Çeşme

Çeşme (pronounced chaysh-may) is a sea-side resort town on the Aegean, west of Izmir.

Understand

The old town and the castle of Çeşme

Çeşme lies on the extreme western tip of Turkey, opposite the Greek island of Chios.

Get in

There are several ways to get to Çeşme, it's a half an hour drive from Izmir by car, and there are several bus companies that will drive you to Çeşme from Izmir on any time of the day. Buses from Çeşme to Izmir at are around 10 TL, i.e. around €5.

There are 4-6 daily ferries from the nearby Greek island of Chios with Erturk Lines, Turyol and Sunrise the fast ferry takes 20 minutes while the regular one takes just under one hour. Prices for the regular ferry is around €20, while the fast ferry costs about €10 more. 🌍 Çeşme Port is located close the city centre, along Atadağ road.

Bus services are also available from Istanbul, the route lasts approximately 8 hours.

Get around

See

• 🌍 Çeşme Castle (Çeşme Kalesi) (at the town centre). A well-preserved citadel by the shore. (updated Oct 2017)
• Old town. Old part of the town (virtually all of downtown) has lots of neo-classical buildings from late 1800s/early 1900s that wouldn't be out of place in, say, Symi, which are well preserved and are quite elegant. 

Do

• Windsurfing
• Kiteboarding — the beaches around Çeşme (e.g., Pırlanta-Çiftlikköy) offer good kiteboarding.
• Do not miss a trip to one of the thermal baths in nearby Ilıca, either in the hotels (Altın Yunus is a good one) or at one of the stand-alone pools.

Buy

Eat

• Kumru — a kind of local warm sandwich. Tasty, it is made with a special bread stuffed with salami, Turkish garlic-flavoured sausage (sucuk), grilled cheese and tomatoes. A vegetarian version is also available if you ask for it, prepared without the sausage and with the addition of green pepper. Most famous eatery specialized in kumru is Kumrucu Sevki at downtown.
• Ice cream (dondurma) — Veli Usta is a great place to have an ice-cream. There are lots of flavors available, including very local balbadem (honey and almond) and black currant, which are the most favorite flavors.

Drink

Raki

Sleep

• 🌍 Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Ilıca Mahallesi, No., 3435. Sk. No:25, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Beachfront hotel offering rooms with a seaview, TV, free internet access. Two swimming pools (both indoor and outdoor) and an on-site spa available. The hotel lies 5 km away from the old town. € 165-278. (updated Oct 2017)
• 🌍 Rıdvan Hotel, 16 Eylül Mahalles (Centre of old town), ☎ [phone]. (updated Oct 2017)
• Central Park Otel, Çiftlikköy Mevkii (3 km from the old town), ☎ [phone]. Free wi-fi and clean rooms. There is also a small pool in the hotel and 5 min to the beach. €45/double room. 
• 🌍 Sheraton Çeşme Hotel, Resort And Spa, Sifne Caddesi, No:35, ☎ [phone]. (updated Oct 2017)

Connect

Town's telephone code is (+90) 232.

Go next

• Alaçatı — a historical town on the southern leeward side of the peninsula—and thus is perfect for wind-surfing!—noted for its Greek houses, ancient windmills with modern electricity-generating wind turbines side by side on the hill overlooking it. About 8 km east of Çeşme.
• Ilıca — a town noted for its thermal springs, 5 km east of Çeşme, on the northern coast of peninsula.
• The Greek island of Chios is opposite Çeşme, about an hour away by ferry, and thanks to quite frequent ferries can be done as a day-trip from Çeşme. The ferry departs at 09:30 from Çeşme and the return trip is at 17:00 from Chios (16:00 on Sundays).