Şirince — inland village close to Ephesus/Selçuk, surrounded by olive- and vineyards, can be best described as Turkey's Tuscany
Dilek Peninsula National Park (Dilek Yarımadası Milli Parkı) — situated just south of resort town of Güzelçamlı, which is about 15-min minibus ride south of Kuşadası, this peninsula is perhaps the wildest stretch of land on Turkish Aegean coast. Centred around the Mt Samsun (Samsun Dağı) which juts out towards the Greek island of Samos, this place covered with lush forests were declared as a national park in 1966 because of a number of rare species of animals inhabiting it, Anatolian leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana), which is thought to be extict by now, being the most important one. Although you will most likely not have a chance to encounter any of these rare fauna (except maybe a horde of wild horses if you choose to visit in winter and perhaps the ubiquitous wild boars which mostly subsist on food refuse left by humans, sometimes going as bold as directly scavengering unattended lunchboxes—be careful), with its hiking trails and quite secluded beaches sandy and stony alike—some of which, except the first four ones to be more precisely, are closed to public presumably due to military reasons when arriving overland, although all are attainable by boat tours departing from Güzelçamlı—the park is a great get-away when you are bored of concrete sprawl of Aegean resorts. 4 TL pp, 10 TL/car. It's impossible to overnight (legally) within the park.
Understand
Central Aegean encompasses what were historically called Ionia on the coast, and Lydia inland.
Talk
Get in
Adnan Menderes Airport is located south of Izmir and serves to a number of flights from around Turkey and western Europe.
Buses are available to Izmir from most, if not all, cities in Turkey.
Ferries connect Çeşme and Kusadasi with the Greek islands of Chios and Samos, respectively. Also, Izmir has a weekly ferry service from Istanbul during summer.
