Sightseeing in Turkey: Sailing along the coast

The best way to get acquainted with the sights of Turkey is as the ancient travelers did. That is, walk on foot, at most, ride a car or a frisky horse, along the coast of Asia Minor.

There is another option, more expensive, but the most interesting. Buy a yacht in Russia https://www.fairline-russia.com/kupit-yahtu/ or make a reconstruction of the ship of Odysseus or the Phoenicians, and make your route, plucking a sharp bow, the emerald waters of the four seas - the Mediterranean and the Marmara, the Black Sea and the Ionian Sea.

Attractions of the southern coast of Turkey

Let us try to construct an itinerary for all those who want to see the many virtues of Turkey with their own eyes, to visit where Achilles, Odysseus or Suleiman the Magnificent was.

We can start with the most remote part of this Republic, the region of Alanya, which is known for its rocky beaches, modern hotels and proximity to the shores of Syria. The shores of Alanya are caressed by the Mediterranean Sea. We start from Mersin, the territory Cleopatra received as a wedding gift from Mark Antony. In addition to "Cleopatra's beach," in the historic part of the city are the ruins of a fortress built by the Hittites in the 8th century.

How to get from Belek to Alanya by car?

After sailing a couple of miles towards Alanya, you can admire a succession of caves that can only be accessed from the open sea. Damlatas Cave, Maiden's Cave, Luminous Cave have a special microclimate, stable, comfortable temperatures and high humidity. Today they are suggested for the treatment of asthmatics and allergies, and in the past, the Mediterranean corsairs hid in them their live prey, going then to the market Bedestan.

The land of horses and steep cliffs replaces Antalya. Every town here is a resort known throughout Eurasia. Side, Belek, Antalya, Kemer and Fethiye have something to please their guests.
Side is the city of "pomegranates. It is popular not only for its perfect sandy beaches. Already sailing up to the resort, you will be shocked by an unprecedented sight. Manavai Waterfall plunges straight into the sea. The show provides the participants of cruises and excursions by the river with the same name, which has the most spectacular and attractive estuary in the world. In addition to water spectacles, Side shows guests the Temple of Fortune, a pair of Roman thermae, the remains of the amphitheater and, slightly damaged by time, a sculptural image of Emperor Vespasian.

A stay in Belek is recommended to those who are fond of golf and love extreme entertainment. Firstly, each hotel here has its own golf course, and the city regularly hosts international class tournaments. And secondly, there is a series of canyons outside the city, where you will be offered a "fun" rafting or canyoning.

Our next stop is the port of Kemer. This is another ancient city, remembering the clatter of the horses of Alexander the Great, Mark Antony and Nicholas the Wonderworker. In the suburbs of Kemer there are Greek polis - Olympos and Thessalis. In the first you can see the temples of Athena of Pallas and Hermes, the ancient theater and Roman tombs with sculptures of Eros on the lid. The second was famous for the flaming mountain Chimera. In Mira, another suburb of modern Kemer, lived and "worked" St. Nicholas, known as the Miracle Worker.

Attractions on the west coast of Turkey

Fethiye is where the waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Ionian Sea meet. Although it is more interesting to those who set out to explore the sights of Turkey, the traditional way: airport-plane-airport-shuttle-hotel! Not far from the city there is Dalaman airport, the largest "receiver" of tourists from Russia, and in the city itself there are Lycian tombs and the remains of the fortress of the Knights Templar, built and destroyed during the XIII-XV centuries.

From Kemer, it is possible to visit Pamukkale, another famous landmark of this country. It is a mountain, from the slopes of which 17 springs with a consistently high temperature of water flow down. The liquid contains a lot of calcium. Therefore, the slopes of the Taurus in this place have long been covered with a fragile white patina - travertine. In some places, the patches have lined small pools, faithfully filled with hot mineral water.
Everyone who has not yet reached Pamukkale has seen this place thanks to the movie about the misadventures of Odysseus. It is here that they filmed the fabulous white island, the possession of the nymph Calypso, who held the hero of Homer in her beautiful captivity for about 20 years. The entrance to the Pamukkale Reserve is paid, and the guests can walk on the travertines only barefoot.

Another city on the southwestern bend of Asia Minor is Bodrum, built by the Knights Hospitallers, on the remains of Helicarnassus. In the former capital of Caria, guests will be shown the foundations preserved from the Helicarnassus Mausoleum. It was built for King Mausolus by his inconsolable wife Artemisia. The tomb for Mausolus became a household name for all subsequent mausoleums, outliving Carian civilization and Helicarnassus itself.

Incidentally, this, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, collapsed in an earthquake in the 13th century. Taking advantage of the free building material, the aforementioned Knights Hospitallers, who migrated from Rhodes, began to build the Fort of St. Peter in this place, reinforcing its infrastructure of the newly founded city of Bodrum. Bodrum today attracts visitors with an intense, as for the Turkish coasts, nightlife, and the most grandiose disco in Turkey has a proud and sonorous name Helikarnassus Mausoleum.

Troy is a legendary landmark of Turkey

If you go further north, cutting through the silky waves of the Ionian Sea, you will meet Troy, not directly on the coast, but at some distance from Poseidon's kingdom. Telling the story of Troy is a thankless task. All guests will be able to see the remains of the Trojan citadel and an exhibit of a treasure trove of gold and weapons dug up by Schliemann. If you are lucky, you will witness a historical reconstruction of the period or a performance of an ancient drama.

Istanbul - Turkey's main attraction

Get back on board! Hoist the sail on your yacht! Pass the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosphorus. Istanbul itself, Turkey's main attraction, awaits you! It is the former capital of 4 empires. There are the sights of the ancient and Byzantine period, preserved Christian churches and built the most famous and exquisite mosques of the Muslim world. A dozen palaces, a couple of fortresses, grand bridges! Istanbul has everything. And the local bazaar has long been a "proverb among the nations" and a symbol of the richness of this land.

There are as many attractions in Turkey as there are shopping places in the jewelry, textile, leather, fruit and shoe rows of the Istanbul bazaar. Which means that their number is infinite. And the Republic of Turkey has created ideal conditions for all who come to see at least a small fraction of them.