Çeşme (Alaçatı)
Alaçatı is my favourite Turkish seaside town. I have never been to the Greek islands (it’s at the top of my travel bucket list by the way), but Alaçatı is what I imagine a Greek island town looks like.
Alaçatı is part of the Izmir province of Turkey and sits on the western coast of Turkey. It’s part of the Çeşme peninsula district, which is named after a town of the same name. Çeşme is where the Turkish Riviera begins, a 620-mile stretch of coastline from here to Alanya. The Greek island of Chios is also about a 35 minute ferry ride from Çeşme. Pre-pandemic, Greeks and Turks would use the ferry quite extensively.
While this post is titled “Çeşme”, I will be focusing more on Alaçatı since it was the town I stayed in and the one I liked the most. Historically, Alaçatı had a majority Greek population. So remember when I said that the town reminded me a of Greek island town? This is probably why. One of the biggest giveaways is the blue-white painted houses and the lack of Turkish-style wooden balconies. Alaçatı was another victim of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1922, an event which saw more than 1,250,000 Greeks leave their homes for Greece. As a result, the Greeks in the town had to leave, and Turks from other nearby towns came in to repopulate.
These days, Alaçatı and Çeşme are both really popular vacation towns for Turks, especially those from Izmir. I would say that you have the most fun either in the night or by visiting the nearby beaches in the day. The Alaçatı night life is really fun and there’s plenty to do from going to clubs, to visiting the bazaar, to just chilling in a café. There are a couple of beach clubs in the area. The one that I went to, the Fly-Inn Beach Club, was pretty chill. There weren’t that many people there because the water was a little cold, but we just said “screw it let’s go anyway”. They serve you pretty delicious food as your’e relaxing and taking in the sun. They also offer jet-skis for 15-minutes, though I think you can pay more for more time.
Alaçatı is a really pretty town. Very instagramable. You’ll find narrow cobblestone alleyways and roads covered with bougainvillea of all colours. Many of the houses are also beautifully painted. If you’re going to stay in Alaçatı, the only good way is to stay in one of the boutique hotels, many of which offer a full Turkish breakfast. Food-wise, you’ll find all of the traditional Turkish fare like kebabs and also a ton of good seafood. When you’re there, you have to try this dessert called “muhallebi”. It’s a pudding made with rice, milk, and sugar. The most popular flavour is mastic muhallebi, especially since that area is well known for its mastic production. A good way to describe Alaçatı is that it’s dead in the morning, lazy in the afternoon, and hyped in the evening. So do not go out at like 8 or even 9 for food because nothing will be open and the streets would be empty, though waking up early is a good way to take pictures without people in your face.
That’s about it for Alaçatı. It’s a super charming town that I highly recommend you visit if you’re in the area and if you want to have a good time. You’ll find the people there are all about relaxing and not so much about work, which sometimes is the best way to be. Very few foreigners know about this town, but I hope more end up visiting it.
Things to do -
Enjoy the nightlife
Go to any one of the local beach clubs
Visit Chios (only possible once the pandemic is over)
Take photos! (Alaçatı is really pretty)
