Alanya – long beaches and nightlife

Alanya is the largest tourist destination in Turkey. In the 1980’s when the first charter tourists started travelling here, Alanya was a sleepy little fishing village. The area around the old harbour in Alanya and the peninsula with the castle still have a charming village-like atmosphere, but the rest of Alanya has grown enormously and today Alanya is a pulsating tourist city.


View from the Castle in Alanya (photo from Wikimedia)

I antique times Alanyas name was Coracesium, and the legend tells that Marcus Antonius gave the Western beach in Alanya as a wedding present to Cleopatra of Egypt, and that beach is still called “Cleopatra Beach” today. In the 1200’s the Selchuk sultan Aladdin Keykubat changed the name to ”Alaiye” which was short for ”Aladdin’s City”. The castle in Alanya, the antique ship yard and the octagonal Red Tower (Kizil kule) was built during under Sultan Aladdin Keykubat.


Beaches

Alanya has two long beaches on each side of the city centre, Cleopatra Beach and the Eastern Beach which continues for miles towards Mahmutlar. If you travel to Alanya city you will be using these beaches. However, there are more beaches near Alanya, in Avsallar, Konakli og Incekum, some charter operators sell travels here as well. In these areas large hotel complexes (often all inclusive) situated right onto the beach, are typical.

The weather

Alanya has a hot Mediterranean climate. The season is long, summer temperatures (18-25 Celsius) start already around Easter, and several charter operators start their season in the middle of April. July and August are normally very hot months this much East in the Mediterranean; so hot that the natives tend to “escape” to cottages up in the cool mountains above Alanya. So if you are sensitive towards heat, avoid July and August – it sometimes get as much as 45 Celsius degrees in the shadow. Later in the year the temperature cools off, but it might be lovely 25-30 C until the end of October.

Even outside the season, meaning November, December, January, February and March Alanya is a comfortable place to be (although the weather is a bit more unstable these months). Some tour operators offers long time travels for people who prefer a mild winter, and due to the large amount of properties sold to foreigners in Alanya, this kind of tourism and more direct flights in winter will surely increase.

Transportation

Taxi is reasonably priced and an easy way to get home in the night, but during the day you should try the dolmus! ”Dolmus” means ”filled up” in Turkish and that is exactly what it is; a minibus with the slogan “ always rooms for one more”… The dolmus operates from morning till late evening along the main road, with no regular bus stops; you just give a wave and it will stop to take you in, and it will let you off wherever you want, just give them a sign. And it costs almost nothing.

Shopping

Alanya has a lot of shopping possibilities for tourists, bazaar streets with typical souvenirs and interesting items, copy clothes, shoes, bags and accessories, and not to forget carpet shops, gold shops and spice sellers. Do not forget to haggle! And remember, if you bargain with a little glimpse in your eye and some humour, it is much easier to get a good price. It is usually easier to get good prices towards the end of the season. The sellers can be a bit nagging; but that is part of the sales culture. Try to just laugh about it.

For a more advanced fashion shopping (genuine international brands, Turkish designers etc.) a shopping trip to Antalya is recommended. Antalya is a larger city 1,5 hours drive away, where the airport is.

Nightlife

There is a lot of night life in Alanya. To stay in the hotels in the old harbour is very cosy, but if you want to avoid noisy nights, it is better to find a hotel further away. There are many bars and discos for the younger travellers, but also good places for people a bit older.

I have been recommended a restaurant called Kordon, where there is live music from the 60’s to the 80’s. Apparently it is a very popular place to start the evening, later people usually continues to a disco.

A barbeque restaurant for meat (ocakbasi) called Kervansaray is also known to be very good, with delicious meze’s (starters) and meat. Harbour Restaurant below the Red Tower is also an option, with live music in the background and a wonderful view of the sea.



The antique ship yard by night, photo by Stenjeep at Flickr. Tip! If you go to Flickr.com and search "Alanya" you will get up a lot of wonderful photos!

Useful links

Alanya’s official web page: http://www.alanya.bel.tr/translationEN/
Alanya’s hotel unions web page: http://www.alanya.com.tr/en

How to get to Alanya

Airlines / tour operators:
Try to search cheap flight at TUI, Neckermann and Sunweb at the side of this Blog. Sometimes they have very special promotions and prices! You can find flights, charter trips, and hotels or rent a car.

Nearest airport: Antalya

Distance from the Antalya airport to Alanya: 135 kilometres, aprox. 1 ½ hour by car

Recommended excursions:
- Damlatas Cave
- DimCay River
- Boat trips from the harbour
- Turkish Night (A nice combination of traditional Turkish food and culture)
- A walk up to the Castle (amazing view)
- The white limestone rocks of Pamukkale (longer trip, usually with one overnight stop)

Music, jazz and clubs in Istanbul

Istanbul is like a fizzling cauldron of culture; Old and new, Turkish and international, oriental and western. Just a taking a little stroll around in this city will show you a many-sided music and culture life.

Istanbul International Jazz Festival

If you like jazz, there are several small and larger jazz scenes in Istanbul, and the big jazz festival which is taking place in July every year is strongly recommended. Here you always find many great artists, not only jazz artists, also names of other genres. Check out Istanbul International Jazz Festivals program for the summer of 2008 here http://www.iksv.org/Caz/English/program.asp

JC’s (Istanbul Jazz Center), Ortaköy

The famous Turkish jazz pianist Kerem Görsev moved his jazz bar from Macka to Ortaköy a few years ago. Here he opened JC’s at the top of one of the buildings belonging to the new Radisson SAS hotel in Ortaköy. The multi-music artist Fatih Erkoc is also often found performing here, and several big Turkish and international jazz names. What is coming up at Jazz Center (JC’s) can se found here http://www.istanbuljazz.com/eng/

Nardis, Galata

Nardis is a tiny smoky jazz club with red brick wall and narrow space; Cosy and genuine jazzy atmosphere. Nardis is situated just around the corner from the Galata Tower in Galata, walk down from Tünel in Beyoglu.http://www.nardisjazz.com


Bilde hentet fra Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zhivago/85562676/

Jazz Cafe Istanbul, Beyoglu

In the area around Büyük Parmak sokak, a side street of the Istiklal Street, many small bars and music bars are found. You will also find a couple of jazz cafés here, for example this one: http://www.jazzcafeistanbul.com


Other famous music clubs in Istanbul

Babylon, Beyoglu

Babylon is maybe the most well-known music club in Istanbul, with many different kinds of music and artists; Anything from hip hop to electronica, Marianne Faithful and 1980’s music parties. If you are going to Istanbul soon, check here what’s on in Babylon: http://www.babylon.com.tr/english/default.aspx


Hayal Kahvesi, Beyoglu

In a side street of Istiklal, not far from Jazz Cafe Istanbul as mentioned above, you find good old Hayal Kahvesi. It is a typical pub or café with brick walls and small tables, but after dark live music starts. This was the first place I heard real Turkish rock. http://www.hayalkahvesibeyoglu.com/


Photo by Hakan Selvi fromhttp://pt.trekearth.com/gallery/Middle_East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/Cubuklu/

Hayal Kahvesi, Cubuklu

The same café has a ”department” in the Asian side of Istanbul, just alongside the Bosphorus. Here you can sit outside by the sea or lie down on pillows and listen to music and have drink under the stars. How to get there: Take a bus or a taxi along the seaside road by the Bosphorus until you are in the curve between Istinye and Yeniköy. Get off by the petrol station (Petrol Ofisi). Cross the road and look for a small boat with a sign ”Hayal Kahvesi”. Take the boat straight across the Bosphorus to the café.http://www.hayalkahvesi.com.tr/index.php


Roxy, Beyoglu

Popular club with live music or party’s. Check: http://www.roxy.com.tr

If you are interested to experience the fantastic mixture of music which Istanbul consists of, watch Fatih Akin’s movie "Crossing the bridge - The sound of Istanbul".

And check out all the cool Turkish music at the side of my Blog!