SIDE · TURKEY
Apollo's harbour, canyon water, the Taurus behind.
Day trips, boat cruises and Roman ruins on the Turkish Mediterranean. Side, Manavgat, the Taurus canyons and the long days out to Pamukkale and Cappadocia.
Only near Side
Three things you can only do here.
Day cruises and beach hops exist in every Mediterranean resort. These don’t. The mountain mirror-water, the boat ride past a Roman aqueduct, the rapids under an ancient Pisidian city in the cliffs. Plan the rest of the week around them.
In the mountains
The Green Canyon
A dammed reservoir up in the Taurus Mountains the colour of liquid jade. Boats glide across mirror-still water under pine forest cliffs, swim stops in coves the road never reaches. The reservoir was made in the seventies; the colour is from the limestone. There is nothing else like it on the Turkish coast.
- 1 City of Side: Jeep Safari & Green Lake Boat Trip with Lunch
- 2 Side: Green Canyon Jeep and Boat Tour with Lunch
- 3 City of Side: Green Canyon Jeep Tour, Boat Trip & Waterfall
Down the river
Manavgat River & Bazaar
A flat-bottom boat cruises down the Manavgat River, past the Roman aqueduct still standing in the bank, through the Tuesday bazaar, and out to where the river meets the Mediterranean. Two thousand years of water, market and sea on the same morning, all leaving from Side.
- 1 City of Side: Boat Tour on the Manavgat River w/ Bazaar Trip
- 2 Side: Manavgat Boat, Bazaar, & Waterfall Day Trip with Lunch
- 3 Side: Manavgat River Boat Trip & Grand Market w/ Lunch
Under the ruins
Rafting Under Selge
White water through the Köprülü Canyon with the ruined Pisidian city of Selge — temple, theatre, agora — perched on the cliffs above. Class II and III rapids, swim stops in pools where the river slows, lunch at a riverbank konak. Antiquity overhead, the rapids below.
- 1 City of Side: Köprülü Canyon Rafting Tour with Lunch
- 2 City of Side: Whitewater Rafting in Koprulu Canyon
- 3 Full Day Rafting/Lunch With Köprülü Kanyon Visit
Two days in one
Sea mornings, mountain afternoons.
Most Mediterranean resorts are one thing or the other. Side sits between a forty-mile shore and a national park of pine canyons. Dolphin trips and harbour cruises before lunch. White-water and jeep tracks in the afternoon. Pick a day from each column.
Mediterranean
Out on the water.
Dolphin Island swim stops, Manavgat River cruises, harbour boats and foam-party afternoons. The flat, blue, salt-water side of Side.
- 1 Side: Dolphin Island Boat Trip with Lunch & Unlimited Drinks
- 2 Side: Dolphins Island Cruise with Swimming Stops and Lunch
- 3 City of Side: Dolphin Island Boat Tour with BBQ & Foam Party
- 4 Side: Green Canyon Boat Trip & Bus Safari with Lunch
The Taurus
Up the canyon roads.
Green Canyon mirror-water, Köprülü rapids, jeep tracks through pine forest, waterfall lunch stops. The cool, green, fresh-water side of Side.
- 1 City of Side: Rafting, Zipline, Jeep, Buggy and Quad Combo
- 2 Side: Green Canyon and Waterfall Jeep Safari with Lunch
- 3 From city of Side: Antalya Old City and Waterfall Day Trip
- 4 Side: Jeep Safari Adventure with Lunch at Green Lake
The day from Side
Where Side travellers end up on day one.
Jeep up into the Taurus, boat across the canyon water, swim stop at a waterfall. The single day most travellers in Side book first.
The classics
Side's Most Popular Day Tours
Green Canyon, Dolphin Island, Köprülü rapids, the Turkish hammam. The days most travellers come to Side for.
By place
Pick where you'll spend the day.
Side for the harbour and the Apollo Temple at sundown. Manavgat for the river and the bazaar. Alanya for the castle. Antalya for the old town. The Taurus for the canyons. Pamukkale for the long day west.
By tour type
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
Boats out into the Mediterranean. Jeep tracks up to the canyon water. Rafts through the gorge under Selge. Turkish hammam at the end. Quad bikes, dolphins, foam parties and the rest.
From Side harbour
Sail out of Side.
Side's harbour was Roman, and it's still the easiest way to spend half a day on the Mediterranean. Three cruises we’d happily wave the dock goodbye from.
After the sun goes in
The Turkish bath ritual.
Marble slabs, steam, foam massage and a glass of çay at the end. Two thousand years of bathing in this part of Anatolia, refined to a routine. Three hammams worth the transfer.
When one day isn't enough
Out beyond Side.
Pamukkale's cotton-castle terraces three and a half hours west. Cappadocia's fairy chimneys on an overnight. Antalya's old town and the Alanya fortress an hour either way. The long days worth doing twice.
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