TurkeyTravelPlanner.com Side, Turkey

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Side (SEE-deh) was once idyllic, a traditional Turkish Mediterranean village amid marble Roman ruins on 2 km (1.2 miles) of unspoiled beach just an hour (65 km, 40 miles) east of Antalya or west of Alanya (map).

Tourism arrived with a vengeance in the 1980s, however, and although Side is still nice, it is now crowded in warm weather.

Both Turks and foreigners come for the perfect white sand beaches, the seaside restaurants and bars, the variety of lodgings (from cheap little pensions to luxury hotels), and the impressive ruins of a Hellenistic, then Roman city which included a Great Theater, and a seaside Temples of Apollo and Athena said to have been a place of tryst for Anthony and Cleopatra.

The best times to enjoy Side are late April, May, early June and October. If you must come in high summer, avoid weekends, when half of Ankara roars down to Side for a swim.

Car, bus and minibus are the ways to get here. Buses and minibuses come from Antalya and Alanya. The nearest airport is Antalya's, 55 km (34 miles) west of Side.

Maps of Side, Belek, Manavgat & Mediterranean Turkey


Distances & Travel Times

Alanya: 63 km (39 miles) E, 1 hour

Anamur: 198 km (123 miles) SE, 3.75 hours

Ankara: 615 km (382 miles) NE, 9 hours

Antalya: 65 km (40 miles) W, 1 hour

Aspendos: 37 km (23 miles) NW, 40 minutes

Istanbul: 790 km (491 miles) NW, 13 hours

Konya: 300 km (186 miles) NE, 5 hours

Olimpos: 145 km (90 miles) SW, 3 hours

Perge: 58 km (36 miles) W, 1 hour

Selge (Altınkaya): 83 km (52 miles) N, 2 hours

Maps of Mediterranean Turkey

Mediterranean Turkey

TTP Homepage

 
Temple of Apollo & Athena, Side, Mediterranean Turkey
Above, Side's twin Temples of Apollo and Athena, where Anthony met Cleopatra for a romantic tryst.

Below, marble torsos in Side Museum, and the great Hellenistic theater.

 
Marble Torsos, Side Museum, Mediterranean Turkey
Hellenistic Theater, Side, Turkey