Side and Manavgat: The Classic Day Out from Alanya

Side and Manavgat sit about an hour west of Alanya, and almost every hotel desk sells them as one package. That is fair enough: they are 20 minutes apart, and neither fills a whole day on its own. What the desk usually does not tell you is how differently the two places feel, or which half deserves the extra hour.

What you actually see in Side

Side was a working Pamphylian port two thousand years before it became a resort. The Roman theatre is the biggest in the region and still the first thing you notice from the road: roughly 15,000 seats stacked against the sky, with the agora and the museum in the old Roman baths right beside it.

Then the old town narrows into a pedestrian grid of shops and restaurants, and at the far tip the Temple of Apollo stands on the point with the sea behind it. Five re-erected columns, no roof, no ticket barrier. It is the postcard of the coast for a reason, and it is best in the last hour of daylight.

The waterfall, and why it surprises people

Manavgat Waterfall is not tall. It is about two metres high and forty wide, a full curtain of river rather than a drop, and you hear it long before the path opens out. In July, when the coast is at 38 °C, the air beside it is genuinely cool. There is a small entrance fee, a set of tea gardens on the terraces above, and a boat jetty where local operators run short trips down the Manavgat river.

Go in the morning if you can. By two in the afternoon the terraces are full of coaches, and the photograph everybody wants has forty people in it.

Getting there and how long it takes

Side is about 65 km from Alanya and Manavgat around 45 km, so you are looking at 60 to 75 minutes each way on the D400. Three ways to do it:

• On a guided day trip. Simplest. The Side, Manavgat and bazaar day trip covers the ruins, the falls and the market with hotel pickup, which matters because Side's old town is closed to traffic.
• By dolmuş. Cheap and perfectly doable, but you will change in Manavgat and lose an hour to waiting.
• By hire car. Best if you want the temple at sunset. Park outside the old town; the shuttle runs constantly.

When to do Side and Manavgat

Spring and autumn are the obvious answer, and for once the obvious answer is right. In April, May, September and October the ruins are walkable at midday and the waterfall terraces still have room at lunchtime.

July and August are harder work. The theatre has no shade at all and the stone throws the heat straight back at you. The sensible order is Side early, the falls in the middle of the day, a swim before you drive home. Coach groups reach Side around eleven; arrive at nine and you get an hour with the columns almost to yourself.

Winter is the quiet surprise. Half the restaurants in the old town shut, but the site is empty, the light stays long and low all afternoon, and you can park anywhere. Not a beach day. Probably the best photography day of the year.

Three things worth knowing before you set off. The weekly bazaar day is worth checking locally, because operators time the market stop for it and the difference between market day and an ordinary Tuesday is enormous. The Roman theatre closes earlier than the old town, usually before sunset, so do it first. And the harbour-front restaurants in Side charge roughly double the back streets for the same fish.

Making the day work

The mistake most people make with Side and Manavgat is treating them as equal halves. They are not. Side rewards slow walking, so give it three hours minimum. The waterfall is worth an hour, including tea.

• Wear shoes you can walk on marble in. The theatre steps are worn smooth.
• The museum is small, air-conditioned and cheap. A good midday hour.
• Skip the river boat trip if your tour already includes Green Canyon.
• Carry cash for the market. Card acceptance is patchy on the stalls.

Come back along the coast road rather than the inland bypass. It adds ten minutes and gives you the whole bay of Alanya on the way in, castle rock and all.