Çeşme
The tip of the peninsula west of İzmir: a castle above the harbour, warm springs running into the sea at Ilıca, and the wind and stone lanes of Alaçatı.
- Arrival
- İzmir Adnan Menderes · ADB
- To the town
- About 85 km west of İzmir by motorway
- Private jets
- İzmir, open around the clock
- Best time
- May to October
The city
Hot springs in the sea, wind in the bay.
Çeşme sits at the western end of a peninsula that reaches out into the Aegean, about eighty-five kilometres from İzmir along a six-lane motorway. The town gathers round its harbour and its castle, strengthened by Sultan Bayezid II; a few kilometres east, Ilıca has a long sandy beach and hot springs that rise in the sea itself. Inland, Alaçatı has turned its old stone houses into small hotels, and its bay is where the district comes to windsurf.
Summer is close to rainless: June, July and August together bring about fourteen millimetres, and the afternoons hold at 28 to 30 °C. The sea is warm from June to October; winters on the peninsula are wet.
Arriving
Land at İzmir, drive west.
The peninsula is served from İzmir, about 85 km east. İzmir Adnan Menderes, run by TAV Airports some eighteen kilometres south of the city, handled more than 12.6 million passengers in 2025, and the motorway carries on west to the peninsula.
- Istanbul 50 min
- Beirut 1 h 35
- Milan 2 h 30
- Ibiza 3 h 10
- Cape Town 10 h 45 long-range jet
When to go
May to October.
The Aegean season lasts from May to October; high summer is all but rainless, with afternoons of 28 to 30 °C. Water temperatures reach 23 °C at the height of summer and hold at 20 °C into October. The rain arrives in November and peaks in December and January.
- 12° J 121 16°
- 13° F 88 15°
- 15° M 70 15°
- 19° A 37 16°
- 24° M 23 18°
- 28° J 6 21°
- 30° J 6 23°
- 30° A 2 23°
- 27° S 15 22°
- 22° O 36 20°
- 18° N 73 18°
- 14° D 133 17°
What to see and do
Days in and around Çeşme.
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Landmark
Çeşme Castle
The fortress over the harbour, enlarged and strengthened under Bayezid II.
-
Landmark
Alaçatı
Stone lanes inland and a bay of strong, steady wind, the windsurfing ground of the coast.
-
Landmark
Erythrae
The ruins of the ancient port city at Ildırı, in a bay north-east of the town.
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Food & wine
Urla Bağ Yolu
Urla's wine route links family estates such as Urla Şarapçılık and USCA, growing local grapes like Urla Karası and Bornova Misketi beside international varieties.
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On the water
Donkey Island dive sites
Around Eşek Adası lie most of the area's twenty or so dive sites, with the 75 metre wreck of the cargo ship Monem resting at 18 metres.
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On the water
Chios crossing from Çeşme
Six nautical miles of sea separate Çeşme from Chios Town, crossed daily all year by Ertürk Lines and in summer by fast passenger boats.
Where to stay
Thermal resorts on the bays, two Keys in Alaçatı.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Reges, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa A hundred and four rooms and suites spread along two kilometres of Boyalık Bay, opened in 2019.
- Radisson Blu Resort & Spa Çeşme A large resort with a Blue Flag beach and its own thermal waters.
- Ilıca Hotel Spa & Wellness Thermal Resort On Ilıca beach, with indoor and outdoor pools fed by springs at 37 to 38 °C.
- Grand Hotel Ontur Çeşme A summer-only hotel of 200 rooms at Dalyan, north of the town, with thermal pools and a Blue Flag beach.
- Alavya Six village houses joined into one hotel of 25 rooms around a shaded garden, with One MICHELIN Key.
- Warehouse By The Stay A warehouse of the 1980s turned into 24 suites over gardens, with an art library and One MICHELIN Key.
Where to dine
Fish from the bay, in the MICHELIN selection.
No starred table in the Çeşme district; the MICHELIN Guide Türkiye selects these two.
- SOTA Alaçatı MICHELIN Guide Fish and seafood ₺₺₺ 11039. Sokak 18, Alaçatı
- Çark Balık Çeşme MICHELIN Guide Fish and seafood ₺₺₺ Çeşme
Elsewhere in Turkey
More reasons to come.
- Istanbul Hagia Sophia, the Topkapı Palace, and the waterside mansions of the Bosphorus.
- Bodrum The castle above the marina, and the bays of the peninsula.
- Göcek A sailing bay with a dozen islands.
- Antalya The walled quarter of Kaleiçi, and the resorts along the coast.
- Cappadocia Rock-cut churches and cave hotels in a valley of stone chimneys.
Flying to Çeşme?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.