Difference between revisions of "Çeşme"

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Çeşme Castle

Çeşme (pronounced chesh-meh) is a sea-side resort town on the Aegean, west of Izmir, favoured by international travellers. It lies on the extreme western tip of Turkey, opposite the Greek island of Chios.

Get in

There are several ways to get to Çeşme, it's half an hour drive from Izmir by car, and there are several bus companies that will drive you to Çeşme from Izmir on any time of the day. Buses from Çeşme to Izmir at the time of writing are around TL 10.

There are two daily ferry(ies) to and from Çeşme from the Greek island of Chios, the boat ride takes just over an hour and costs €25 one-way or €40 return.

Bus services are also available from Istanbul, the route lasts approximately 8 hours.

See

• Çeşme Castle (Çeşme Kalesi), (at the town centre). A well-preserved citadel by the shore.

• Old city. The Old city is full of Greek neo-classical buildings from the late 1800s/early 1900s that wouldn't be out of place in, say, Symi, which are well preserved and are quite elegant.

Do

• Windsurfing
• Kiteboarding — Kiteboard at one of the best spot in Europe with profesional riders. The IKO center at Kitesurfbeach Pirlanta-Ciftlikkoy will be very happy to host you.

Buy

Eat

• Kumru — a kind of local warm sandwich. Tasty, it is made with a special bread originally stuffed with salami, Turkish garlic-flavoured sausage (sucuk), grilled cheese and tomatoes; nowadays a vegetarian version is also available if you ask for it, prepared without the sausage and with the addition of green pepper. Most famous eatery specialized in kumru is Kumrucu Sevki at downtown.

• Ice cream (dondurma) — Veli Usta is a great place to have an ice-cream. There are lots of flavors available, including very local balbadem (honey and almond) and black currant, which are the most favorite flavors.

Drink

Sleep

• Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Altınyunus Mah. 3435 Sok. No. 25, ☎ +90 232 455-45-00 (info.cesme@radissonblu.com, fax: +90 232 455-45-01), [1]. Beachfront hotel offering rooms with a seaview, TV, free internet access. Two swimming pools (both indoor and outdoor) and an on-site spa available. Note that the hotel lies far away (5 km) from the old town, though. € 165-278.

• Rıdvan Hotel, (at the centre of old town).

• Sheraton Çeşme.

Contact

Town's telephone code is (+90) 232.

Get out

Hotel Altinyunus, and Ilica view

• Alaçatı — a historical town on the southern leeward side of the peninsula—and thus is perfect for wind-surfing!—noted for its Greek houses, ancient windmills with modern electricity-generating wind turbines side by side on the hill overlooking it. About 8 km east of Çeşme.
• Ilıca — a town noted for its thermal springs, located 5 km east of Çeşme, on the northern coast of peninsula.
• The Greek island of Chios is just opposite Çeşme, about an hour away by ferry, and thanks to quite frequent ferries can be done as a day-trip from Çeşme. The ferry departs at 11AM from Çeşme and the return trip is at 5PM from Chios (4PM on Sundays).