Side Guide

SIDE

Charter-tour hotels packed along this extent of coast threaten to dominate Side, but the city continues a delightful mix of Biblical ruins and modern facilities. Sandy shores border it on each side, with the remains in the middle. Side, like Antalya or Alanya, offers all sorts of actions, from shopping and late-night dancing to kayaking in mountain canyons. It's also near to the main sites of Aspendos and Perge, and less than an hour from Antalya Airport. Like its important Pamphylian sisters, Side is best toured out of the heat of high season (July and August). Even at peak times, though, most visitors stay in all-inclusive hotels and head home for dinner. This means that at night it's still pleasant to experience how Side felt in the 1960s when the city was off the beaten track, and the likes of dancer Rudolph Nureyev and French learned Simone de Beauvoir were visitors.