Alanya is a beautiful holiday centre with its beautiful sandy beaches, modern hotels and motels, as well as numerous fish restaurants, cafes, clubs and bars. The cafes that ring the harbour are popular gathering places for tourists and locals. From the towns lovely park, the road runs along the coast to the harbour, lined with many small shops that offer handicrafts, leather clothes, jewellery, handbags and the amusing painted gourds that are unique to the area. There are three blue flag beaches and many sights including Damlataş Cave, Archaeology and Ethnography Museum, Dim Çayı Valley, three see grottoes: Fosforlu Mağara, Kızlar Mağarası and Aşıklar Mağarası and many more.

If you like to explore caves, then you must see Damlatas Cave. Near the cave is the Ethnography Museum. By boat you can reach three other caves: the Phosphorous Cave with its phosphoric rocks, Girls Cave (Kizlar Cave), where pirates held their women prisoners, and Lovers Cave (Asiklar Cave). The cool shade of Dim Brook Valley, 15 km east of Alanya, is an ideal place to get away and relax. The sea all around Alanya is excellent for swimming. Alanya is a paradise of sun, sea and sand.

History

Based on skeletal evidence found between the villages of Bademagaci and Oba northeast of the city, Alanya is believed to have been inhabited in pre-historic times.Alanya was sometimes considered part of Cilicia and sometimes part of Pamphilia. It was later ruled by the Hittites and Romans respectively. In a bad state of repair after a number of invasions and wars, the city was rebuilt by the Romans. In the Byzantine era, Alanya was called Kolonoros, which means the 'beautiful mountain'.