Beaches
Turkey's Aegean Coast has a number of great beaches, and sun worshippers are sure to find their piece of paradise. The coast's best sandy beaches are Gumbet and Altinkum. Here you'll be met with long stretches of sweeping sand and welcoming blue waters.
Nightlife
Nightlife on the Aegean coast is a mixed affair and can be as lively or a relaxing as you like. Go to Gumbet for the liveliest nights, where you'll find loads of bars and clubs open until the early hours.
Bodrum also hosts a good night out with a large variety of pubs, clubs and bars. Somewhere different to try would be Bodrum's "Quick Drink Street" where, as the name suggests, you move from bar to bar, listening to the beats of the Turkish music as you pass along the street.
Other resorts are quieter and in Altinkum a café culture reigns, giving way to relaxed evenings over a meal or a drink overlooking the sea - perfect after a 'hard' day at the beach!
Food, Drink and Shopping
Food and Drink
Come to Turkey and indulge in some of the great local cuisine. To start with, get your taste buds going with a selection of mezes: small snack-like delicacies that can be combined to form a tasty starter. Typically, these include dolmas, which can mean stuffed vine leaves, stuffed peppers or stuffed aubergines, and come filled with rice, nuts, tomatoes, herbs, or mince - the varieties are almost endless. Other mezes include finely-sliced smoked tuna, salads of haricot beans, lemon juice and eggs, and pan-fried liver with garlic yoghurt. Boreks are deep fried pastries and also make a good starter - the cheese boreks are always popular.
Main meals are usually based on either lamb, beef, chicken or fish. Fresh fish, such as bream and turbot, as well as mussels and crab, are widely used, and are infused with tomatoes, herbs and olive oil to bring out their flavours.
Being Turkey, you can't visit here without trying a traditional kebab. You can opt for the familiar doner kebab, warm pitta bread filled with succulent meat, salad and a spicy sauce, while the adana kebab is on a skewer for those who just want the meat. Aubergines are a popular ingredient in Turkish dishes and you will encounter them stuffed, roasted or pureed. Finally, you should try Circassian Chicken; the chicken comes in a creamy bread and walnut sauce and is very satisfying.
Baklava pastries (filo pastry filled with nuts and syrup) are popular, as are deserts featuring custard. Rice pudding is another Turkish hit and asure, a pudding made from dried fruit and beans, is a more unusual option to try. Looking for a drink in Turkey? Then make your choice between a dark, strong, black coffee, and tea served in dainty gold-rimmed glasses. The national drink, raki, has more of a kick to it, or you can sample some local wine. Efes is the popular local beer.
Shopping
For shopping, you should head to Bodrum where the central square is filled with interesting shops and bazaars to wander through. Gold and jewellery items here are popular buys - just don't pay the asking price.
The Aegean Coast's other main resorts are also home to a good selection of local shops, where you can find a number of excellent local souvenirs. Look out for hand-woven woollen rugs, which are a Turkish speciality.
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