Kusadasi is one of the largest and best known of the Aegean Sea holiday resorts in Turkey and has, for many years, been one of the most popular resort for tourists visiting Turkey.
Kusadasi is a deep water port and during the summer gigantic luxury cruise liners from all over the world visit the port on almost a daily basis. It is also home to a luxury yacht marina and many of the world’s rich and famous personalities are known to visit regularly in their super yachts. So keep your eyes peeled because you never know just who might be sipping a martini at the next table.
There are a number of very good beaches in Kusadasi, the most popular being Ladies Beach and Long Beach. Many of our featured properties are within walking distance of Ladies Beach. Long Beach is easily accessible by Dolmus from the resort centre. Long beach stretches some 25 km from the edge of the resort to the Dilek Mountains and National Park, which covers an area of some 28,000 hectares, and is easily reached by Dolmus from the town centre.
There is a wide selection of restaurants, cafes and bistros around the resort and the fresh fish restaurants in the marina area are particularly recommended. There is also an abundance of nightlife to choose from ranging from upmarket beach clubs, small live music bars in the old town or the throbbing, pulsating disco bars which line the famous bar street.
Kusadasi is a shopper’s paradise. Located in an important cotton growing area many of the most famous fashion brands in the world have factories in the locality and you can get genuine fashion ware at greatly reduced prices. This in turn has spawned a huge fake fashion industry and typical of Turkish honesty there is no attempt to deceive as they proudly offer you “genuine fakes” at unbelievably cheap prices.
Other good buys include gold and jewellery, leather goods and Turkish carpets. The main market day for textile and souvenirs is Wednesday and we also recommend a visit to the weekly fruit and vegetable market on Friday just to experience the amazing colours and smells of the fresh fruit, vegetables and spices being offered for sale directly by the growers.
Many of the best known attractions in Turkey are located close to Kusadasi including the ancient city of Ephesus and the temple of Artemis, the House of the Virgin Mary and St. John’s Basilica. The famous cotton castles of Pamukkale and the Greek island of Samos are other popular day trips and there are daily boat trips and an abundance of water sports.
There are two very large water parks one of which claims to be the biggest in Europe. In addition to the many rides and slides there is also a daily Dolphin and Seal show and a Sea Park where visitors can swim with dolphins or tropical fish or descend in a steel cage in the huge shark tank.
For the even more adventurous Microlight tours are available over Ephesus and Kusadasi port.
Kusadasi also enjoys the benefit of being close to two modern international airports.
Transfer time by coach from Izmir airport is about 1 hour 15 minutes and Bodrum airport is about 1 hour 40 minutes on a very scenic route via Bafa Lake and the Menderes River plain [the word “meander” in English is derived from the name of this river because of its zig zag course].