Alanya can be described with three adjectives: budget, family, sandy. We have only the warmest memories of her! In this article I will tell you how Alanya will please you, why Russians love the resort so much and whether it is worth going.
Resort experience
Surprisingly, almost all vacationers are delighted with Alanya - and we are no exception. I remember her with warmth, as if I were looking at old photographs. Blooming oleanders, oranges and prickly pears, a photogenic fortress and the crooked streets of the Old Town, an expansive marina and stunningly clear water. I was especially impressed by Cleopatra's beach - azure water, pleasant rolled pebbles and a picturesque rock.
The reviews of other tourists about Alanya are also completely positive. Tourists find the resort cozy, cute and comfortable. It is clean and tidy, more like a European one.
Alanya has two advantages - it is the cheapest and warmest resort in Turkey! Even in the high season, prices are affordable, and you can swim here from mid-spring to mid-autumn. Tourists also like the developed infrastructure and the opportunity to have an interesting and varied vacation at the resort.
Oksana: "In my opinion, Alanya is the best resort city in Turkey, which combines historical sights, beautiful nature, and seascapes with a modern and refined embankment, as well as many restaurants with local cuisine and shops with clothes and souvenirs."
semenova.tmn: "Alanya is a green, neat, cozy, clean city. The administration monitors its condition, therefore palm trees, trees, lawns and park areas are planted everywhere. In this city you will definitely find where to walk, where to go and where to eat. ".
The best hotels in Alanya
Alanya is the most budgetary resort in Turkey, and this is its special charm! You can live in a good 4-5 * hotel on 1 line with all-inclusive meals and a bunch of spa-type services, and at the same time for a reasonable price. And in the low season it will be even cheaper! We did just that - we arrived at the end of April and lived profitably at Sunprime C-Lounge 5 * and Kleopatra Atlas 4 *.
Sunprime C-Lounge 5 * I liked it very much - everything is so stylish and intelligent. Polite staff, spacious rooms. The hotel is all inclusive. Nice music plays in the restaurant, and it is always quiet on the territory, because there are no children. Even seafood is served in peacetime! Located about 5 km from the center of Alanya, the beach has its own exit through the tunnel. You can come to the hotel on your own or on a tour.
Kleopatra Atlas 4 * more modest, but with a stunning location - right next to Damlatas cave and Cleopatra beach. Rooms are nice but tired. Works on "all inclusive". The food is delicious in the restaurant! You can come to the hotel on your own or on a tour. Read our review of the Kleopatra Atlas.
How to choose a hotel and buy a tour? We do not buy vouchers in ordinary travel agencies, but we book them ourselves in the online stores of Level.Travel and Travelata tours. So it is safer and more profitable - no one will slip a pig in a poke, and we can easily find the ideal option in terms of price and quality. To choose the best hotel, use filters and read reviews of tourists. Find out more about how to buy tours for less. If you are flying to Turkey on your own, then look for hotels with discounts at Hotelluk.
If you decide to go on vacation to Alanya on your own, then you can easily find a hotel without stars by the sea for $ 20-25 per knock for two. Hotels 3 * cost from $ 32, 4 * - from $ 53, 5 * - from $ 90.
We have selected the best ultra all inclusive hotels in Alanya:
- Sirius Deluxe 5 * is a hotel for recreation of young people or couples.
- Mukarnas Spa Resort 5 * is a hotel with water slides.
- Antique Roman Palace 4 * is an intelligent and cozy hotel.
- Alara Hotel 4 * - located on the beach with fine sand Incekum.
Also, the complexes operate on an "all inclusive" system. It's a bit cheaper and the comfort level is about the same.
Best All Inclusive Hotels in Alanya:
- Meryan 5 * is a hotel for a relaxing holiday.
- White City Resort 5 * is an economical "top five" in the city.
- Club Sun Heaven Family & Spa 4 * is an excellent hotel for families with children.
- Parador Beach Hotel 3 * - freshly renovated.
New resort hotels open every year in Turkey. If you like to live in rooms with modern appliances and new furniture, in rooms where no one has been before, then you urgently need to read about new hotels in Turkey.
Beaches in Alanya
All the beaches of Alanya are sandy and sandy-pebble, and this is a huge plus for the resort, because on the rest there are pebbles almost everywhere.
The most popular and beautiful - Cleopatra beach... The name seems trivial, because in Turkey, Cleopatra is pushed wherever possible. However, the beach is truly royal and worthy of this name. He struck me with azure water and small smooth pebbles in the surf - I love this very much. It resembles polished semi-precious stones such as onyx or jasper. It is a pleasure to bury your hands and feet in it! Well, in general, most of the beach is strewn with fine light sand with a small admixture of pebbles, for which tourists love it.
Cleopatra's beach has its drawbacks - a rather sharp entrance, and there are slabs in the water in many places. I advise you to be closer to the rock with the fortress, where there are no stones. This piece of beach is sometimes called Damlatas Beach.
Some of the other beaches in Alanya also have slabs in the water, such as Oba Beach. According to tourists, the best beach for children is Keykubat, because it has a gentle entrance and a shallow bottom. Find out about the best beaches in Alanya.
All beaches are free, with developed infrastructure: almost everywhere there are wooden decks, showers, changing rooms, toilets. They ask for money for sun loungers and umbrellas, but in some hotels they are already included in the price. You can also always sit on a towel.
Food prices
Tourists in Alanya mainly eat in all-inclusive hotels and spend money only on ice cream, boiled corn, sweets and drinks. We also lived on All Inclusive, so I can't tell you much about food prices, plus during the lockdown almost everything was closed.
Independent tourists write in reviews that food prices in Alanya are reasonable. Usually lunch for two costs $ 15-20, dinner for two with alcohol - $ 20-25. Set meals cost about $ 10 per person.
In cafes and restaurants, portions are large and the meat dish is served with bread and salad. If you don't eat much, I advise you not to order a lot at once. I usually have a hard time mastering one dish.
Read our guide to Turkish cuisine for the tastiest dishes and prices.
Olesya: "And how many different cafes for every taste and budget. I especially remember Delfino Beach Restaurant and Green Beach. We went to the first restaurant for the Turkish night, the night was short, but the food was excellent! The second restaurant had wonderful service and live music. And the sea view is beautiful in both cases. "
Oksana: "In Alanya there are a lot of different cafes with both local and European cuisine. Prices are very reasonable everywhere, and therefore it is more than real to eat somewhere in the amount of 400 rubles per person. And it is quite decent, and very tasty and soulful. "
Valentina: "We ate in city cafes and restaurants. At lunch we often had a pizza on the beach, cost 20-25 lira. The cost of a steak in a cafe in Alanya is 45 lira, fish - 35-40 lira, vegetable salads 15-18 lira (you can take one portion for two)".
Excursions and entertainment
As in any other resort in Turkey, on vacation in Alanya, enterprising Turks will offer you a lot of entertainment (the price indicated for 1 person):
- Diving - for about $ 25.
- Hammam (not at the hotel) - $ 15.
- Rafting - from $ 20.
- Jeep or ATV safari - $ 20-50.
- Paragliding with an instructor - $ 60.
- A trip on a yacht - from $ 15.
You will definitely not escape a trip on a pirate yacht - on the embankment you cannot step even a step, so that you will not be offered it! There is a water park and all kinds of water activities, traditional for resorts.And, of course, discos work in the evening, foam parties and shows are held. They are held in the port area and in special club hotels, but during the lockdown everything was closed.
There are also many excursions in the resort. From Alanya, tourists travel to Cappadocia, Pamukkale, Lake Salda, the ancient city of Mira (Demre), the Green Canyon - and there are many places! According to tourists' reviews, the prices for excursions in hotels are too high, so look at them on the Tripster service - there are collected unique author's tours that will show the country from a new perspective. During our long trip to Turkey, we booked excursions there. Find out about the best excursions in Alanya.
See what excursions there are on the Tripster:
The first thing we did was climb the funicular to the Alanya fortress. The fortress itself is not very interesting, but the views are amazing. Then we walked along the wide and long embankment, along which ships are crowded, looked at the lighthouse and the Kyzyl Kule tower from the side.
The next day we went to Cleopatra's beach, to the archaeological museum and Damlatash cave. The cave impressed, even though I've seen so many of them in my lifetime! Such dramatic influxes and sharp as knives, stalactites on the ceiling at the entrance. Then we walked along the embankment near the Ataturk Park and watched the daily life of the locals. I advise you to watch the sunset from this side of the cliff.
We allocated a special day to the Red Tower (Kyzyl Kule) and the shipyard, because a single ticket is valid for them. The tower is not interesting, but the views are wonderful. At the same time, do not be too lazy to go from the territory of the tower to the Old Town, walk along the narrow streets and admire the views of the bay and the city.
We also took a bus to the Dim Cave - fantastically beautiful and incredibly ancient. They write that it is about 1 million years old! I definitely advise you to visit.
How to get around the resort
If you settled in a beach hotel east of the fortress mountain, then you need route number 101 - it runs along the first line of the coast to the marina. To catch the bus, wave your hand to the driver, and to get out, press the red button on the handrail. Travel on city buses costs 3.65 lira. We paid with a regular bank card, we simply applied it to the terminal. Dolmushi also run around the city, but you have to pay in cash.
We looked at the bus routes in the Moovit app. Be careful - the schedule is not always up to date, especially during a pandemic.
If you want to take a taxi, then for a day trip you will pay from 35 to 50 liras, at night - twice as much.
If you want to visit the distant surroundings of the resort, rent a car on the Myrentacar service, where we ourselves have booked a car for traveling in Turkey.
Vacation with children
Alanya is a family resort, many come here with children, despite the distance from the airport. They come because there are good hotels for children, sandy beaches and a very long swimming season.
Do not worry that on vacation with children it will be boring! At least there is always children's animation, playgrounds and clubs in the hotel.
Take your children to the Sealanya Dolphin Park in the neighboring village of Avsallar, go to the Alanya water park. Climb the fortress, ride the cable car and see the caves. Find out more about holidays with children in Alanya.
When is the best time to go
Alanya is considered the warmest resort in Turkey, because it is closed by the Taurus Mountains. The high season lasts from May to October. It is dry and hot at this time, sometimes too hot. July and August are only months for those who tolerate the heat well. The rest are advised to come in June and September, when the weather is excellent and it is pleasant to swim. In May and October, the weather is also good, but the water can be cool.
We specially went to Alanya in mid-April so as not to die from the heat and stay in 5 * hotels cheaper. The weather was fine, but the wind was cool and I often wore a leather jacket or shirt. It's too cold to swim, but the weather is optimal for walks and excursions.
Alexandra: "For some reason I decided that October for Turkey is a velvet season, and the weather will not be so hot, but it’s not like that. In the afternoon the air warmed up to 35 and it was in the shade, so I personally was very hot Of course, this is not 45, but that was more than enough for me. However, the locals assured that this year there was some kind of anomaly with the weather, usually in October it is cooler. "
Is it worth resting
So, let's summarize. Why do tourists love the resort? Because everyone here finds something for themselves! The resort is clean, beautiful and green. There is a lot of entertainment here, but it is also quite quiet. There are many excursions and attractions. Accommodation is available for every taste, from hostels and apartments to luxury spa hotels by the sea. There are also many cafes and restaurants, and for every wallet.
According to reviews, the beaches of Alanya are one of the main reasons why tourists come here. They are almost all sandy and beautiful here - one "Cleopatra" is worth a lot!
Tourists in the reviews only complain about the long trip from the airport (about three hours), annoying sellers and mediocre shopping.
I can't say anything about shopping, but on all other points we completely agree with other tourists! Alanya is good and we will definitely come again.
