Kusadasi is a tourist port on the West Coast of Turkey. Just below Ephesus. Turn right on the road from Selcuk and you can't miss it. Big place. And I really liked it.
This is a busy place. It's also a hot place. It's a popular stop off point for cruise ships, so add this to the general ... Read review
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Kusadasi is a tourist port on the West Coast of Turkey. Just below Ephesus. Turn right on the road from Selcuk and you can't miss it. Big place. And I really liked it.
This is a busy place. It's also a hot place. It's a popular stop off point for cruise ships, so add this to the general tourist numbers staying in and around the town, plus the large number of local inhabitants and you have a place that throbs with life.
... ...day.
Kusadasi has a large market which is held weekly, and runs for a couple of miles along the road. Clothes are VERY cheap, especially cotton stuff, but do check for minute holes/seconds as that can sometimes be the reason for them being sold off. Good prices to be found on leather goods and some really excellent local food produce which is excellent if you're on a self-catering holiday.
Kusadasi is a tourist port on the West Coast of Turkey. Just below Ephesus. Turn right on the road from Selcuk and you can't miss it. Big place. And I really liked it.
This is a busy place. It's also a hot place. It's a popular stop off point for cruise ships, so add this to the general tourist numbers staying in and around the town, plus the large number of local inhabitants and you have a place that throbs with life.
I've been twice now, once staying at the Hotel Imbat about 2 miles outside of town, just past Ladies Beach - which by the way is the nearest decent stretch of sand to Kusadasi, so this also gets very busy - and the second time we stayed in the town itself. Both had their advantages and disadvantafes.
The hotel afforded quieter nights, but it was a real pain having to find a taxi driver at night to get you back there, if you didn't fancy the walk. The food wasn't all that, and as we discovered later, it's better to eat in the same place as the locals in town anyway.
Second time round we stayed in what was then called the Hotel Aynali which had brilliantly big rooms, brilliantly big beds, a fantastic bathroom, excellently priced at £12per night including breakfast, centrally located just near the main bazaar at the Caravan Serail, and right next door to the Mosque. Hence £12 per night. Still, great little place, friendly staff, and a very loud Muezzin (spelling?) 5 times a day.
Kusadasi has a large market which is held weekly, and runs for a couple of miles along the road. Clothes are VERY cheap, especially cotton stuff, but do check for minute holes/seconds as that can sometimes be the reason for them being sold off. Good prices to be found on leather goods and some really excellent local food produce which is excellent if you're on a self-catering holiday.
The busiest party place is Bar Street. A heaving, throbbing, strobe city with bars from every place imaginable crammed down the one road. Don't be put off by the police vans that are placed at either end of the street, they are there just in case. But seeing as how most tourists have seen Midnight Express, very few people actually seemed to want to find trouble.
Pigeon Island juts out into the water of the port, and housed a trendy club. I'm pretty sure that some kind of nightlife would be there, even if it wasn't the club we visited. Nice walk out at night.
The Caravan Serail down near the port held Turkish Nights which were great value. Traditional dancing, traditional music, traditional tourist trap, but an extremely enjoyable one.
There are many excellent cafes to eat in, and you should also try the places tucked away up back alleys and roads. Many of them are really cheap to eat in, and even the "expensive" places really aren't, on a comparative basis.
Turkey is not a place to go on holiday if you are a staunch non-smoker. Here, smoking is almost a religion. When flying from Istanbul to Izmir, we noticed that people were lighting up even there there were no smoking signs everywhere. When we queried whether it was okay to smoke or not, we were told to ignore the signs as the MP who had campaigned to have it implemented was sacked once it was achieved, and it was smoking as usual. It therefore follows that you can pick up your ciggies very cheaply here, plus there's a great range of brands to choose from. Turkey is a major tobacco grower. One thing. If you roll your own ciggies, go well stocked with baccy and papers as these aren't supplied locally and people are given very funny looks if they ask for them. It's obvious what they think you are up to, and it is very much frowned on. Even if you are asking for totally innocent reasons, it can be very embarrassing, so don't put yourself in the situation. And if you ARE intending to be naughty, then DON'T. They don't treat the situation lightly at all, tourist or no tourist.
Something slightly more strange, but it could be a handy thing to know, there is a law against making jokes about Kamal Attaturk (father of modern day Turkey). I did query this with the locals to see if I was being wound up, and whilst they didn't think anything particularly major would happen, it was again something best to avoid doing. Not that I would have done anyway, I'm far too nice a person!
There are many places to visit from Kusadasi by Dolmus (local bus service). This is extremely cheap, and they'll stop and pick you up or drop you off, anywhere along a given route. In other words, if you're trotting down the road and you see one, just flag it down. There are no bus stops or anything, it's much more user friendly. They are like small mini-buses, so seating can be a bit on the personal-space-invasion side, but everyone's very friendly.
Ephesus is well worth a visit, so is Selcuk (pronounced Sell-chook) and Maryamana. The latter is the reputed last home of the Virgin Mary who was brought here by St. John, after Jesus' death. Very beautiful, tranquil, and quiet. Respect for religion MUST be shown here, and you're advised to have clothing on that covers most of the body. There is also the National Park which is about 45 minutes drive away down the coast, and has massive stone beaches, and when we went, very, very few people. Lovely.
We did hire a car for the day and drove to Pummakale (about two inches away from Kusadasi on the map, about 3 hours to drive it. Turkey is B I G) and most of the locals thought we were mad. Even they didn't like driving on their roads. Especially THAT road. They insisted we took a coach trip, we insisted we knew better. We didn't but I don't have the time or space to relay ALL the little surprises about Turkish driving that we discovered that day.)
I'm sure there are many more interesting places to visit that are nearby now. It's about 6 years since our last visit, and stuff was being built all the time.
I loved it there, and we made good friends with some of the local people, with whom we're still in contact today. They had a leather shop. Who doesn't!! There were at least 70 in the bazaar, and all of them would offer good prices if you haggle. The Turkish were very polite with me if I was polite with them. A big smile as you say 'no' really does stop them from hassling you to death.
Loads of bargains, loads of fun, loads of good people, food and music. Not the place if you're after a quiet little break away from the hoards, but a great time if you like people and having a laugh.
Didn't get the trots either. Too much information for you?? Sorry.
Advantages: Warm, friendly and a little different Disadvantages: The hard sell might put off the more timid
The small sea port of Kusadasi lies on the West coast of Turkey, a few miles North East of the Greek Island of Samos and a similar distance South of the ancient port of Ephesus, home to one of the wonders of the ancient world, The Temple of Artemis. The week we spent in Kusadasi was my first visit to Turkey. As it was a freebie (Lucky ole me) I didn’t bother doing any research, so everything was a bit of a surprise. Thankfully it was a thoroughly ... ...If this really doesn’t appeal, Kusadasi may not be the place for you to go and I wouldn’t bother reading too much further – although there are ways around the problem. The people we were with had been to Kusadasi several years ago and said it was worse now, but in comparison to North Africa the hassle from these friendly, it has to be said, hustlers was minimal. It’s more the persistence that could be annoying. There are hundreds ...
jambo6 25.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Kusadasi (Turkey)
Advantages: Absolutely gorgeous weather! Lovely beach & friendly people! Disadvantages: Being hassled by all shop owners/market workers to come and buy something from them!
...& 3 friends settled on Kusadasi in Turkey (on the Aegean coast - about an hour from Izmir airport) for our holiday. We booked our tickets in July (this year -2005) & then saw on the news the week after that a bomb had gone off there - felt a bit anxious at this point but decided to still go on the holiday as I really feel that anything can happen at any time anywhere so any place is safe/dangerous as any other (well you know what I mean?!)
***THE ... ...of places to go in kusadasi itself - like the ladies beach which is gorgeous but obviously very busy during peak season.. crystal clear waters & lovely for sunbathing but watch out for the hot sand on your feet (it hurts!)
There are loads of bars n cafes n shops - i suggest going to 'bar street' - really good for going in the evening/night (one thing i didn't like is that the locals seemed to charge too much money sometimes for food n drink etc ...
hunni786 17.09.2005 (06.11.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Kusadasi (Turkey)
Advantages: Value for money, weather, atmosphere Disadvantages: the odd stray dog
...an Ibiza type holiday, and Kusadasi is perfect in that it offers good nightlife, cheap food and beautiful beaches, but allows you to relax and unwind without worry of hugely drunken tourists. The excursion boat trip was the highlight of the holiday, for around £11 we spent 8 hours in glorious sunshine with free drinks and food, topped off by dolphins racing the boat home.
The locals were extremely friendly, especially the staff at Halikarnas on ... ...The value for money is astonashing, and on the whole, Kusadasi really offers everything you need in a summer holiday, with the added bonus of one of the seven wonders of the world just down the road. We'l be back next summer for sure, I couldn't reccomend the place enough. ...
Foxy1212 18.07.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Kusadasi (Turkey)
Advantages: Cheap, plenty to do Disadvantages: Pushy traders in the bazaar
...midnight.
The centre of Kusadasi had everything. A vast range of restaurants all at reasonable prices, a bazaar where we could buy almost everything including 10 t-shirts for under £9. There was also a centre where all sorts of shops could be found. If you want to haggle for cheap goods head to the bazaar, but if you prefer a leisurely browse, I would recommend the shops.
The only drawback is that this is the place where all the big cruise liners ... ...shops near the harbour where prices are ridiculously high. Avoid these at all costs.
If you like historic sites, this is an ideal base with Ephesus just 30 minutes away. I went there on a previous visit and would recommend it to anyone. The place is amazing and the guides give an excellent histiry lesson. The size of the magnificent amphitheatre has to be seen to be believed. There are also several other historic places within easy reach. ...
WFCfan 02.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Kusadasi (Turkey)
Advantages: Very cheap. Disadvantages: A little on the dirty.
Cheap Cheap, erm no actually, Turkey is more like Gobble Gobble. This is a place of no thrills but cheap deals. The holidays are on the whole good, very cheap, hot nice clear waters and every thing really is cheap! You can buy anything and everything, although I must say that its all fake. Clothes, watches, you name it they make it. The best buy are the watches and sunglasses, dont expect top quality, but for about £30 you wouldn't really expect ... ...you must try the local mezzies, the sea food is also first class, you can expect to pay about a tenner for a three course meal with wine, and when I say a meal, it really is a full meal. A full cooked English breakfast ranges between 99 pence and a pound fifty. there is plenty to see and do, there is a hugh amount of sight seeing to do. The best thing that is worth every penny is the Jeep safari, you must try it, and it is best if you drive your ...
Malmsteen 02.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Kusadasi (Turkey)
Value for Money
Sightseeing
Shopping
Nightlife
Ease of getting around
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Advantages: Friendly staff, nice, relaxed atmosphere Disadvantages: Top of a very steep hill, food not so hot
ventured into Kusadasi for our eveing meal each night, and found the food to be cheap and of excellent quality wherever we dined.
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An excellent holiday, at an excellent price, although I would certainly begrudge paying the £490 per week that others around the pool had paid!!! ...
Advantages: Excellent itinery, well organised tours Disadvantages: Poor service and facilities onboard
team proved to be perhaps the best thing about the ship. The entertainment was suited to the majority of guests, who were mainly over 55, and was of a good standard.
The Calypso offers two shops, but neither is particularly well stocked in comparison to what is available on other Thomson ships or other small cruise ships.
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Advantages: erm .... none! Disadvantages: dangerous hotel, food poisoning, misrepresentation of the holiday ... shoud i carry on?
! They accepted the poor standard of the hotel, accomodation, the misrepresentation of certain trips (a night of Turkish dancing and music [for which we had to pay extra], where the Russian band played Cliff Richard songs - go figure!)
Were we disappointed? ... YES!
Did we feel ripped off? ....... YES!
Was the standard of JMC good enough? .... NO!
Will we travel with them again? ..... NO!!!!!
PS: Was staying at the Tusan Beach Resort in Kusadasi, Turkey.
Oh, and it transpired, that JMC were fully aware of the problems with the hotel before we travelled. One of our party heard about a girl suffering some sort of alcohol poisoning after drinking fake vodka at the hotel - JMC denied it! JMC also denied before we went that there were any problems with the hotel AT ALL! - how wrong they were! ...
sukeysukey 01.03.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of JMC
