When we visited Turkey last summer (July 2023), I really wanted to visit the proper Turkish Riviera. We seriously looked at the towns Bodrum, Kos, Alaçati, Çesme, and Izmir, and choose Izmir, even though its not the real Turkish Riviera, due to its proximity to the airport and Ephesus historical site and reasonable price. We also needed Marriott nights, and Izmir has a lovely Marriott. I was fine with our decision but wanted to experience the Turkish Rivera, at least for a day. Enter a boat tour from Çesme and an afternoon strolling the town. This article details our experience. In brief, Çesme is a cute tourist town and the boat showed us gorgeous coast, but I am not sure I would squeeze a Çesme day into an Izmir itinerary again – it deserves its own couple days!
Çesme. This reminded me a lot of Rhodes, Greece (which is quite close by).
ÇESME, TURKEY
Çesme, apparently meaning “fountain”, is a small Turkish town on the Aegean sea at the tip of the Çesme peninsula. The name Çesme also refers to the greater Çesme area and includes the popular destination town of Alaçati. Çesme is a favored holiday destination with Turks, is slowly becoming more well-known with the international crowd, and can get quite crowded in the summer. Numerous tourist lodging options crowd the area, with a modern highway connecting the town of Çesme to Izmir, the closest big city and international airport. In terms of a destination, Çesme is a very cute little town and enjoys gorgeous views of the Aegean. One could easily waste away a few days enjoying the sun and sea.
A ship statue in Çesme. Everything seems to have a nautical theme here.
For tourist purposes, Çesme is most famous for its Ottoman old town and its ruined castle, of which the walls are fairly well preserved. Tourists can visit both on foot in a couple hours. The real point of Çesme is to relax and enjoy the day.
Welcome to Çesme!
We got to Çesme by taking an Uber (yes, the American app) from our hotel in Izmir. The ride took about 45 minutes. We took a taxi coming back, as we could not find an Uber. Alternatively, a bus runs regularly between Çesme and Izmir (we probably should have taken this but were lazy).