Altinkum, Turkey
Altinkum, Turkey - Accommodation
Altinkum is situated on the southern shores of Turkey on the Aegean Sea. It is the beach resort of Didim and is a busy holiday resort with three golden sandy beaches. The beaches have particularly shallow waters making Altinkum especially suitable for family holidays but it is great for couples too. The beaches offers sunbeds and parasols and a wide range of water sports.
ALTINKUM means "golden sands" and with its beaches which gently shelve into the inviting turquoise blue Aegean, you will soon see how the resort got its name. The resort is favoured by the British, Americans, Russians, Dutch, Irish and of course Turkish people. The centre of Altinkum town is almost largely modern with a pedestrianised sea front area. There is also a good range of bars and restaurants along the waterfront offering international and local cuisine.
Didim is shaped as a peninsula surrounding Mugla on the east coast with huge inlet of Akbuk town, Aegean sea on the west and east coast, Lake Bafa and the Menderes River on the northern coast. 106 km's to Aydin provenience, 53 km' to Söke town, 73 km's to Kusadasi, 110 km's to Bodrum. Spread to 300 square km. of area.
About 15 years ago, people from large cities around Turkey such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir first came to Altinkum ("altin: gold" + "kum:sand") and started to build their own summer houses and holiday homes there. When Turkey's economy started to decline those people found it very hard to survive in the big cities so most of the summer house owners who were mainly retired people decided to move into the small resorts such as Altinkum. Didim, or Didyma as it was originally called, was a sacred site and not a city, in whose centre was a great temple built in the name of the sun god Apollo.The temple still remains as one of the best preserved in the country.
Today's Didim is rapidly growing holiday resort completely different than what it used to be 10-15 years ago welcoming large population of tourists with its beautiful beaches, ancient towns, culture, climate from all over the world. But comparing to the big tourist resorts like Bodrum, Kusadasi it's not been spoiled we can say. Most of the infrastructure work have beem done by last winter which we expect no more flooding of rain water in Altinkum and better main roads have finished including pedestrian walk paths by the beach. The local market of Didim is held on Saturdays and can be visited by local transport between Altinkum - town centre.
You can better discover the beaches, natural coves and bays by boat trips, organised daily from the harbour in summer season which starts beginning of May. Water sports, diving courses, fishing tours are also available. Altinkum is a good holiday base for exploring the local area. The sights at Ephesus (the country's most famous historic site) Pamukkale, and Bodrum are easily reached from Altinkum. You can discover the area by yourself in a hire car or with local travel agents who have organised tours to Lake Bafa, Akköy village, Didyma - Miletos - Priene, Söke Market, Kusadasi Market, Bodrum, Ephesus - Virgin Mary's house, Pamukkale, Aphrodisias, Dalyan, etc...
