Çeşme, Turkey
Çeşme, Turkey is a unlike other Turkish towns with it’s strong European influence and incredible views over the Aegean Sea.
This city is home to great food, museums and shops- all very inexpensive. Overall it feels slightly more modern- like a lush coastal town and less of the ancient Middle Eastern feeling found in other Turkish cities. Plus it is so close to Greece, you can actually see Chios while standing in Çeşme. You can take a short ferry ride over to Greece for just 20€!
Unlike some historical towns, Çeşme was not over crowded, especially when traveling in the off season!
The lack of tourists made our time here all the more special. We visited at the end of October so we missed the peak busy season by not traveling in the summer!
In fact, the day we explored the Çeşme Castle (built all the way back in 1508!) we had the entire place to ourselves, minus a few stray cats 🙂
Two Days Then A Ferry Crossing To Greece
Two days was plenty of time to explore before we left for Greece. I recommend buying gelato (they take euros so you don’t even have to convert your money to Turkish liras) and sitting by the sea. It’s so quiet and peaceful to sit there feeling the breeze from the sea and looking out at all the boats.
What to do in Çeşme:
- Fill up on Turkish street food
- Tour the Çeşme Castle
- Ilica Plaji beach
- Eat gelato by the sea
- Delikli Koyu beach
- Smoke Turkish hookah at a local hookah bar
- Take a trip to Chios, Greece – just a short ferry ride away!
Çeşme, Turkey exceed our expectations and
I’m sure it will exceed yours as well!
A visa into Turkey is free or very inexpensive depending on your country. Being from the USA, I paid 20€ and it’s good for a year. I applied just the day before and was approved immediately. The visa is emailed to you and you simply show it at border control- so easy! You can apply here.
More on Turkey: ISTANBUL- HOW I USE COUCHSURFING TO MEET LOCALS
This looks like an amazing place to visit! What great pictures you took!
Thank you! We were fortunate enough to have awesome weather and lighting that day 🙂