean climate  in which the sun shines for more than 300 days a year and the temperature never drops below 10C in winter with average summer temperatures around 28C. The average temperature for the year is 19C. 

     In the early years Alanya was a small fishing town discovered by pirates where the inhabitants existed mainly by farming and trading. According to legend, Roman Emperor Mark Anthony and Queen Cleopatra of Egypt married here in 32 B.C and Mark Anthony gave the town to his wife as a wedding present!

     Alanya has been called different names throughout its history: Korakesion (Land of the Rook) ; Kolonoros (Beautiful Mountain); Alaiye (City of Alaaddin the founder), and Alanya (where the sun shines 300 days) as its known today.

     The town didn’t really start to grow until the arrival of Alaaddin Keykubat who, after five years of trying, finally conquered the town in 1226. He completed the final construction of Alanya Castle, with its 150 watch towers, a dockyard, hundreds of cisterns as part of the water supply, Turkish baths and mosques .The name of Alanya did not appear until 1934 when Turkey’s President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, visited the town. He did not like the name Alaiye and changed it to Alanya.

     Today, Alanya has grown from strength to strength and developed into one of the most popular travel destinations in Turkey with plenty to do for all age groups!!

     A property in Alanya offers clients the opportunity to invest in a prestigious lifestyle, where quality of life is excellent and capital appreciation has been very strong for the last 3 years. Alanya is ideal for a family holiday home or investment and has good rental opportunity.

Beaches

     The coast of Alanya is famous for its natural wide beaches, several of which have been awarded a Blue Flag. The beaches here spread over 60 kilometresand offer a wide range of watersports including scuba diving if you fancy discovering the underwater world of Alanya.

     There are two main beaches in the city naturally separated into an eastern and western part by the 250 metre high rock promontory.The western beach of Alanya is named after Queen Cleopatra of Egypt and the eastern beach is simply known as the Eastern beach .

     Cleopatra beach is said to be Alanya’s best and legend has it that Cleopatra bathed at the foot of the cliff everyday.The sand is fine and there are not many rocks or stones, but the water does deepen more quickly than that at the eastern beach. The 3.5 km beach is also known as Damlatas beach because of the cave on the western side of the peninsula discovered in 1948.

      Eastern beach starts at the Alanya peninsula and continues for about 40km east towards the provincial town of Gazipasa.The water doesn’t deepen so quickly here, making it more child friendly than Cleopatra beach.

alanya beach

alanya beach

     Incekum beach is often talked about as one of the best beaches on the south coast.It has fine sand and the crystal clear water deepens very slowly making it especially recommended for families with small children.

     Ulas beach is one of the best in the area,situated not far from Ulas Park. Tables, chairs, barbeque grills and public toilets are provided here and the area is perfect for a picnic while relaxing, swimming or just enjoying life. This beach is often frequented by the locals.
 

Nightlife

     Evenings can be spent shopping till you drop, sampling the local cuisine at one of the many restaurants or dancing the night away at one of the disco bars or nightclubs, most of them situated in the harbour area, where many stay open until 3-4am in the morning.

night life in alanya

     Alanya is also a centre of art and culture activities and at any time, an event may be going on which you can enjoy free of charge. There may be a film festival taking place at the Alanya Culture Centre, a harp recital at the Red Tower, an exhibition of paintings at the Alanya Fortress or an orchestral performance by the harbour.

Excursions

Dimcay River

     Dimcay is 15km inland and is an area of stunning scenery with picnic   tables set under the old plane trees where guests sit with their feet in the   water. In some restaurants, authentic tables with cushions are actually set on   rafts on the river. The trout here is excellent and cooked fresh from the river.

     The area is also popular for mountain biking and trekking.


excursions in alanya

caves in alanya

Damlatas Caves

The fascinating Damlatas Caves is the best place to see the area

misshapen rock formations as well as stalactite and stalagmites formed

15 thousand years ago. The caves are famous as the air has been found

 to be beneficial for asmathics and for those with other chest complaints

 

 

Boat trips

Take a boat trip from the harbour to visit the three   sea   grottos;Fosforlu Magara with its   phosphorescent   rocks,the Kizlar Magarasi where   pirates imprisoned   their female captives and the   Asiklar Magarasi   (Lovers  Cave).

boat trip in alanya

 

 

 

 

 

 




Water Park

 Have an exciting day out  visiting the nearby waterpark,

Water Planet, where all the family can have crazy fun trying

one of the 27 water slides and rafting on the 350m river

with artificial waves. If you are a bit of a dare devil you

can try the bungee jumping or try your hand at the 6 hole

 mini golf.

water park in alanya

 

Alanya Castle, Red Tower and Museum

For the culture vultures, Alanya has the historic interest of the fortress    and   citadel walls. The fortress, which sits high above Alanya, has walls    stretching 6500 metres with 93 towers and 140 towers! The Inner    Fortress at the highest point of the peninsula and the Middle Fortress    are    both museums. Adam Atacađý Tower is an important spot on          a tour    of the iner castle – prisoners here in Roman Times were given 3    stones and asked to take a gamble. Those who managed to throw    a   Stone into the sea were released whereas those who could not, were    thrown into the sea by catapult! The name Adam Atacađý (Man Thrower)    dates from this time.In the Fortress, there are five mosques and Romad    period churches that are also worth a visit.

alanya

 

castle

 

 

Heading down from the Fortress, is the Red Tower, the Dockyard and the Gun House. The Red Tower, which was built primarily to defend the towns shipyard dates back to 1225 and is 33 metres high with 85 steps to the top. The Dockyard was built in 1228 and next to this is the Gun Tower which was used to make cannons, construct battleships and to defend the dock and shipyard.

The museums throughout Alanya hold many monuments of the Bronze Age, Hellenistic and Roman period.

Banana Plantation and Citrus Orchards

For something different why not visit one of the many  banana plantations and sample the delicious sweet tasting Turkish dwarf bananas or pick oranges in the citrus orchards.

 

bananas in alanya

Why Alanya?

• Alanya has got it all :beautiful beaches,a clear blue Mediterranean sea,sunshine,mountains,history,excellent night life,good choice of restaurants,plenty of shops and lots of leisure facilities.What more could you want???!!!!

• Alanya enjoys a Mediterranean climate with hot summers and mild winters, in which the sun shines for more than 300 days a year .

• Both the resort and the airport are open all year round and there is still plenty to do in the winter months.

• Alanya is only 1 hour and 45 minutes from Antalya airport.

• Alanya is the entertainment centre of the Turquoise coast

• Alanya is surprisingly clean and tidy

• Property is still cheap and a great investment as capital appreciation has been very strong over the last 3 years.There is good rental potential as there is lots to see and do in Alanya for the holiday maker.

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