Kuşadası: seven places worth the drive

Ephesus is one of the best-preserved ancient cities in the Mediterranean, and the reason many visitors come to this coast. The marble street, the Great Theatre and the façade of the Library of Celsus are the images most people carry home. The site sits just outside Selçuk, so a morning here pairs easily with the Ephesus Museum in the town, or with the House of the Virgin Mary on the hill above. Go early — by midday in summer there is no shade on the marble.

Ancient city · half a day

The beach our apartments stand on. The water shelves gently, so it suits families, and the promenade behind it is lined with cafés and small restaurants that stay open late in summer. Sunbeds and showers are available along the sand. The sun sets straight out to sea, which is why the seafront fills up in the last hour of daylight. Busy through July and August; quiet in the mornings and from September onwards.

Beach · on the doorstep

A small island joined to the shore by a causeway, crowned with a Byzantine castle. It takes its Turkish name from the pigeons that nested on its rocks. The walk out along the water is the town’s favourite way to end the day: the castle walls catch the last light and the causeway fills with people watching the sun go down. There is a tea garden inside the walls and a view back over the harbour.

Castle & sunset · 1–2 hours

Built in 1618 by the Grand Vizier Öküz Mehmet Pasha, beside the old harbour. Also known as Kurşunlu Han, it began as a fortress and was later used as an inn for traders arriving by sea. Thick, high walls surround a rectangular courtyard, with two storeys of arcaded rooms around it and a marble doorway under an arch on the north side. From outside it still reads as a small citadel. Restored several times and in good condition.

Ottoman · 1 hour

Pine forest running down to four coves of clear water, with mountain trails above them. The Council of Europe lists the peninsula as a Flora Biogenetic Reserve: plants from the Mediterranean to the Caucasus grow here side by side, and 209 bird species have been recorded, among them the endangered Dalmatian pelican and pygmy cormorant. The coves get quieter the further you drive in. Take a picnic — there is little to buy inside.

Nature & swimming · full day

A natural pool of cold spring water inside a cave, right at the entrance to the national park at Güzelçamlı. The story goes that Zeus hid here from his brother Poseidon, who had turned the sea upside down in anger, and the name stuck. The water is startlingly cold after the heat outside and shallow enough to stand in. It is small, so it fills up quickly in August — early morning is best.

Cave & swim · 30 minutes

The old mosque of Kuşadası, in the middle of the bazaar. It was built in 1618 by Öküz Mehmet Pasha — the same Grand Vizier who built the caravanserai a few streets away. A square plan sits under a single wide dome, with body walls rising in two levels to flat mouldings. The porch on the northern façade, in Baghdadi style, was added during the restoration of 1830. Still in use, so dress modestly and avoid prayer times.

Ottoman · 20 minutes