Kuşadası (Turkey) - Sail In

5/20/2012 Kusadasi is a small Turkish town on the Aegean Sea.  The population is normally less than 65,000 off season but the tourism and support staff brings the population to over half a million in the summer.  Most tourists are from Turkey, Northern Europe, and the Balkans.

We had sailed through the night from Istanbul, south west through the Sea of Marmara, through the Dardenelles and then south along the western coast of Turkey in the Aegean Sea.  Click here for a map link.

The mountain "Pilav Dağı" rises behind the port and main part of the city.

On the top of the hill is the Mustafa Kemal Atatürk statue.  You can read more about him...click here.

There are a lot of condos and apartments that made up the main part of the city along the coast.

This is a long pier that connects Kusadasi to Guvercin Ada (used to be an island).  See the island photos next.

Guvercin Ada or Güvercin Adası (Island of Doves) was originally an island with a Byzantine castle surrounded by 2,5 metres long walls.

A view of the city section north of the port. We are going to drive through this area on our was to Ephesus.

"In a controversial deal in 2003, the previously public-owned port was leased to a private company and renovated to attract luxury cruise liners." (Source: wikipedia)  Note that the welcome sign is in English, as is the "Port of..." text.

You certainly know where you are.

This is a view of the marina, some condos and flats that are mostly for sale to support tourism, and a few large hotels.  We will see more of this area as we drive north.

This is the little red pilot boat that escorts the large cruise ships in to the port.

This is the exit of the port building with the ship in the background.

Very nice center with well marked directional signs.

Here is our sign pointing us to the tour bus. We are off to explore the area.

We are very excited to see more of Turkey.  Off to find our bus and tour guide!


This map is for reference and shows the location of Kusadasi, Turkey.