A spectacular blend of tranquility, adventure, nightlife and history. There is something to do for every traveler in Alanya. Alanya is situated between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea on a rocky peninsula. The city dates back to the 13th century. With beautiful beaches and stunning sights, this lovely seaside town has some gems to discover. We would like you to read Top 14 Attractions in Alanya.
The landscape is defined by a 250 meter high promontory that juts out into the Mediterranean Sea and has always been fortified.
In Alanya, spend your days lounging on an alluring beach and exploring the towering ruined castles, which can be reached by a cable car opened in 2017. This is one of the few projects that have helped transform Alanya into a 21st century beach resort.
The town is also a base for scuba diving, cruises and trips to the Taurus Mountains, where you can hike in canyons, explore caves and bathe in cool mountain streams. Plan your vacation with our list of top Alanya excursions & attractions.
Sheltered on three sides by the Mediterranean Sea, the city’s steep peninsula is crowned by a 13th-century castle with 4 miles of fortified walls. This rocky mass is a natural defense and the current castle was built on earlier Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine enclosures. There are a total of 83 towers and 140 towers in the walls, and many of the 1,200 original cisterns continue to serve their original role.
Alanya Castle is a vast archaeological site that requires hours of exploration.
The starting point must be the citadel or the kale on the southwest side, where you will come to the Byzantine church of St. George, later converted as a mosque.
On the north side of the promontory is the Seljuk Ehmedek Fortress, built on Hellenistic remains and housing a military garrison, arsenal and the sultan’s treasury for hundreds of years.
Here you will discover countless ruins and historic houses from the 19th century that were built after the castle lost its defensive purpose.
Alanya’s emblem is a 13th-century Seljuk defense tower, which takes its name from the red brick that makes up the upper floor and parapet of the building.
The Red Tower has an octagonal base and rises to 33 meters with marble blocks on the lower walls. This rare piece of medieval defensive architecture was built to protect Alanya’s port and shipyard and welcomed the arrival of people to the city for many centuries.
Inside is a cistern that can still collect rainwater, and you can see the historic siege-defying murder holes through which boiling water and pitch would fall on helpless invaders.
On the first floor there is a small ethnographic museum with tools and handicrafts reflecting Turkmen culture in Taurus Mountains..
At the western foot of this promontory begins Alanya’s main beach, a long, gentle arc of coarse sand bathed by low to moderate surf.
Cleopatra Beach is wide and tapers just a little the further north you go. It offers you an uninterrupted view of the castle and the brooding mass of the Taurus Mountains.
There are beach clubs with loungers at intervals along the beach, and between the sand and Ataturk Boulevard is a wide promenade blessed with the same panoramas, under swaying palm trees and buffered from the street by a green stripe with playgrounds and flower beds.
On the east side of the beach is the lower station for a cable car that opened in the summer of 2017 and takes you to the castle promontory.
The Alanya Teleferik climbs 250 meters on a 900-meter line and one of its 14 gondolas departs every 19 seconds.
On board you will enjoy amazing 360° views over the Gulf of Antalya, across the resort and beyond to the Taurus Mountains.
At the time of writing this article in March 2019, the return fare is (about €4). Sunset is of course a good time to travel, and from the road the gondolas glow green and blue at night.
It is impossible not to be impressed by the Taurus Mountains. If you want to break out and experience this moving landscape, Sapadere Canyon, about 40 kilometers northeast of Alanya, is the best choice.
The temperature in the mountains is a few degrees lower, and something that will immediately impress you is the lack of humidity.
We have a seven hour tour that takes you up 750 meters of boardwalks along the gnarled walls of the gorge into the mountains, past waterfalls with strained clear pools where you can swim.
You will then stop for lunch in the village of Sapadere and see rural life in Antalya province up close. Please write to us we can help you for any excursions you are interested in in Alanya.
In 1948, when the Alanya peninsula was quarried for stones for the port, the workers came across a cave full of stalagmites and stalactites.
At the foot of a staircase, Damlataş Cave is 50 meters long and up to 15 meters high. These bizarre concretions are carefully illuminated.
At the chamber, it is worth noting the high humidity (96%), increased carbon dioxide and constant temperature of 22 ° C.
This may put some visitors off, but since its initial discovery, Damlataş Cave has been celebrated for its therapeutic effects on people suffering from respiratory diseases.
Tens of thousands of asthmatics each year attend a 21-day treatment course that lasts four hours a day in the cave.
Alanya’s port for tourist cruises and diving excursions is defended by Kızılkule to the south and is as good a place as any to tinker around and see where your curiosity takes you.
There is a boardwalk along the waterfront lined with gardens with palm trees, lawns, and topiaries.
There are plenty of car parks where you can just park and enjoy the view of the sea, the castle or the Taurus Mountains – a constant, imposing presence along the coast.
You’ll never be far from a cafe to enjoy a shot of Turkish coffee, and for the best view you can stroll along the southern arm of the port to contemplate Alanya and its mountainous hinterland.
In ancient times, the surrounding region of Pamphylia was home to a cluster of cities, many of which are now fascinating archaeological sites.
A visit to an archaeological museum is always worthwhile while you are on the Turkish Riviera.
Alanya is famous for a bronze statue of Hercules from the 2nd century AD and a little over half a meter tall.
Also on display are intact amphorae from the 2nd century BC. BC, coins from 700 BC. 625 BC, an inscribed Phoenician tablet. and a 46-line letter from the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus.
The museum also has an ethnographic section that describes local ways of life over the years, as well as an outdoor area that displays ancient farming techniques and burial customs from ancient times to the Islamic era.
In 1228, the Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Kayqubad I ordered the construction of this remarkable shipyard, facing east across the bay south of Kızılkule.
In the Middle Ages, Alanya was the most important shipyard of the Seljuk Empire on the Mediterranean. What remains is in great condition and is open to the public free of charge on a wooden boardwalk.
There is a series of five pointed arches totaling more than 55 meters long and these arched bays extend 44 meters inland.
Facing east to receive as much sunlight as possible, the wharf is flanked by a mosque and guard room.
A little back and on the rocks on the south side stands a defensive tower that was once armed with cannons.
The Dim River meanders down the east side of Alanya from the Taurus Mountains.
Not only does the river support an abundance of vegetation along its banks, but it is wonderfully cool during the intense heat of the summer months.
It’s a local family tradition to visit the river below Dim Dam for paddling, fishing and barbecuing on its calmer stretches.
And for the throng of day-trippers, there are dozens of restaurants, many with shady terraces on small boardwalks or even on pontoons that float on the water.
Some of these river restaurants have pools, slides and diving boards on the river, others give you a fishing rod to use to catch your own trout.
Upstream from Dim Dam you can raft a 5.5 km route, starting from Akköprü and finding plenty of places for a picnic on the shore.
When visiting the Dim River, take your time to see the largest cave system in the Alanya region, carved by water over millions of years and only discovered in 1999. Dim Cave is 360 meters long and worth visiting for its many concretions.
Keep in mind that there are many steps and narrow walkways, so Dim Cave is not accessible to everyone.
As with Damlataş Cave, the humidity is high at 75%, although the cave offers a break from the summer heat and the temperature never rises above 19ºC.
Connoisseurs can enjoy the best panorama in Alanya from this vantage point in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains.
You can get to Seyir Terasi in less than 15 minutes by car or taxi. Once there, you may not want to leave.
From this verdant vantage point, you’ll have the best view of the castle’s peninsula, the tessellated white blocks of modern Alanya, as well as the harbor and the aqua-blue expanse of the Mediterranean Sea.
There is a telescope on the terrace and a café-restaurant above it. In the evening, families come to the park to have a barbecue.
Of the many views that can be enjoyed in Alanya, some of the best come from the water.
See the Castle, Shipyard, Kızılkule and Taurus Mountains through the eyes of a medieval sailor on a cruise from the Old Port.
The coast in Antalya province is also fabulous and there are three sets of caves within a short sail of Alanya.
Occasionally the boat will drop anchor on this six-hour trip, and you can kick back on deck or take a dip in the cool turquoise sea.
Cold drinks are offered and there is also a grilled lunch on board.
This excursion is available with us at www.onlineexcursions.com
You might want to spend a whole day descending into the clear waters off Alanya.
Open to divers of all skill levels, this experience includes hotel pickup and boat trips from the port to two dive sites, plus a cooked lunch aboard the yacht en route to the second site.
Beginners are well catered for and dive in groups of no more than two per instructor.
Non-divers can come along too, and you can bring your own snorkel and mask or rent them from the boat and spend a carefree day sunbathing in the crystal clear sea.
This excursion is available with us at www.onlineexcursions.com
Top 14 Sights & Trips in Alanya
Alanya Castle
Red Tower (Kızılkule)
Cleopatra Beach
Alanya teleferik
Sapadere Canyon
Damlataş Cave
Alanya port
Alanya Archaeological Museum
Alanya shipyard
Dark Cave (Dim Mağarası)
Seyir Terasi
Alanya boat trip
Diving tour in Alanya
