Guide · Practical

Where to stay in Alaçatı: the old town, Port Alaçatı, Ilıca or Çeşme

Here is the short answer on where to stay in Alaçatı: the old town if you want to walk everywhere in the evening, Port Alaçatı if you want to be near the surf bay, Ilıca for families who want to walk to a sandy beach, and Çeşme town for the harbour and the ferry.

When people ask us where to stay in Alaçatı, this is our first answer. If you want to spend your evenings walking the stone streets, stay in the old town, which means Köyiçi and Hacımemiş. If you want to be near the surf bay and the marina, choose Port Alaçatı. Families with children who want to walk to a wide, shallow beach do well in Ilıca. For the harbour, the castle and the ferry to Chios, stay in Çeşme town. All four are on the same peninsula and linked by dolmuş. The right one depends on where you want to spend your days.

Old Alaçatı is a protected urban conservation area. It has two-storey Greek and Turkish houses built of local stone, narrow streets, wells in small squares, and windmills. Kemalpaşa Street runs east to west and is the backbone of the bazaar. The shops, cafés, restaurants and bars are concentrated there, so on summer evenings it is also the busiest and loudest place in town. Hacımemiş is the quarter with the most stone houses. Its streets are calmer and full of workshops and antique shops. The best thing about staying here is that you can walk everywhere. The downside is that the sea is not within walking distance: Ilıca beach is about 2.5 km north of the centre, and the port with the surf clubs is about 3 km south. If noise at night bothers you, ask before booking whether your room faces the bazaar street.

Port Alaçatı is a marina with homes around it, built in the north-west of Alaçatı Bay, about 3 km from the town. It makes sense for windsurfers and kitesurfers, for anyone who wants to be on the water early, and for people arriving by boat. To reach the old town in the evening, though, you will need a car or a taxi. Ilıca, north of Alaçatı, is a seaside resort known for its thermal springs. It is built around a public beach with a wide, shallow shoreline. With children, being able to walk down to the sea makes life much easier. The shore faces the north wind, so it is often breezy. Our beaches page has more.

Çeşme town is a harbour town with a 16th-century castle, a port, and ferries to the Greek island of Chios. That makes it practical if you plan to cross to the island or need to catch an early sailing. Altınkum beach is about ten minutes' walk from the centre. Dolmuş minibuses and buses run often between Çeşme, Ilıca and Alaçatı. How often they run depends on the time of day and the season, and route numbers and timetables can change. For late returns at night, plan on a taxi. The Chios ferries run often in summer and much less often from October to May, so check the timetable with the ferry operator before you travel. Our page on getting to Alaçatı covers the journey here.

The season changes everything. Alaçatı is at its busiest in July and August. Spring and autumn are calmer, and after early November the town empties out. If you are coming in winter, ask ahead whether your accommodation and the places near it will be open. Our winter pages have the details. How long to stay also depends on the season. In winter, two or three days suit the quiet town. From spring until the end of autumn there is plenty to do, and a week passes quickly.

A small boutique hotel in the old town is a place with only a few rooms. It is often in a stone house or a house built in that style, and the host knows the guests. Expect the scale of a house, with the stone streets starting at the front door, rather than the facilities of a large hotel. That is what we are: an eight-room house in Hacımemiş, in the old town, built between 2016 and 2018 in the Alaçatı style. The sea is a drive away. If you have questions about your plans, you can ask Uğur 2.0, the assistant on our website.

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