Silifke

Silifke is a city (population: about 65,000) in the region of Cilician Mountains, Southern Turkey. Although it appears by the shore on the maps, the city isn’t a coastal one, but it has suburbs by the shore.

Get in

By plane

Nearest airport for both international and domestic flights is in Adana, about 140 km away.

By bus

The easiest connections are perhaps by minibuses from Mersin (which take around 2 hours and cost 10 TL) and by buses from the inland city of Konya (which cost 30 TL).

Silifke's main bus station (otogar) lies in town centre.

By train

There is no rail network around Silifke. The nearest stations are in Karaman (about 150 km north, which has two daily connections from Istanbul) and in Mersin (about 90 km east, which has several daily regional expresses from Adana).

By car

The main highway between Antalya and Adana (D400) traverses the city. There is also another highway coming from Konya in north (D715) through spectacular Göksu Valley. All roads except the one leading to Mersin in the east are very (in some cases extremely) winding.

Get around

See
  • Ruins of the Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter (Roman equivalent of Greek Zeus) is standing right in the centre of the city. Later converted to a church, now there are only five columns standing. No admission fee, as there is no guard or a gate.
  • Turquoise Göksu River, name of which means “celestial water” or “azure water” in Turkish, is bisecting the city with its wide, eucalyptus-lined bed. You can also check out still-intact Roman bridge spanning over the river in city centre. In ancient times this river was known as “Saleph River”. This is the river in which crusade leader/German king Frederick Barbarossa drowned in 1190 (the exact site of the event is in an upper location in Göksu valley, though).
  • Archaeological Museum, simply named “Silifke Museum” and signed correspondingly (simply “Müze” both on the road signs and also on the facade of the building). Located on the highway to Antalya, not far from city centre.

Do

You can go birdwatching in the nearby Göksu Delta, where Göksu River empties into Mediterranean Sea. The delta is home to 106 species of birds of international importance, 12 of which are endangered species.

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep
  • Otel Arısan, İnönü Cad. 91 (in the city centre, near the otogar), ☎ +90 324 714 33 31, e-mail: . Clean rooms come with a TV and a balcony, although view is not that spectacular (except the mountain ranges rising steeply behind the city if you are from a flat land). 24-hour solar powered hot water. Attendant in the lobby said there is no need for booking at weekends (at least in spring months). Could be a little bit cheaper but still quite good value for money. Double rooms: 15 YTL per person/night (non-A/C, shared bathroom facilities) – 20 TL per person/night (A/C, private bathrooms). Breakfast is provided for an additional fee (07:00-10:00, 3 TL). 

See also Taşucu, which is only 15 km away and where there are more guesthouses located near the shore.

Connect

The telephone code for Silifke is 324.

Go next

Anamur, Alanya, and Manavgat on the road west to Antalya; Heaven and Hell caves (Cennet-Cehennem), Maiden’s Castle (Kızkalesi), Mersin, and Tarsus on the road east to Adana; Konya on the road north; Northern Cyprus to the south (via Tasucu harbour).

Routes through Silifke

Antalya ← Tasucu ←  W  E  → Narlıkuyu → Mersin


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gollark: Well, lots of them use C bindings which won't work, but lots of Lua libraries, at least.
gollark: This is because they both run Lua (slightly different versions) and have access to any sort of Lua library you can use.
gollark: Anyway. Basically anything which doesn't require world interaction which OC can do, CC can also do.
gollark: I don't appreciate you characterizing everything I or someone else says as a "smart alec remark".
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