Altinkum 

Welcome to Visit Altinkum, the only REAL guide to where to stay and what to see and  do in the fabulous resort of Altinkum in Turkey. Here you will find information on  Bars,  Restaurants,  Hotels,  Apartments and  Sightseeing.

Altinkum is a small and friendly resort and you will get to know the local people very quickly because they will enjoy talking with you and offering a cup of Turkish tea or apple tea. It does not matter if this is your first or last trip, you will find yourself coming back  year after year to visit your new friends.

LEARN ABOUT THE TURKISH LANGUAGE AND CUSTOMS BY CLICKING HERE

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The area where the resort is located is shaped as a peninsula surrounding Mugla on the east coast with huge inlet of Akbuk, the Aegean sea on the west and east coast, Lake Bafa and the Menderes River on the northern coast. It takes about an hour by car from Bodrum, Milas Airport.

NEWS FLASH

DIDIM Marina has achieved the prestigious Blue Flag mark within its first year of operation. 

The Blue Flag is a voluntary eco-label awarded to over 3450 beaches and marinas in 41 countries across Europe, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada and the Caribbean.

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Altinkum is a quickly developing holiday resort completely different from what it used to be 10-15 years ago. It now welcomes large population of tourists and foreign residents from all over the world. However if you compare it to the big tourist resorts like Bodrum, Kusadasi it has not been spoiled in any way. Most all of the infrastructure work has now been completed and most main roads have now been finished including pedestrian areas around main beach.

There is a local market in Didim which is held every Saturday and can be reached by local Dolmus (bus) from the resort  centre. The bus runs every 5 minutes or if you want to walk it takes about 25 minutes.

DIDIM hosted 79,188 foreign tourists between May and October in 2010.

Thomas Cook brought the most tourists among the tourism agencies with 18,500 tourists. 

Other agents include TUI Tantur with 13,663 tourists, Travelite (11,690), Rafiness Travel (3,000), Peninsula (7,446), Gold Trail (1,000), Holidays 4U  (13,005), You Travel (1,784), On Holiday (3,176), Hotels Altınkum.com (520), Oad Travel (504), Almatour/Sopol (900) and Voyage Travel (4,000).

If you want to discover the beaches, natural coves and bays it is best to do this by boat and these trips are organised daily from the harbour from the beginning of May. There are also water sports, diving courses and fishing tours available.

The resort centre  is about 106 km to the city of Aydin, 53 km to the town of Soke, 73 km to Kusadasi and famous Ephesus and 110 km to Bodrum.

Find bargain holidays and spend time relaxing in the beautiful area of Altinkum

The turquoise waters of the Aegean Sea are an ideal complement to the many lovely beaches. When you are finished relaxing in the sun and enjoying the fun & games in the water, there is plenty to do in the town as well. If you like games there is kino and if you like to sing there is karaoke. Whether you just need to relax with a good meal before you retire in to your hotel room or you want to check out the local nightclubs and bars and have a few drinks, there is always something to do.

The nightlife in the resort is excellent. You will find many bars as well as nightclubs and discos. There are British Pubs,  Turkish Bars, Irish Bars and these are all family-friendly and full of fun.

There are  also has many great restaurants; from Turkish to British, as well as Chinese and Italian,  you will find everything you want.

The town of Didim is also worth a visit with lots of good shops and restaurants,  in fact many of the Didim restaurants have very cheap and very good local cuisine.

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Out and About 

Aside from swimming and sunbathing on the beach, there is plenty of sightseeing you can do. There are many interesting ancient places you can visit. A short 10 minute journey from the resort centre is the Temple of Apollo where you will see the well-known head of Medusa graced with snakes; and you will be astonished with the size of the columns.

The Temple of Apollo located in Didim was called the Didymaion in ancient times. The Greek traveller Pausanias who travelled during 160A.D. recorded that the temple was constructed even before Greek colonization took place and that was in the 10th century B.C. The general belief is the temple  actually dates back to the 2nd millennium B.C. However, excavations have unearthed the initial level of the temple and archaeologists feel that the temple dates back to the 8th century B.C. and the walkway was constructed a century later. 

If you want to go a little bit further for a day out, you can go to see one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the ruins of Ephesus. It is a well preserved classical city and it gives you a feeling of what life was like in Roman times. It is also said that the Virgin Mary, at the end of her life, came to Ephesus accompanied by St. Paul. St. John also apparently spent his final years here and after his death, a shrine, the Basilica of St. John, was located over his grave.

Take a boat trip to the Greek island of Samos. Samos is at the north-eastern part of the Aegean Sea. Visitors are fascinated to see the charming mountainous landscape of Samos with its beautiful nature and historical sites spread all over the island. It is an amazing experience. If you don't speak Greek you won't know what Παρακαλώ, φρουτάκια or Καληνύχτα is and it will look strange to you. Don't be afraid to ask someone.

Closer to home is the beautiful Bafa Lake nearby with its magnificent mountain backdrop. 

The amazing Bafa Lake is located in the southwestern region of Turkey. It is a long-drawn lake, approx.150 km south of Izmir and 90 km north of Bodrum.

More than 255 different bird species are native to the Bafa Lake and the nearby Great Menderes Delta - observed by ornithologists from all over the world coming every year to this birds’ paradise! This region forms one of Europe´s biggest bird sanctuaries and is part of the nature park "Aydin".

2000 years ago the Bafa Lake was a bay of the Aegean Sea called the "Gulf of Lade". Due to deposits of the river Menderes the bay was slowly parted from the sea. This explains why the lake contains water with a slight salt content, in which mullets, sea breams, eels and carps live.

The lake is bordered by the Latmos Mountains which rise up to 1400 meters.

Since 700 A.D hermits and monks have left their signs on these remote mountain slopes.

Another place to visit near Bodrum is the picturesque village of Çomakdağ. 

A completely separate world covered with greenery, Çomakdağ village lies 60 kilometres from Bodrum. It has successfully preserved its culture with its aesthetic houses resonating with history and marriage feasts lasting for days. Incredible silk weavings decorate the people and the shops everywhere.

Çomakdağ is a settlement of 304 houses on a mountain slope on the İzmir – Milas road. In order to reach the village, you need to pass through pathways, though the roads will not be as rigorous as those of the Black Sea region. 

Before leaving, you must taste the authentic food of the village. The food is cooked using a mixture of vegetables and acid-free olive oil. There are a variety of plants that grow in the area and quite a variety of food can be prepared with them. Their best known dish is one with yoghurt called “çaymaka” and can be eaten cold or hot. In their wedding feasts a local dish called “Keşkek” is cooked, which is made from wheat. The food is so delightful that you cannot get enough of it, especially after such a trip.

You can visit Çomakdağ by car, in which case you would need to take breaks to enjoy the scenery. Buses run to Çomakdağ from Milas, and day trips or tours can be organised to the village, or, even better, take an experienced guide.

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